Result - I have B permit and am employed.
Good luck!
Result - I have B permit and am employed.
Good luck!
Ahem I do. These are AMERICAN and UK companies, not suisse. As an ex-pat, you can demand, or negotiate that you have a B and the right for your spouse to work before you move. It has nothing to do with suisse companies. If you are employed by a large US/UK or multinational company that does business here, or are a consultant for them, they will go to bat for you or you can decline the position. It's all about negotiation. Nothing to do with suisse actually, because the company should deal with it. All part of doing and getting good people overseas.
It is in fact the Swiss gov't that provides the permit. It's up to THEM nothing to do with the company no matter where this company is from.
The company can certainly REQUEST a B, and make a strong case, but a company can not guarantee a B permit.
If you have a B permit and your wife is Swiss then what you've been told is flat out wrong.
... you mention in your earlier post that you're a Nescaf trailing spouse
(Nestlé is Swiss company, not UK nor US)
You can always demand and they can always refuse, any case it's not the company who decides it's the authorites.
this website isn't working for me - is it down or is the address incorrect?
It may be wrong, but I have no chance of convincing anyone here of that.. The person who wanted to hire me said he looked into it with the Liechtenstein 'officials' whoever that may be.. Odd thing is, it was an international position, traveling the world doing training courses in English. So even if I was better qualified as a native English speaker, the EU gets priority. Sounds like affirmative action..
I think it is different there than CH also.. as far as EU agreements..
Speaking English means very little here, a lot of people speak very good English, in addition to at least one if not two of the national languages.
Yes, it's the suisse government that decides, but you can start the process first by petitioning to your company. The company has a bigger 'pull' than you do alone. From the stories I've heard, it's true, if you work for Nestle, Philip Morris, Novartis, etc, any large company that provides income/taxes en suisse (or are a consultant/affiliated with them), it seems that you get preferential treatment. I hate to say that, but best to request and let the company handle the situation.
Also, I have a nonEU B permit and was told by our HR department that it only allows my spouse to apply for a work visa (also B) after 5 yrs here and a C after ten years. It has been 4, so we aren't testing the theory yet. Until that time, it would be up to the potential employer to apply specially for the permit. These policies do change, and I have not checked recently, and, as you can see there is a lot of 'information' floating around out there. In general, these permits are getting harder, not easier, to obtain. Bottom line is that this is a challenging situation. Hopefully you will find a way, but it is no easy or quick fix in my experience.
A final note of caution, not that you are, but if you were inclined to get frustrated with the process of getting a work permit for Switzerland, we Americans are the last who should be allowed to complain, given our country's track record on such things.
A few threads that make interesting reading, so that the OP understands which way the wind is now blowing:
B Permit renewal declined - what now?
Swiss to get referendum on nationalist campaign for immigration caps
My take: in today's climate, as non-EU you are taking a bit of a risk with your own career coming here - let alone with an as-yet unemployed partner's. Especially on an L permit - but a non-EU B doesn't carry that much more security today.
Were it me, I'd come over alone, see how the job pans out, see how you like CH, see what your longer-term prospects really are. Once you have decided that this really is what you want, that your life is relatively secure - then think about bringing the fiance over.
These "stories" are nothing much but hearsay and wishful thinking (and probably shows that some people have an overblown impression of the importance they have to a company - these people have never applied with smaller companies, how would they even know if they get preferential treatment?!).
Yes in the past "people working for large companies" did get B permits... because there was far less hiring and everybody whether EU or not got through the same process and most eventually ended up with a B permit - not necessarily as a reflection of their "status"
All that has changed with the EU free movement agreement and one has to really stand out to be picked over EU or local applicants... and the relatively low number of successful outcomes would probably show that there aren't that many "really-outstanding-and-precious-to-the -company" candidates either... time for a reality check people.
One time we applied for new permits (as EU couple might add) we got one year B permits two years running. The good thing was that as EU I had the right to work included, but some spouses just get the right to reside. It's not as simple as L or B. Maybe your partner should consider trying to apply on his own merit, otherwise you will be in agony waiting to see what permit he gets and losing time in the process?
Just an idea.