It's been several weeks since my employer-to-be requested my non-EU visa from the authority. Unfortunately, I have no way of validating this or self-discovering the status of my visa, and my employer says they are not going to, either.

This has given me a lot of time to think about "it". I'm not sure I really want to quit a job I enjoy, leave my home, pack up my life and move over there to something so completely different anymore.

Because I'm a planner, I already gave notice to my current employer, and have made all of the arrangements to wrap things up on this end. Unfortunately... no planning has been done on the other end because there isn't yet a visa.

I really feel like the employer just doesn't care as much as I do. Maybe it's just Swiss bureaucracy in action. I really don't know. But this isn't the way I would do business for them. I really feel like I'm being set up to fail.

Does anyone have any advice? How were others' experiences with this waiting process?

Three month's wait - everything was done exactly as described/expected, and there was no way to speed up the process...

It's normal to have doubts...and stresses....and worries...and occasionally freak out about the enormous transition...

From a human point of view it's normal that the employer will seem 'arms length' until you actually arrive and begin - they are still totally absorbed every day in their own job/life...

The look of relief on our employer's face when we actually got through the gate at the airport, was something I won't forget for a long time - you see, there is no guarantee for the employer that you will hop on that plane...when the time comes...so until you actually turn up (and arrive for your first day at work!) they have no guarantees either - and quite likely they will have gone through the process many times before, and be quite 'jaded' about it if they have...

Look at it from the other side - our neighbour put in an application for a visa to live and work in the US and it took him 15 months from start to finish and a whole lot of messing about until he finally had all the paperwork in order.

3 months is over in a flash, comparatively.

I know that doesn't help you much but it might make you feel a bit better.