I presently have a student B permit for the past 16 months which will expire in 40 days. (I'm non EU)
I am now eligible for a 6 month L permit as part of a 'job search'.
Meanwhile, if I find employment and my employer applies for a B permit for me, I am expected to leave the country for the duration of its processing.
My concern is, if the B permit is rejected- I will have no means of entry to return to Switzerland. Further, will I still be eligible for the L permit (though it may be for a shorter duration)? Is it possible to apply for a job search L permit in your home country?
The employer will apply for a permit, what you get is a different story.
You can apply for a job seeker L permit (if you fulfill the requirements for that) for 6 months. And no, you cannot apply for that in your home country.
Your employer can't apply for a B permit. He can apply for a residence & work permit - and you may get an L or B, that's not your or the employer's choice.
If you're rejected for a work permit, it simply means you're not eligible for one and this will include B and L. So no, if you don't get a B, you can't apply for an L instead.
Oh you really aren't. I have a number of friends that graduated from ETH, got their 6-month L job seeker permit and converted their permits to normal tied-to-employer L/B permits when they found a job without ever leaving the country.
The only possible way you could be forced to leave the country I can think of is if your job seeker L permit expires while the decision on your job-related permit is still pending.
Then again I expect it would be quite easy to get an extension of stay as you are generally allowed to remain in Switzerland upon permit expiry if you (or the employer) have applied for the next one and the decision is pending.
So long as there’s a permit application being processed the person the application is for can stay, if they’re here already. They’re allowed to be here until a decision is made yay or nay.
No, because you’ve left the country. roegner already told you this. The only way to get another permit would a successful application by a Swiss employer.
it also depends on your nationality and past experience in the country. I know a number of Americans who tried doing what you are planning to- and got kicked out of the country. The do not grant the L permit for job search easily.
a) apply for job-search L permit, does not matter whether you are in process with a company or not (you will need to do this latest 2 weeks before your current permit expires and have rental contract and ca. 2k/month. If you have less, they will grant you less than 6 months)
b) if you get that job, just let the employer inform the migration office that they now should process another type of permit for you.
c) if not, you keep searching and applying till your L permit expires.