Hello helloswiss,

I'm a bit late onto this thread, but mostly agree with Richard on this one. I've got a few comments of my own to add which might help out.

Your length of stay is short - so this won't be so bad, and also means you won't mind being treated like dirt for a while. In Switzerland what you are allowed to do is determined by where you are in the food chain. Those who consider themselves "lucky" enough to have a red passport are at the top of the food chain, they can vote every three months, pay their taxes at the end of the year, enjoy forced military or civil service and do pretty much whatever they like as long as it doesn't involve flushing the toilet after 10pm.

Next in line are the C permit holders like Richard and I. We can do almost everything the Swiss can, except we can't vote, and we can't leave the country for more than 2 years (or is it one year?). We still end up paying more for car insurance than the Swiss, and will probably be passed over for apartments if there is a similiarly qualified Swiss. We have the permanent right to remain, and can work and live outside of our home canton. If we kiss enough ass we might be ordained as Swiss after many years (though many decline).

Next down are the B-EU holders. These days they have almost the same rights at the C permit holders, but cannot leave the country for more than 3 months. Their permits are valid for 5 years. They can also buy cars, and have mobile phones on contract (both B and C permit holders generally have to pay 500-1000 francs security deposit to have a landline or mobile contract). They also have tax deducted at source. Their tax returns will take 2-3 years to process.

After this come the normal B permit holders. These are a dying breed since B permits are now almost exclusively given to EU citizens only. These permit holders must hold a job, the permit is tied to their employer only, and you aren't permitted to live outside of your home canton. You can buy a car at this level though.

Now comes the L permit - for "Lehrling" (apprentice). Much easier to get, but unfortunately not much in the way of priviledges. Many people I know ended up with these when they first arrived, and can tell you many tales of what they were not allowed to do. First of all you won't be able to register a car (you could buy one for export if you want). You can't live outside of your home canton. Since you can't own a car, your car insurance won't be a problem. You might be able to get a bank account, but without anything like an ATM/EFTPOS card. You'll have to visit the branch to get your money. Since you are at the bottom of the heap and generally seen as an extremely temporary part of society this will give you an idea of the way you'll be treated.

So as Richard said - forget about an apartment, forget about a car. Your best bet is to sleep on someone's couch for the duration of your stay - or maybe you find someone with a spare room free for that period. It happens sometimes...

You will be able to drive on your existing US licence though. With respect to taxes I'm pretty sure that you will continue to be paid your US salary by your company, to your US account. This means you'll continue on US taxes, and since you won't actually end up as tax resident in Switzerland, you won't have to concern yourself about this. Your existing US health insurance should cover you for your time in Switzerland - but your HR department (the Swiss one) can clarify this for you.

Sorry - life here isn't as easy as driving around the mountains - it's complicated for the Swiss too - though they generally have no understanding of the hoops that foreigners sometimes have to jump through in the beginning - because it never applied to them!

The part that bugged me the most was the car thing - my B permit took 8 weeks to come through. I'd already bought a car, but it had to sit in the dealer's yard for 8 weeks because I wasn't allowed to register it. When the Swiss go on holiday to another country they can buy a car, drive it around, and sell it at the end of the holiday. The same cannot be done here!

Mark