I am a non-EU who got a job in Switzerland. The company applied the Work Permit for me.
My job is PhD chemist.
Is there a language requirement (German for Basel) for me?
Hi there
Not for you as the main permit holder, but if any dependents are relocating together with you they'll need an A1 German certificate or sign up to an A1 German course and sign a paper that they'll submit an A1 certificate in time for the first permit extension by the latest (that is, in at most a year).
That only applies if you get a B permit. If you end up getting an L, there's no language requirement at all, also for dependents.
thanks for your reply. What I meant is that I have not yet obtained my Permit. But the company just applied on behalf of me several days ago.
Do I need language result? Just to confirm. I am worried that the company made a mistake!
You do not need a langauage certificate right now for applying
From January 1 2019, the rule has come in switzerland to get a permit or extension you need to know the local language
When you get the approval, it will be mentioned whether you need German certificate or not.
When you come to Switzerland and go to register at the canton office,If the approval says you need german certificate then, you need to either provide german A1 certificate or provide an enrollment slip that you have registered for a class.(This happened to one of my friends 2 months back)
If you are lucky there will be no mention of Language while you get new permit, but when you have to renew the same situation of enrollment or German A1 will come.
So highly recommend to start learning german in your home country as german classes in switzerland are very expensive. Although usually your company will agree to pay for your classes.
Thanks for your reply. I am a PhD chemist, and I think I am considered as specialist. I learnt somewhere that for this case, I won't be affected by the language requirement thing. Do you agree?
Whether your current application is affected or not, if you would like to get along in daily life here a bit more easily, you may as well start the German classes now. If for some reason they decide to ask for a language certificate, you can show them you've already enrolled in classes.
Do you think I can ONLY learn the official language of that Canton (I will be in Basel, so German).
If possible, I really love to learn French (but work in Basel, OK??)
It has to be proficiency in the official language of the canton. If that’s German, then that’s what you’re going to have to learn. French won’t cut it.
Here in Fribourg canton we’re bilingual so either German or French will do.
Most probably as you are a specialist and if your HR team shows that German is not needed in your job at all, most probably language will not be a constraint for the new permit.
But then you never know who handles your permit application.
In our company there were 2 non-eu candidates(myself and another colleague). We both received our permit on 1st February 2019. For me langauge was not a constraint but for my colleague he had to enroll in a german class for getting the work and residence permit.
So it all depends on who handles your case and how your HR team puts your case.
But there is no way to renew your permit without learning german , so as i said earlier its better you start learning
Soon enforcment of laws that promote integration in context of permit approvals and renewals will be in force. Better get some German done or be in for a surprise.