We read through a multitude of existing threads, but none of them seem to quite cover our scenario.

I am a B-permit holder from South Africa and my fiance is American (they can enter Switzerland for 3 months without a visa). We just moved to Zurich and she is looking for jobs. We are getting married in October 2012 (10 months away) in South Africa. What are the options for her to get a working permit (for teaching) now? She already found a couple of leads for jobs, but they all seem to say they can not obtain visas for non-EU citizens. This is hard for me to understand, since my company obtained one for me. She already has a police clearance and was hoping to not leave Switzerland before the wedding.

Should we apply for a dependency visa? Or fiance visa? Are these two the same thing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

1. If she can find a company willing to hire her and jump through the permit hoops, then she can get a working permit. However, it is difficult to do, with the company showing they couldn't find someone Swiss or EU to take the position. You may have gotten a work permit because you have a more specialized skill than teaching.

2. I looked through the forum a lot and didn't find anything definite or linked on a Swiss website about permits for girlfriends/fiances (as you may have done as well). So it seems like the best thing would be to go to the migration office or kreisboro and ask what the best thing to do is. If you have proof of your income and proof of the wedding date, that could probably help. Anyone else have recent experience?

3. Police clearance? As in the FBI background check? For reference, I was never asked for mine, which was sort of a pain since it was the biggest pain to get. However, I do know of others (from non-American countries) who were asked for it during the permit process.

4. Just curious: If you've just arrived, do you already have your actual permit in hand (the credit card thing for non-EU-ers)? I only ask because my husband's company applied for a B and we thought we were getting a B, up until the permit arrived at the post office three weeks later... when it was an L. It hasn't made too much of a difference for us (except for getting a credit card), but I don't know if that would have any impact on getting a visa for a fiance.

Good luck!

I am in a similar situation... kind of. I am an American and I moved to Switzerland September 2010. I have been working on an L permit as a synchronized swimming coach at a club in Zurich and I also got a job working at a pub on the side. I do not wish to renew my contract with the club next year, which means they will not renew my L permit. I have a boyfriend here from Austria with a B permit (will get a C permit April 2013) and I want to stay in Switzerland with him. The manager at the pub is willing to try to help me get a permit, but seeing as how it is just a pub I think it will be pretty hard to show that no Swiss or EU citizen can do the job. Is there any way that I can get a permit to live and work here? Marriage is not a problem (we plan on doing it in the future anyways), but we aren't sure if that will even work since he is not Swiss... and if there is another way we would rather not just get married because we have to. So if anyone has any advice on what my options are it would be much appreciated. Thank you.

You either have to find an employer willing to get you a work permit or you will have to marrry your Austrian boy-friend. Being then dependant on an EFTA subject you will receive a work permit without problems.