I am in the process of relocating to Baden for an open ended job that is supposed to begin March 1st 2008. I will be joining Alstom Power as a mid-level executive, assuming that my work visa is approved in a reasonable amount of time.
I am nervous that I will not be able to start my new job on time since the company HR person has not begun my permit application process as of January 20th 2008.
I have one friend in Zurich, but do not speak much German or French, so I hope that I will be able to make friends without much language expertise. I am looking forward to learning German, but I am afraid that I will never be as fluent at German or French as most Swiss are at English.
This forum has tons of information and I look forward to relying on all of your collective wisdom as my relocation and work adventure progresses.
My boyfriend (Stephanwolf on the forum) and I are from Austin. We would love to meet up some time when you get here. Contact us when you have a free minuet.
I have also signed & returned my job contract to Alstom Power Baden CH and been waiting , with a little nervous, for the required work permit.
I supposed to start up on 1st of March, such as you do and sent my docs on 17th of January.
I have a friend working in Alstom and she told me that she knew some guys received work permit lately than they had supposed to, but Alstom compensated the lateness. Basicly what i have been told was, "it generally takes 5 weeks and do not worry about being late "
I hope we both can start up working on 1 st of March
As you might have seen the city of baden, it seems a quite, nice, and a little bit cold (weather) where we shall quickly get used to.....
Hello to everybody and more to those starting at Alstom. My boyfriend was working there for 5 years and i can remember that his permit also kind of delayed. But you should not worry..beurocracy is kind of heavy here so...see it a s an opportunity if you are of course able to do so to come to CH and have some pre work holidays and see all the nice things. Baden is a nice small town pretty close to Zürich - I lived there for a year or so and it was great. Also most people in Alstom speak English and you might never need german but it is good to learn some basic for everyday life.
Hi there! Welcome to Switzerland! I'm Swiss, but looking to make some new international friends here in the forum. Many years ago I spend 3 months in Houston. I went to a language school to improve my English.
I have found the Swiss permit system to be responsive. If you are associated with a major employer, as you are, things will get done on time. Business makes the wheels turn in this country. (Perhaps you already have your permit?) So...never fear.
Sadly there will be no comparison between the night life in Spain (whichI prefer) to night life in Baden. . . even in Zurich. Be prepared for a culture shock. Check the events calander and join us for a drink in Zurich
Alstom reimburses the employee for the relocation expenses form the former place of residence to the new place of residence in Switzerland, however, for no more than CHF 6'000 (excl. VAT). The expenses shall be reimbursed against the production of invoice.
Relocation expenses is a very broad term. Is it not more specific? Is the cost of an air ticket included in that? Is shipping of personal effects included or can you only bring with you what fall into your baggage allowance? The 6,000 chf couldn't possibly include the cost of shipping furniture overseas. Is it supposed to cover the cost of buying furniture here? Does it include the costs of temporary housing while you look for an apartment?
Thank you for the feedback. I am guessing you were transferred to Baden form a city in Europe not US. Is that correct ?
The amount you have listed seems very small for a family moving from US to Baden specially when you consider shipping potentially the furniture and cars.
6000 CHF Includes the flight ticket, shipping of some goods...
Probably the amount of 6000 CHF is only for young graduates unmarried like me. Concerning family and coming from the US, you should probably ask them directly, I don't know if the amount will be higher.