I have a friend who is very interested in re-locating to Switzerland as he has had enough of the UK.

He is a high earner and has businesses in UK and Australia and lives 50-50 in those countries.

He would love to live (and pay tax) in Switzerland but is unsure about how to go about it as he is effectively self employed (company director).

Any advise appreciated and sorry if this has already been asked but I searched for relevant posts but didn't see anything obviously related.

Mike

Forgot to add...

He is single, speaks fluent German and would relocate his business over here eventually. He employs a couple of people at the moment.

Are you buying or selling ?

Thread moved from For Sale / Wanted to Permits

What's his current visa/immigration status in UK?

i'm going to tag along on this thread b/c:

a) it is similar to a question i have

b) after looking through 23 pages of the sticky post for NON EU permits, i couldn't find an answer and i think people get pissed off here if you start new threads related to the sticky topic. fwiw, i'm new to the forum

my question combines a whole bunch of things related to getting a NON EU permit (i'm from the USA). here goes:

a) if i can prove that i can support myself for a given period of time, lets say a year, in switzerland, can i get a permit to live and rent here? fwiw, i've been working for quite awhile and have money in the bank. i'm not a recent grad, have a strong career track record and even have a legit side business i could potentially grow while in switzerland to either supplement my savings or maybe just live off out right. the point is i'm asking if savings alone will get me the permit to live in the country? (the self employed thing follows next in #b and is the more tricky part of the question)

i think the answer to this question is a definite yes based on what i've read in other post, but i'm curious as to what the savings requirement amount is, what the length of stay restrictions are (shorter with frequent renewals or less frequent longer stays) and how easy the process is (long and drawn out with lots of hoops to jump through or simple and straightforward if you meet the requirments).

to add another twist, i actually have a close swiss friend that i would live with so my costs wouldn't really be that high. so i'm wondering if that has any bearing on either the decision to issue the permit or possibly lower the savings requirement for the permit?

b) if i can satisfy and obtain a permit under #a above, would it be ok to start taking clients with my own side business (AKA SELF EMPLOYED) or would i have to apply for some kind of *separate* self - employed permit and do i need to do that before i seek the first permit (e.g. the govt might be pissed if i tried to do this after already coming to switzerland under #a type of permit).

also, if #b is possible, i imagine there's no problem setting up a local bank account to make doing business with local / EU clients easier versus say having to use my business account back home in the USA?

c) this is the tricky part that wasn't clear to me from the 23 page thread.

if i am able to achieve #a and or #b, since i have residency for a set period of time, would either allow me to apply for local work as a local resident or B permit type of local?

i ask because lots of people want to have their cake and eat it too. by this i mean they want to be able to apply for and recieve work in switzerland as NON EU citizen without making any kind of commitment personal, financial or otherwise. what i'm willing to do is move here on my own dime and support myself on my own dime (fortunately i have a friend here which makes it less expensive) and then let the punches roll where they roll.

not sure if that makes a difference or not but i'm thinking if you can support yourself and be here, then maybe you're allowed to apply as if you were part of the local pool.

in sum, the point of this whole thread is if i can achieve a residency permit by #a or #b as a NON-EU national, does that qualify me to apply for work as a local / EU permit type holder in the eyes of swiss employers?

any and all help is greatly appreciated.

fwiw, if #a and or #b permits don't allow me to work as a local (hence better job opps), i'd simply enjoy my time with my friend and use the experience as an opportunity to become fluent in both german and french. so it's all good either way. obviously, it's better if i can work too but if not that would be ok.

i'm just trying to figure out the rules and they're a little confusing.

thanks

PS: is there any way to change the timeout in this forum? if one is typing something long, you can get logged out before you're finished posting.

No.


It's a definite no.

None whatsoever.

There is no such thing as "#a type of permit".

You would have to start a business or branch of your business in Switzerland and then employ yourself. There is no guarantee that you would be allowed to do this but it is possible.

A local bank account would be a requirement, really.

No.

No.


You can do that as a tourist - max 3 months.

The rules are quite clear to most people. The only thing I think you could be alluding to above is the lump tax sum scheme where tax exiles can reside in Switzerland as long as they do not work work here. For this, you need a few million in the bank and as you are talking cost saving I suspect that's not for you?

@swissbob - I think countchochula wasn't saying there was a permit called "#a". I think he was using variables like in math and programming, trying to say "the permit that I would be granted from my first point (labeled 'a)') if such a permit exists."

I know. It doesn't.