My wife is an expat from the US and has a B permit. I'm not working at the moment but hope to (will!) in the very near future. We will live in Lausanne.

Can someone help me understand the 'right to work' statement and if I will get a work permit automatically or will my future employer have to petition for one for me? We both have 'D' class, long-stay residency visas.

Thanks so much in advance for any clarification you can provide!!!

If your spouse has a B permit, you can work freely. The Visa is not the issue, it's all down to the class of residence/work permit you have.

Yes this is pretty simple. You just need to register with the foreigner control unit in your commune...

Thanks for your quick replies!

If I understand the responses correctly, because my wife has a class 'B' work permit and we both have class 'D' residency visas, I simply have to register with the commune and I will get a 'B' work permit as well. In that case, an employer will NOT have to justify why they are hiring me versus a Swiss national and process all that paperwork, and in their view, I am effectively competing on par with local talent.

Please let me know if I am understanding you correctly...Thank you in advance!!

That's basically the situation - if your wife was on an L work permit, your prospective employer would have to prove all Swiss/EU applicants cannot do the job. Since she has a B work permit, and you have a B dependent spouse permit, you compete at the same level as locals (legally - there may, of course, be bias on the part of potential employers but that can happen in any country).

Thank you!!!!!!!