Moving Without Job

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
Hi everyone.

I have a BA in humanities and an MA in area studies currently living and working in the US. If I move to Zurich how likely would I be able to find work, even part-time. Even without a working visa are you more likely to find jobs that may sponsor if you're there in person?

Thanks.

J

2
What nationality are you?

3
I'm sorry I should have put that before. I'm American.

4
Do you speak German?

5

Very unlikely. The criteria for any employer wanting to hire a non-EU national are here:

https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/arbeit/nicht-eu_efta-angehoerige/grundlagen_zur_arbeitsmarktzulassung.html

Unless you’re highly qualified/experienced it simply won’t happen.

Even if, by some lucky chance, you do find an employer willing to sponsor you, you’re supposed to return to your home country to apply for a Type D visa at the Swiss embassy there to allow you to enter Switzerland long term legally and wait there until a decision is made. If a permit is granted, the visa would be issued.

And then you have to take into consideration your US tax filing obligations. You do realise that the US taxes its citizens no matter where they live in the world so you must fill in annual tax returns and could owe the US tax on top of Swiss ones.

https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Inte…-Aliens-Abroad

You would also have to file a FBAR form should any “foreign”, i.e. outside of US, bank account/s come to an aggregate figure of more than $10,000 at any time of the year.

That assumes you can manage to get a bank account here of course. Due to the US’s FATCA law (google it) to open any account here you’ll need to sign a W-9 form to allow said bank to pass your account info on to the IRS. Most banks here simply stopped having American clients years ago so there are only a few who’d still accept you.

6
No German unfortunately. This response was to be expected but is incredibly disheartening nonetheless. For personal reasons I would really like to relocate to Zurich by next fall. Thank you for the responses.

7

Depending on what those reasons are there may be other options.

8
If CH is your long-term plan, start working on it now while you keep doing what you do (which you haven't told us what it is) - start learning German, start inquiring what Swiss qualifications/credentials you need in order for you to do your job there, build up experience in your field and consider hunting for jobs (while you keep your current job) with US companies/organizations/institutions that have a presence in CH or CH companies/etc that are in the US (allowing you to possibly request a transfer later).

It will take time, I am afraid the "just move there" won't work.

FBAR, taxes, long-reaching arm of Uncle Sam, etc. you will have this issue no matter where you are outside the US, sooner or later. Be mindful of it, but don't let it be your decision maker.

If you have a significant other in Switzerland, consider marriage. I know that marriage should not be determined by visa/immigration, and I am not suggesting as much. However, if you are already going that direction, I'd consider anticipating! Marrying a Swiss/EU would make you jump ahead in the "desirability pecking order" of a lot of (immigration&job) queues.

Good luck!

9
Medea Fleecestealer and BokerTov (Layla tov now?) I really appreciate you taking the time to write. My girlfriend is based out of Zurich but in the US for her job now. EU national. She knows marriage would be helpful as far as the visas are concerned but doesn't want to just for that. She thinks she might feel differently after we've lived together for a bit. I'm a teacher and off in the summer, she asked me to spend the upcoming one in Zurich.

10
There may be several possibilities for you to obtain a Swiss residence permit under your circumstances:

1) Permit for a common law partner (Konkubinat):

In neighboring Canton Aargau it is possible to obtain a residence permit to live with your common law partner if your relationship is similar to being married, long-standing and this can be so demonstrated. Use Google Translate to translate this web page:

https://www.ag.ch/de/dvi/migration_i...=172044#172044

- If Canton Zurich doesn't have such a permit, you could always live in Aargau near the border to Canton Zurich.

2) Claim to EU/ EFTA citizenship by descent:

If you have not already done so, you could explore whether you have claim to EU/ EFTA citizenship by descent. Some of the better known ones include Irish, Italian and Polish citizenship but there are other EU citizenships that you could possibly be eligible for. This website has a list *:

http://www.whitenewsnow.com/lounge-w...ent-print.html

3) Independent Work Abroad in Switzerland for Recent College Graduates - US Citizens:

Review whether you might be eligible for this program:

http://www.culturalvistas.org/progra...in-switzerland

- As a teacher, I would think that you would want to apply at the international schools, starting in Zurich area and going outwards from there, e.g., you could commute from Zurich to Zug, Bern, Basel, etc. via train.

- You might be able to apply for teaching jobs outside of this Independent Work Abroad program as well.

Also, this website has a list of job boards that might help you to find a job in Switzerland:

http://aso.ch/en/consultation/back-t...-to-find-a-job

Added:

* - I'm not normally a reader of the "White News Now" website but the blogger has developed a fairly comprehensive list of European citizenship by descent.

11
Thorough post, Mullhollander, but wow, how did you get to that second link? That's some hardball racism there.

From the linked page: Uruguay is supposed to be a fairly White country, and unless something has changed, quite easy to immigrate to because they were depopulating.

International traveller and speculator Doug Casey prefers Uruguay or (especially) Argentina to Europe. He actually claims that Argentina is more European now than Europe is and believes that it has a better future. He has put his money where his mouth is as well. When he says "more European" does he mean as a package in terms of people and culture, or in genetic terms only? Not sure.

BTW, Casey compares America to where Rhodesia was in the mid 1960's. In other words, time to flee. 😃evil:

12
I can conveniently blame it on a Google search and obviously didn't read it thoroughly. Ooops.

The blogger also missed Malta.

13

To add to Mullhollander’s options you also have the simple one of just being here as a tourist for 3 months. Providing you have sufficient funds to support yourself you can be here for up to 90 days without needing a visa, but of course you can’t work.

Regarding the concubine permit, your girlfriend would have to agree to be financially responsible for you for 5 years and I’m not sure you could work with that permit or not. But not all the cantons have this permit, unmarried couples aren’t really recognised here. Another condition would be that you’d have to live with her so if she’s based in Zurich you wouldn’t have the option of living in Aargau unless she’s prepared to move there to enable her to apply for a permit for you.

As for citizenship by descent British, French and German ancestry may also work for you.

10.30, what else would you expect from a site called White News Now run by the American Freedom Party?

14
As a teacher your options would be limited to working in an expat school, or teaching English. Both of those options have EU nationals lining up to fill those positions, and most with some other language abilities.

15
If you're going to spend the coming summer in Switzerland regardless, YES, that will be a big help. When I moved here, I did so without a job, and found that people were more willing to interview me because I was physically present - and that, of course, led to one willing to deal with the permit issues.

That said, a summer may well not be long enough, but you're only allowed to be here as a tourist for three months; for many, the job searching process here is 6 months or more. It's not at all like the US.

What I'm saying is: come out, give it a try (and try hard; one or two applications per week will not cut it), and if you're a star in your field it can happen. But have a backup plan in case it doesn't.

16
I re-searched today and it was Bing (and not Google) that found that list.

This is another citizenship by descent list - less exhaustive but from a more palatable source:

http://thebillfold.com/2014/11/how-t...ry-by-country/

17
Thank you all so much for the responses. My parents are eligible for Irish citizenship but I'm removed sadly. I'm going to continue looking for openings and making contact for ones that look promising. But I'm also going to look beyond Switzerland - even a places in Europe with direct flights to Zurich would be better than remaining here.

18

You can certainly look, but will probably hit similar problems, being a non-EU national. Getting a job anywhere in Europe is difficult if you’re not an EU national.

Would you consider studying here? Many Masters courses are taught in English and at the moment there’s the added benefit that if you graduate from a Swiss uni you are on equal hiring footing with Swiss/EU nationals for 6 months.

https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home…abgaenger.html

19
Considering that fees are a fraction of what they are in the US, it could be really worth looking into.

20
good luck!