Hi, I have searched this site, but haven't found the exact answer for my case.

My husband received a job in CH. He is non-EU coming from USA as well as I. He is getting a B permit, and according to the posts here, I will be receiving the same permit when I come over with him. I asked his company's HR person about if I'll be able to work, they said no. I will have to find a company to sponsor me for a work permit. Are there different levels of B permits (work and non-working)?

Also, can we buy property in CH with our permits and how long do we have to stay here to buy if we cannot? Thanks and sorry if this info was here already.

Hi,

I'm a Canadian here on a 'B' permit. A bit different situation for me as I'm married to a Swiss citizen. I have worked in CH using the permit. Don't know if there's different levels, though.

One thing I did find odd being a North American was that my permit was issued by the Kanton, not the Feds. And when the company I was with moved me to Zurich and Geneva, the Kantonal authorities there had to be contacted to let them know and get their approval (which seemed more rubber-stamp-like...might not be).

Sorry I'm not more help. As for buying, a friend of mine just bought a monster house in Lugano and had never lived in CH before. Again, not sure the hoops he had to jump through to get there (I'm sure they involved decent $$).

There are boatloads of more knowledgeable people in this forum, so I'm sure someone will have better answers than 'I think so'.

Sorry that I could not answer all the questions you asked. As far as I know, permit B is really of different types, allowing work or not.

I know an Asian couple in Basel Stadt. The husband works with a B permit, and his wife holds the same type but is not allowed to work. They buy a big house several months ago.

Oh, well that's good to hear about the house. Thanks for the answers, I guess that there are different levels of B permit, maybe I'll just try hard to find a job or go back to school!

Hi - I guess I belong to one of the "more knowledgeable people on this forum" group. Here the answers to your questions:

1. When you come over as a non-EU pair with one working you get the same permit as your spouse. The problem is that most people are not aware that this statement is referring to your residence permit. Your spouse as an employee gets a work permit as well. This work permit is attached to the company and you are attached to your spouse. But without a permit to work. You can of course apply for a position and your case will be ever so marginally better handled than a similar non-EU applying from outside of Switzerland, but you will not really stand much chance unless you are skilled.

So technically the answer to your question is no there is one type of B permit as this refers to the residence permit. The associated work permit varies substantially...

2. You may buy a property with a B permit, however think carefully before doing this. The market in Switzerland is not so liquid as other countries and I am sure you don't want to be tying your money up long term here if you are not living in the house...

Thanks for helping out with some more complete information. Helped me out too.

Thanks again, Richard. I searched a bit more and found this site which may be of some help, well, to me at least.

http://www.binational.ch/en/fragen/arbeit.html

Good luck. NB this may only apply to spouses of the Swiss on 'B' permits, but for me it was worth a look.

Hello, I thought this issue was settled with Richard's comment above, however, another forum member sent me this link: welcome to zurich-relocation.ch and it states:

Spouses of work and residence permit holders in possession of a residence permit are entitled to a work permit.

I am confused now about whether or not I am entitled to a work permit especially with this new information. I thought I can only be sponsored by a company for one. Is this information above not correct? Who can I contact that will know the correct information, the Swiss embassy?

Thanks!

I don't really think there is any contradiction. The problem you have is that your application is tested against EU and Swiss citizens before you are given the work permit. The work permit is tied to the job and you are tied to your spouse. If you are applying as a business analyst (I know this from a very recent case in ZH) and are the spouse of a 3rd country national you will be rejected on the grounds that business analysts are available in the EU and CH. You might have the right to a work permit but you do not have the right to convert it into the freedom to work...

Does the above apply to EU citizen and a new EU spouse?

Another question. My wife is Czech, which is now part of the EU, but tended not to be treated on the same level as the original-15 EU. Does anyone have any idea if Czechs are considered "EU" or "non-EU" with regard to getting a work permit when they are spouse to a (non-EU) work permit holder?

ETA: My question was answered by Rico's link. However, I've also heard that some of the restrictions are supposed to be eased for the new-EU crowd sometime at the end of 2007. So my question still kind of stands. Does anyone know about those changes?

Non EU however they are allocated a special quota (EU-8). However, if she does enter the country on a non-EU-8 dependant permit, the situation might be different.

If one of the couple is EU then the non-EU is treated as EU for the purpose of permits assuming the entry into Switzerland is contemporaneous.

If the non-EU joins later then things can go wrong. ie you can be wrongly given a non-EU residence permit. You can appeal and should if you want to work or want to change cantons.

So just to clarify, if my wife (EU) and I (non-EU) move to Switzerland at the same time, I get the EU-B permit and also the freedom to work? Or is it just that I get the EU-B permit but cannot work freely.

An EU B permit is a residence permit only. Holders of this residence permit have the right to work. This applies whether or not you move to Switzerland at the same time but as Richard stated, doing it at the same time is more likley to avoid mistakes (one set of forms, one process, one bureaucrat).

Excellent, I knew she was good for something

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i think that the non EU spouse is not subject to quotas once the job holding spouse has a B permit. That makes it much easier for the non EU spouse to get a job.

That's pretty much the way it was described to me. I'm in Zürich and I registered last week. I don't know what type of permit I'll have (B or L) but I've been told that when my EU wife shows up and registers I'll automatically get an "upgrade" to B if I don't get it in the 1st place. We'll see.

bozothedeathmachine, let us know what the result is. Hope you get an EU-B permit!

Don't know who told you this but you won't...
I am assuming you have already got your permit or at least made the application based on your data. You will be given the permit according to the data on the application. If and when your wife turns up she will get an EU permit AND you SHOULD be put in the EU pile. This removes you from the quota restrictions but does not actually change anything in the first instance. Only when you renew your permit will you see a change.

Now that is the way it is meant to work but I suspect plenty of "upgrades" will get missed so when the renewal is due I would strongly suggest a "reminder" of the status change.

Note here that we are in Switzerland and that means even if the permit is wrong due to their mistake you pay to get it corrected. Happened last year to me