Does anyone know how long non-EU working visa takes these days? I am planning to move to Zurich, my company told me 3-4 months, but it sounds too long to me
Hello,
I would think even longer nowadays given all the incoming refugees. Sounds about right
The process is split in several stages.
Let's call stage 1 after the company told they want to hire you. They send an application to cantonal immigration to request the hiring of an anonymous non-EU worker. The answer to this application takes from 1 week to months.
Stage 2 is when the company gets notified they can hire any non-EU worker. Then you send your docs to local Swiss embassy to get an entry visa to Switzerland. If I remember well it's type D visa. At this point you show docs such as birth certificate, passport, job offer/contract draft, something from the police that says you're not being prosecuted, etc. These docs are sent from local embassy to Switzerland and when the entry visa is approved you're requested to send your passport so they glue the entry visa on it. It took 3 months for me because I sent my documents in June, summer vacations came and I got an answer until September of that year. But shorter times if vacations don't get in the way.
Stage 3 is after you get the entry visa. With this, you travel to Switzerland and once you arrive, you apply for residence permit and you can start working but.....stage 3 is a limbo/purgatory lasting from a few weeks to several months. After you submit your application for residence permit, you're a legal resident in CH as long as the authorities don't answer with a YES or NO. However, some banks will accept that you open an account with them, others not. You can rent in some places, others not. You're already living and working here, but life is a bit annoying.
So, which stage are you?
If you are a resident of a non-EU country that isn’t required to have a visa to enter Switzerland, such as the US, Step 2 is expedited. Documents still need to be submitted but a visa is not required to enter the country.
haha, you're right. Forgot that part about 3rd country and 3.5rd country
3-4 months sounds optimistic to me. We moved from the US in 2019 and it was about a 5 month process from when the company told us they were requesting the permit until the move.
Are they going to hold my passport 3 months? Wowza
I haven't started yet
Unless they have changed it you will not have to hand over your physical passport. What happened to my wife and I is that we got an email authorizing the visa. We came to Switzerland, and then had to take a three day weekend to Milan.
We had to visit the consulate, there, and the visa was added to our passport. Then once we had that, we were able to visit the Gemeinde "town hall" to start the residency paperwork.
No, don't worry. You submit lots of docs, then when you get the approval you send the passport to get the visa glued to it. As bowlie mentioned above, this stage depends on the country, check the detailed info for type D visa. You may even be exempt of this. https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/fdfa...tion-form.html
So, the 3-4 months the company mentioned seems reasonable. Maybe less if you're lucky, 3 months would be ideal, but be patient and plan for 5 months as gwsorrels mentioned.
No. And they won’t stamp your passport either (other than at the airport, on your first arrival). They will photograph you, scan your fingerprints and signature, and then issue you with a credit card sized permit.
Just in time to apply for its renewal.
Stage 3. Is incorrect. At the time all the authorities decided that the position can be filled by the company with an non-EU/non-EFTA worker, the actual permit (in German the Aufenthaltserlaubnis) is already guaranteed, and notification is given that the visa can now be requested. If you have the nationality from a visa free country such as Malaysia, UK, Japan, New Zealand you will not get a visa but a "Zusicherung der Aufenthaltsbewilligung", an assurance for a residence permit.
At step 3, all which is missing are the biometrics for the permit card (in German the Ausländerausweis). The card is not THE permit. Most cantons are rather fast with processing. Geneva however is notoriously slow.