I am in a pretty unique situation and would like some clarification from you guys. I am non-EU (Sri Lankan) with an imminent offer to start work in Zurich. I currently hold a work permit in France, hence, I can move without a need for visa in Europe and Switzerland.
The question is if I can go to Switzerland without a entry visa from the local embassy?
I’m afraid your assumptions are wrong.
Regardless of your status in France, any Swiss employer needs to prove to the Swiss authorities that they can’t find a Swiss/EU national who could do the job before they’d be allowed to hire you. The non-EU hiring criteria is here:
https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home…zulassung.html
Only if a permit is granted by the Swiss authorities could you take up the job offer. And yes, you would need a Type D entry visa from the Swiss embassy/consulate in France to be able to enter Switzerland for more than the 90 day tourist limit.
Although you are allowed to enter as a tourist since you're resident in France, you might still need to apply for a type D visa from there in order to relocate to live and work here. A type D visa is required for most non-EU citizens to relocate to Switzerland long-term.
Your employer will need to prove there's no Swiss or EU citizen for the job. If it's a large company, they are accustomed to the routine.
A work and residence permit in France does not give you the right to live and work in Switzerland.
Hopefully someone else will be along soon with additional links to help you figure out your next steps.
Edit - Medea is faster.
I am aware of the difficult process and the employer is handling it. I understand that the cantonal authorities forward the decision to the national level, then they instruct the local embassy to issue a visa!
My question is if I can by-pass the entry visa requirement with the French work permit? That is after getting approved by the migration authority in Switzerland. It is stated that certain non-eu nationals, like citizens of Singapore, Malaysians etc would not need a visa to travel after the work permit is approved. Although Sri Lankans don't fall into this category, I was hoping if my French work permit would allow entry to Switzerland without visa?
Again, no. If you were coming here as a tourist for up to 90 days then yes, you’d be fine. But to live/work here you need to get a Type D visa which allows you to be here for more than the 90 day tourist limit.
As said, it’s easy to get from the Swiss embassy/consulate nearest to you in France. And you need to apply for the visa so get to it!
When I arrived as a student the border agent looked through my passport and couldn't find it despite seeing in the system that a visa was approved in my name (it was approved 24 hours before my departure flight so I couldn't go get it), and basically was saying I can't come in without it. I happened to have a return flight to Canada for work just a couple weeks later so they let me in anyway (as a tourist I guess). I went ahead and registered at the migration office in Basel and they didn't care that I didn't have the visa and told me not to bother going to the embassy when I'd be back in Canada, as the registration certificate stating that a permit is pending would allow me to get in when I'd fly back.
It still would have been less stressful if I had gotten the visa.
On the flip side, my wife was also non-EU with a residence permit in France and when she came to Switzerland for her internship, she was actually already here when the permit and visa were approved and she had to mail her passport to Paris (it was during the first Covid wave so impossible to go in person) to get the visa before she could get the permit.