Yet another work & residence permit question

Hi all,

thanks for hosting such a comprehensive and helpful Forum.

From what I could read before my registration here, everybody really gives kind and humane advice on questions regarding the nerve wrecking work permit and visa process.

I feel like I already read all the threads and official websites now, talked to embassies and HR departments, but still can't wrap my head exactly about all the process steps. Maybe a human non-beurocratic reply can help calm me and my fiancees nerves down.

In this concrete case, my fiancee is planning to move from Turkey to the Canton of Luzern. He was hired by a rather big company who were unsuccessful to fill his position with a Swiss or EU national.

They stated (end of July) that they would need him urgently by September (Initional starting date in the contract was supposed to be 1st of September.)

Both parties were aware that he would need to get a work permit and a entry visa, as it is his first employment in Switzerland.

So far so good. The approval took some time, but now passed the SEM check and he received a "Arbeitsmarktliche Verfügung" end of last week.

Now, it needs to be approved by the cantonal migration authorities, if I am not mistaken. His starting date was already moved to end of September (which makes no sense to me - why not wait until October generally ...)

Can anybody share their experience about how long it took for the Visa Authorization to arrive after the SEM confirmed the work authorization?

Because the employer is making big pressure on him, as they need him urgently this much ...

But what can he do except of waiting? Are they not pressuring the wrong party here?

I dind't like how the HR department handled his issue. They seem to have done everything right about the application of the permit, but didn't inform him about anything he might need.

They also requiered him to quit his current job asap and be free for September obviously. He extended his old work for now without telling the new company (and it looks like it was a good decision, as otherwise he would be unemployed for at least 1 month.)

So my question is: What time period is to be expected between SEM approval and Visa authorization and also get the visa at the embassy after that?

Is the autorization still in responsibility of the employer? I mean, will they receive the details and then just forward it to him?

In this case - can we do ANYTHING before the HR gets back to him about the visa authorization?

The swiss embassy explained to us they can not do anything before he receives an authorization.

Uff Thanks for reading all of that. It's already stressfull to move on such short notice and then try to find a flat and everything on the go. But then there are these confusing procedures as well.

Thanks in advance for any experience you have to share!

Hi,

I moved to Switzerland 2 years back. In my case it took around 2 weeks after SEM approval for me to get "Authorization to issue Visa" document. I am a non-EU but was working in Germany then. With Authorization letter, I visited Switzerland Embassy in Germany and got entry visa in few hours.

Careful. The authorisation to work is issued not by the SEM but issued TO the SEM by the cantonal work and commerce authorities. This is essentially a recommendation from them that yes, the application follows the rules in terms of access to the work market, and yes a quota spot should be issued. The next steps are authorization by the cantonal migration authority, and finally review by the SEM. This can take anything between a few days and several weeks depending on many factors (complexity of the case, number of pending cases, how high it is in the list of priorities, how understaffed the migration authority currently is, etc)