New to this forum, also posted English Forum Switzerland but was advised might be worth posting here too. Looking to relocate from the UK to Switzerland (or Southern Germany). From my research so far my feeling is that might be little easier to get working visa in Germany (maybe) but Switzerland might be better for work in my industry as a native english speaker with some german competency.
33 years old, no dependants, have a masters degree and currently work as an Architect in the UK. Completed my B1 in German last year at the Goethe Institute.
Having done some research online looks like as an English national getting working visa can be little tricky post Brexit.
Would be good to continue working in the design/ architecture/ draftsman side of things but open minded and realistic when it comes to to my current language ability. However from my research seems like just renting a room, moving out there and taking a general job (shop/ bar warehouse ect.) then getting established and sorting out a more permanent job (in Switzerland at least) isn’t an option.
Therefore any suggestions on how to relocate from UK to Switzerland (Or Germany). Was looking for German forum to post in as well but can’t see any that are still active.
As a non-EU national you need a job offer, and your employer must prove to the Swiss immigration authorities that they couldn’t find a CH/EU person to do the job. So you’ll have no joy with something like bar work. You need to look for and apply for architect jobs from the UK.
Nothing much doing in your prefered line of work here in the Fatherland and without exceptional German language skills your chances are close to zero.
Why not pick up a phone book from Munich and make a few calls to companies in the design/ architecture/ draftsman sector or register on one of the online job portals.
That way you can get a feel for what is on offer at the moment.
AFAIK, if you’ve got good connections (i.e. your dad was an architect and you took over his business while also making friends with the kids of his friends…) it’s OK-ish.
But as I said, if you’re fresh off the boat, you’d have to have some exceptional, sought-after skill that they can’t find easily.
Of the 480-ish jobs in the architecture-space (that aren’t IT…), only 13 list English as a requirement. And they still require fluent German…
Additionally (and crucially), due to the high interest rates, new builds have almost come to a stop in Germany.
Is the UK now a 3rd-party country like the US in terms of work-permits?
@Slammer i respect the brutal honesty. That was sadly the feeling i was getting from my own research but always worth checking. Seems like thanks to bloody brexit (which i didn’t vote for) i’m just going to have to stay in england and admire Germany and Switzerland from afar (and on holiday)
I expect you could make it happen, but it will be more challenging than it used to be. Even without Brexit, you’d need to have good german skills, your various certifications may not carry over to German or Switzerland, you might face stiff competition from locals, etc…
Come on holidays, fall in love with a Swiss person, get legally married and Bob’s your Uncle. Otherwise coming here for any Non-EU national pretty well requires an employer to sponsor you.