Non-EU, tied B Permit job switch

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1

Dear all,

Apologies if this topic was discussed, but I don’t seem to find the right info!

I am non EU, I hold tied-B permit (Chemical engineer). Soon I will have to renew my permit for the 2nd time (June 2025). By July, I would’ve been living here for 2 years.

I would like to change jobs. However, it seems like the new employer needs to do the process (labor market test) all over again. Does anyone know:

  1. My profession being in demand (Chemical engineer, unemployment rate is lower than 5%) would help ?
  2. Is it possible, before changing my employment, that I apply to change my tied-B permit to open B permit if I prove some requirement ? (I have C1 french and C1 German, and B1 Italian).
  3. If I decide to change jobs, I shouldn’t quit until my new permit gets approved ? while being approved, would the canton contact my current employer to check ? (cuz if they do, it’d be so bad …).

Thanks a lot for those who went through this before. It’s really horrible and I’m sure I could find help here!

Thanks a lot in Advance.
Yohann

2

  1. An open B permit would allow you to change jobs without the non-EU hiring criteria applying.

  2. Stay in the job until you get approval for the new permit whatever it is. Otherwise, if it gets rejected then you no longer have the right to live/work here and would have to leave the country unless you qualify for unemployment payments.

3

Thanks a lot for this!

Yeah of course, I’m not planning to risk what I have now. My question was mainly, if it is possible to ask myself for an Open-B permit instead of Tied-B permit when I renew my current permit (I will check with the authorities if this is feasible since I’ve been living continuously with tied-B permit for work). I heard that there is a possibility to be granted Open-B permit after 2 consecutive years on a tied-B