Hey,
I am an EU national, my spouse is not (she is American), I was offered a 6 month contract in Zurich and we plan to move there.
I will most likely be given an L-permit (i hope there is no reason for them to deny me).
I have a couple of questions regarding this situation and would be grateful if anyone could help us:

• Is my wife entitled to get an L-permit as a spouse of EU national?
• If yes, how easy would it be for her to get a permit that allows her to work? I read somewhere that she may be given a permit that does not authorize her to work - does anyone have any experience in that matter?

This is from the official www.bfm.admin.ch website:

Are family members allowed to work in Switzerland?

Family members of EU/EFTA nationals are granted an EU/EFTA permit even if they are third-state nationals. They may take up gainful employment; however they have to inform the appropriate cantonal migration authorities before doing so.
Cantonal migration authorities

What I believe will happen is that she will get an L permit, but it won't allow her to work. That doesn't mean she can't look for a job though. IF she can find an employer who wants to hire her then she/they need to take the employment contract to the migration office to get her permit changed to a working one.

However, two things to bear in mind. Firstly, non-EU citizens are at the bottom of the list for jobs so finding someone to take her on won't be easy. Secondly, if you are only going to be here for a max of 6 months, again finding anyone interested in employing her for such a short period will be difficult.

What are your plans after the 6 months? Is there any likelyhood of the contract being extended or you finding another one? Do you plan to try and stay in Switzerland long-term? The answers to these questions could make a difference in her employment prospects, as will other factors like language skills.

Thank you for your answer.
The contract will be most likely extended (or i can find another position if necessary as the market is good). We want to see if we like living in Switzerland and perhaps stay longer if such opportunity arises.

There is another, even more important issue I need to clarify though - is it legal for my wife to enter on her 90 day tourist visa with me, apply for 6-month L-permit (tied to my permit) and stay over in the country? (potentially re-enter Switzerland using her L-permit)

In other words do we need to apply for a long term stay visa before she even enters the country?

Yes, you should. Once you have a copy of your signed contract you need to go or write to the nearest Swiss Embassy to apply for your wife's Type D visa.

So we can apply for my wife's visa before I actually enter the country, just based on my contract?
Thank you!

Yes, I think so. They'll check that everything is okay with your permit first of course, but I believe showing them the signed contract should be enough to kick things off.