I just landed a job in finance in a multinational bank and am really anxious as it is for a junior position and I've learned that the work permit permit process was really tough on non-EU nationals and that only experienced professionals could make it through.
I graduated in finance from a very good european business school and speak French and Arabic as my mother tongues if it could help in any way.
What are the chances that my employer decides to go back on his decision for visa reasons? If he doesn't, what are my chances to be issued a work permit?
Thanks a lot, I'm having many sleepless nights since I learned about this.
No one can tell you the chances. But there's no way on earth that your potential employer would have offered you the job if they didn't think you'd be approved.
It's a simple matter of cost. If you get turned down, they have to do the whole recruitment process again.
It's just that my citizenship never came up during interviews or the process at all (since I have internship experiences in various european countries).
Then after making me the offer they asked me for a copy of my ID, haven't heard back from them for a while after sending them my non-EU ID.
All of the sudden I received an outlook invite with all the HRs without any context or information regarding the purpose of the meeting which was quite unusual.
What I'm really afraid of is that they have no way to back me up for the work permit since I'm a fresh graduate.
How stringent are the checks? Can the company just "bullshit" their way through on why they chose me instead of a European or Swiss national?
Sorry for double posting, my previous message didn't land properly.
I'm a bit stressed because my citizenship status was never discussed during the interviews, after I was given the offer they asked for my ID.
I sent them my non-EU ID and received no answer for quite a while, then I received an outlook invite without any context with multiple HR staff, including an HR from HQ who usually isn't part of the onboarding process.
I'm afraid they are not confident in their ability to get me the work permit and it might be what they wish to discuss with me.
Hence my question is, how strict are the checks done to be sure the employer had no choice but to take a non-EU? Can't the company just weasel their way through by saying they couldn't find a EU/Swiss national?
Thanks again, I've had many sleepless nights over this....
There's no question because usually you put at the top of your CV what's your citizenship and/or residence permit type in Switzerland (if already living here). Of course, this is one Swiss particularity for the CVs that you didn't have to know before, but now you know it.
Yes, there are strict checks to ensure people already living in Switzerland are considered first for the position. At the same time, any company with competent HR knows what to do.
I'd say that the highest risk was concealing the information about the lack of permit before and during the interview. This doesn't look good. Anyway, they seem to have started the permit process, thus they let pass and forgot the miscommunication of residence status and are moving forward. You cannot expect better than this.
Whatever happens, it will be in the hands of local authorities, not your potential employer.