My permit has been approved by all 3 entities after exactly 6 weeks!
Now I have another question: it's written on the 3rd letter from the Migration Office that "Aufenthaltsdauer: 1 Jahr mid Verlängerungsmöglichkeit".
Does this mean I got a short-term L permit? Or is this the standard time frame for a Visa D, and only later when change the Visa D to a residence permit will I know which type of permit I got?
Hi Sharkmo, thanks for sharing your experience! May I know what was the "Aufenthaltsdauer" written on the letter you received from the Zurich Migration Office? Thanks!
Yes, it means it's an L permit for one year with the possibility to extend. Usually the D visa - which is only for entry - is valid for a short time of a month or two, to give you enough time to get to Switzerland and register at the municipality.
Not necessarily. Look for the Zulassungscode on the letter. It's a number followed by a word. If it says Kurzaufenthalter then it's an L permit. If it says Jahresaufenthalter it's a B permit.
The company will need to sign and stamp your permit extension applications but they won't have to go through the entire process of proving that there's no Swiss/EU person to do your job every year. That needs to be done only once to get a unit of non-EU permit quota allocated. The renewals don't consume new non-EU permit quotas.
As for this being a "normal" B you probably mean whether it's tied to your employer or not (i.e. if you can change jobs on it freely). This is a totally different issue and you need to ask your cantonal labor office about that (it's called AWA in Zurich). If it's tied to your employer, it will usually remain tied forever (until you get a C permit or move away from CH). You can ask your employer to ask AWA to untie the permit, but you cannot ask AWA directly.