I would like some input into the best methods to gain employment in CH.

I know some of the following methods have been mentioned before.
-get employed by multinational company, work in the US then apply for a transfer (this is difficult)
-rigorously apply directly to employers and hope someone will take a flier on you
-marry a swiss citizen and wait it out.
-other options?

I know this may sound ridiculous, but would offering an employer a lump sum for hiring ($5000? $10000? USD) me and thus removing a lot of the risk/fear the employer may have in sinking money into an seemingly unknown commodity and US citizen be feasible? I highly doubt any large company would go that route, but could that potentially be viable for a middle/small company that may take a chance considering they have upfront compensation?

I have a planned vacation to CH at the end of the year and I will use it for shoring up employment leads if possible during my stay. Can anyone give me some insight?

My qualifications
-Bachelor's Degree in Corporate Finance (also currently studying Mathematics)
- 7 years of retail management/sales experience (Banking & IT electronics)
- 4 years of IT experience (technical, networking, troubleshooting)
- Basic to intermediate German language skills
- Intermediate Spanish Language skills
- Fluent in English

I am currently a Network Administrator for a local company in the states.

Any input and advice is greatly appreciated!

Guten Tag!

Short answer: NO.
Longer answer - would that even be legal?

Just curious as to what your reasons are for so desperately wanting to come to Switzerland in particular?

Try your luck with the UN.

I am two generations removed from CH and I would like to migrate back to the original area (near Davos) that I still have extended family and mine came from. I find the culture, region, way of life, etc to be superior to the states and have trying to set the table for a move for years now.

I am not sure why this would be illegal? Couldn't this be a guise (the compensation aspect) for the inherent risk an employer is taking on a US citizen? Maybe compensation for additional "training"?

Can I ask you a question? Would you rather live in CH or USA?

Who had Swiss citizenship in your past? Grandfather or Grandmother?

There is something called facilitated naturalization, which you may be entitled to a Swiss passport.

I know of one member on here that has obtained one from the US.

Facilitated naturalization interview

I did it this way:

-get employed by multinational company, work in the US then apply for a transfer (this is difficult)

Yes, it was. But now I am here, and a card carrying member....it is possible. You have to want it bad enough.

Sarcasm? I don't quite get the idea of that.

My grandfather and his mother/father (my grandfather) came via Ellis Island on a boat in the early 1900s. My mother is an avid genealogy expert on our family lineage and this would be easy to recover (I think).

I will look into that process, thanks for that great information.

Seriously?

There is a bucket load of UN jobs in Switzerland.
See under "headquartered in Geneva".
(ie, 22 UN agencies headquartered in Geneva, with 2 in Bern and 1 in Basel)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...fice_at_Geneva

Then read here where it says there are 250 further non-governmental agencies in Switzerland that support the UN.
http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/...rg/inorch.html


Then learn a bit more about Switzerland.

I'm sure I could always learn something more about CH but the UN is kind of the laughing stock of the country in the USA. So it's easily overlooked and not considered.

I will check it out, but in a perfect world I'd use that as a last resort. I think I would even marry someone before that option!

Neither.

However, having lived here for a few years now, and having also had several holidays throughout the USA, I have seen things I like, and things I dislike in both countries. But my criteria for choosing may be quite different from yours. I was merely curious to read your perspective to see if it seemed to match the reality of living here.

Unless you get transferred by an international company to work here or marry a Swiss person, it will be very difficult to get a job. It wouldn't matter if you could, by some wild chance, find a company to take your money; the decision isn't up to them, it's up to the Swiss employment authorities who issue work permits for foreigners. The rule is Swiss and EU nationals first, only if a company can't find one - and they have to prove to said authorities that they've tried which costs time and money - would they then be able to apply for a permit for you. And if the quota limit has been reached they still won't get one.

And I reckon you're the 8th American who's posted here asking about moving to Switzerland in the last month. It doesn't look like they'll have any luck either. Unless your skillset is either very specialised or outstanding I think you'll have a very hard time.

Also I think the facilitated naturalisation path might not be possible either. This is from the official Swiss Federation www.ch.ch website:

"I have a Swiss mother or a Swiss father, but I am not a Swiss citizen. Do I have a possibility of facilitated naturalisation?
In certain cases, the Nationality Act (Art. 31a, Art. 31b, Art. 58a, Art. 58b) allows for facilitated naturalisation. For further information, please contact the Federal Office for Migration, Naturalisation Section, Quellenweg 6, 3003 Berne-Wabern ( email) or, if you are resident abroad, the relevant Swiss representation."

It doesn't mention anything about grandparents, but you could enquire to find out more.

So why bother leaving the US if you are just towing the line?


And non-EU that already has a permit. Those count as well. Only after that can they look outside.

Your loss.

back door
you would need to confirm the details of this process yourself.

I have a chinese co worker who got his education in Germany, which gave him German nationality because Gemany wants those it educates to stay in Germany. Once he was German he is EU and can work in CH.

I know two people on the Forum that do not have a mother or father
that are Swiss and received the Swiss passport.

i.e. They received it through the grandparents. It is a very narrow
circumstances that allowed them to receive the Swiss passport.

Then that may well be a possibility for him. Thanks, HollidayG for pointing that out.

Here too, I, like many people here, voted against joining, but they finally got enough people in favor last time around.

Pity.

Tom

My thoughts exactly

Sorry, Tom, that's just not true. Sure, there are still a group of old Swiss geezers who are against Switzerland joining the UN, but for the most part the UN and it's various organizations (particularly, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF) have an over all positive reputation. Certainly nothing compared to the derision many US politicians have.

The US just gets mad when they are not the boss of everything and the UN doesn't tilt in their favor.