Hello

I arrived to Basel one week ago, and today I went to register in RAV. My appoint ment will be next thursday and I'm a little bit confused:

1st: I was asked to choose an unemployment fund. I'm from Spain, but last time I was employed was in Budapest. I guess, I have no right yet for any compensation. Do I have to choose one?

2nd: There is a paper in German, I think I have to give a list of jobs that I tried to apply for. Is it good if I bring the rejection emails I have received with that document?

I would appreciate any kind of tip or advice.

Thank you.

Hi
I was/am in a similar situation although to be honest as my husband speaks German he has dealt with most of this stuff.
1st To my knowledge though you do need to choose an unemployment fund. I send of the paperwork every month but don't receive any benefits.

2nd I was told to take the completed form with all the jobs I have applied for, copies of my application letters/e-mails and also rejections. To be honest though I don't remember them looking at that just the sheet they gave me. Probably worth taking the other stuff too though just in case!

Hope this helps.

If you don't mind me asking - why have you come here if you have no job? Any why do you register with the unemployment agency when you have not actually paid anything into it yet? Is this standard procedure?

I'm afraid I don't want to be unpleasant, but +1. I know many Swiss unemployed who are no longer able to receive benefits, through no fault of their own, and have to live on social hand-outs despite contributing to the system for many many years!

The OP already said he wasn't due any compensation. The RAV is also there to help you find work and provide support (language courses) if you are eligible.

Granted it is a bit strange but not everybody is here to steal your taxes if that's the concern.

It used to be, seven years ago when I first came here, that you could register at the RAV without having been employed at Switzerland because your time spent at the RAV looking counts towards whether or not you have the right to language classes. IIRC at the time, if you had been registered at the RAV six months and could prove you couldn't get a job due to language issues, then the RAV would pay for the course. But you had to be registered and prove you were looking to get that.

Even though I think people should be motivated to learn a language before it gets to that point, I think it is fair for the RAV to pay in these situations- it helps someone get into the labor market and contribute.

But wouldn't my taxes (or rather, my unemployment insurance payments) then be used to educate a non-taxpayer who came here willingly without speaking the language? I understand there is a need for foreign workers who are qualified to do jobs that we can't fill for whatever reason. I don't understand the need for people to come without having a job waiting for them.

I don't know the facts, but I do know that if I had a family to feed I would move from a country with a very high unemployment rate to a country with a very low unemployment rate without a job and try to find one in order to put food on the table. What other option is there?

It is fun to see foreigners with same mentality as traditional SVP voters.

Well, I came here without a job, not being able to speak German, nor had I paid any taxes whatsoever to Switzerland, and I used the RAV to find out about the job market and how things work. Bad Slaphead eh

Guess what, I now have a job, can speak German, and I pay taxes

I did however have accommodation sorted out, plus enough money behind me to survive a year and put myself through intensive German classes. If it hadn't worked out then I would now be back in England.

Not everybody who comes here on spec is expecting a hand out, and it may well be that the OP has done some provisioning to facilitate a period of time without work.

To the OP, when I was first with the RAV I had to pick an unemployment fund. It's just a box that RAV have to tick. Needless to say you won't receive anything from this fund.

That argument would mean children not being allowed an education until they'd worked for a few years. Are there any mines they could work in?

We don't know the OP's situation, in my case, I registered with the RAV when I first moved to Switzerland after I got married. My intention was to understand the local job market and eventually, after the fact, language classes. I definitely had the money and I wound up getting a job in a few months. My point is, some people show up here with no jobs and not speaking the language for valid reasons.

Finally, people forget that it is the Kasse who pays but the RAV who does the job counseling and that being in the RAV takes footwork to meet their conditions. My RAV counselor helped me with my CV and with some propositions- her goal was to get me in the job market and contributing to the system.

If anything, signing up for the RAV is a PITA if you aren't getting paid.

Not everyone who contributes to this forum is a foreigner.

Thank you very much for answering my questings.

About your question Kittster:


I'm here because my girlfriend has already a job. I don't want any single cent from your taxes. I just want a job, and start paying my part as soon as possible. At the moment, the only thing I have done is paying the 25 CHF for being a legal person here (because as a european I have the right to searh for a job during some months) and 400 to learn German. I did not mean to have the unmployment fund, which it would be quite weird for me.