Hey you all
I am a new one in this forum. I'm a music student from Latvia, Baltic Countries Actually I'm seriously considering Erasmus exchange in Switzerland, it has always been my dreamland where I could imagine myself living happily till the end of my time.. ok, more seriously - so, I speak English, German and I understand some Russian, too (it's impossible NOT at least to understand it, when you live in Latvia), and- if I become a confirmation for my Erasmus Studies in Wintersemester, I will be the happiest person ever
So, the question actually begins here: is it generally possible to study and live in Switzerland as a student, when you have actually no notable background for financing your studies? In case I stay there after Erasmus - so, would it be possible to survive only by having a student job? I really mean - survive - just to eat, pay a rent and buy only these things which are really needed, not partying every weekend and eating at the restaurants, etc.
As you maybe understand, the level of income between Latvia and Switzerland is very different, so, my father wouldn't be able to cover my study costs in so expensive land..
But I shouldn't give up, should I?

Thanks in advance for your advices.

I know of one girl who was surviving here on some 600 francs a month, on an Erasmus grant. That said, she never came out with us (going out on the town), as far as I know she bought nothing, and was very careful about what she would end up buying for food. But that's the exception.

I also know mates who work part time for some 1400 francs a month as students, and they do just fine. So it depends.

All being said, Switzerland is expensive.

Welcome along.

Yes, Erasmus is one thing, there you have at least this 600 Francs.
But, when you start studying and financing it on your own... this is the question. If it's possible to survive with student job.. it would sound fantastic to me

Would you be paying the tuition fee's yourself? Or does Erasmus pay for your tuition? (though I believe tuition is only 600-800 CHF per semester in most Universities..)

If you could find a job.
If said job paid enough to support you.
If your visa even allowed you to work.

Then like anywhere else it's possible. But those are 3 problems you may run into, though you'll have some better luck then some since you have German down.

If you had enough to pay for everything for at least 6 months, then I wouldn't give up. If you don't have any savings in your account, I'd go get saving first.

Even if it is an amazing place (and you'll hear differing views on that), it won't be so enjoyable if you are constantly stressing about money.

As I said before - as Erasmus student I have all finanical support enough for living in Zurich during this exchange semester. The question begins - if I decide to stay there and continue my studies - is it possible to do this without any much financial background?

Yes, I do speak German and I really hope it would enlarge my possibility to get a good student job. Question is about, could I cover these living expenses just by having a job.
I don't need any visa, as I come from EU. If I study in der Schweiz, I don't need any permission to work, just I can do it no more than 20 hour per week.
And actually information on the internet fails to give me right and realistic impression (from year 2010, 2011, 2012, there are some older posts)- how much then can you earn with this student job. Maybe someone here has this experience?

This is already something more realistic, thank you
Savings for 6 months.. for the salary of Latvia I should save at least 10 years to cover my 6 month in Switzerland but I'll certainly try, better anything than nothing.

With a job, yes you could live here and cover all expenses. But the difficultly is in finding that job. Hour wages are something around 20-40 francs even for the most menial of positions. Also know that the German spoken here is practically incomprehensible to native speaks eh.

Just to clarify one point - you do need a visa, everyone does!

For your erasmus will probably be a short-duration L visa. With that you can work max 15 hours per week.

Afterwards, you'll need a job contract to renew it.

For a more long-term visa (over 1 year B visa), Switzerland has introduced quotas for UA-8 countries: eg for 1 may 12 - 1 may 13, a maximum total of 2180 visas B can issued to citizents of Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech rep (combined).

I know that Swityerland has made this quotas, but is it about visas or for working permits?

If I could work as Erasmus student, it would be marvellous - already in this time I could save money for this 6 months later, when I need to finance my studies myself.

Yes, I can believe that finding this job wouldn't be so easy, but I could have time to do it during my Erasmus Semester (approximately 4 months), and if I could lengthen it, I could have even more time to find it.

About Switzerdutch - you don't need to tell me that I've already studied for a while in Austria - I know this dialect thing very well. Switzerdutch, I think, is something even more horryifying

I think you have two hurdles. Yes, once you finish your Erasmus I expect you would have to prove you could support yourself financially to be able to continue to study here. Students are allowed to work about 15-20 hours a week I believe. I also think that you have to state when your study is due to end, so you might have to look at leaving the country and then reapplying to enter as a student again, rather than being able to extend your stay once you're here.

Also because of the quota limits on EU-8 for work permits this makes it much harder for any employer to get a permit for you. It's Swiss and EU nationals first, barring the EU-8, plus those other nationalities who are already here and have valid work permits. An employer has to prove that they can't find one of the above who could do that job and that entails advertising the position, sometimes several times, before they could even think of hiring you. It's expensive and time consuming so many companies can't/won't bother to do this. If you can find niche markets or areas where skills are lacking that you could specialise in you will have a much better chance of success.

Thank you very much for this reasonable explanation.
So you say that this EU-8 quota could disturb me even looking for studentjobs? If so, I really would like to know, how other foreign students, who come even not from EU (there are so many from Asian countries, India, etc.) - how do they survive, do they always have financial support from their families? Seems like -yes, they always do.
Actually, as I understand, I have only one or if I'm lucky 2 semesters to find my niche and try to find things in Switzerland out.
Scheisse, it would be much more easy if I had a swiss husband just joking. (ok, ladies from East Europe do not joke, they really come to wealthy countries to look for a husband and later to stay there). So.. maybe it's way for me, too

Yes mate, the jobs and visas apply to students. You will be in an environment with a 1-2% unemployment rate, trying to find a job (that you will be in for only a few months) which is a tough sell for any employer, and you will be competing against locals who are probably more suitable for the position.

I say this all as a student myself, from a non-eu country. Everyone else that comes here has to show that they have financial support from their parents or enough money in the bank to finance their time here (1200 -1500 francs a month for a year).

1-2% unemployment rate... so it shows that everyone who's already in Switzerland, either has a rich family or is the native one or comes from EU-old-countries.
Really? is it so?
In Austria I've seen so many people who even don't speak German, but somehow they survive and even become support from the country. But ok, Austria is another case, I guess, though EU, a little bit cheaper, etc.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/swit...mployment-rate

Looks like another 1% just opened up, good luck.

Not sure how much it would apply to you as a student, but certainly after you finish your studies, if you want to get a full time job and live here, yes. It's something you need to think about, because if music is going to be your career choice then Switzerland may not be the place to try and pursue it.