Since the rules changed in January this year, L permits don't count at all. You will also need to speak a Swiss language (French in this case being Geneva) as part of the requirements to get a C.

Quoting in French given you are based in Romandie:

Les séjours à but de formation ou de formation continue sont néanmoins comptabilisés si, à leur terme, l’étranger a été en possession d’une autorisation de séjour durable pendant deux ans sans interruption (cf. art. 34, al. 5, LEI) ou si le séjour au titre d’une autorisation de courte durée a acquis un caractère durable en raison, par exemple, d’un contrat de travail de durée indéterminée ou parce que les autorités et l’étranger sont partis de l’idée qu’il s’agissait dès le début d’un séjour durable.

From new foreigners law directives 3.3.5.2:
https://www.sem.admin.ch/dam/data/se...g-f.pdf#page77

Basically even L permits after graduation count for C only with an indefinite work contract or the migration authorities presume it was going to be a long-term stay since the beginning.

At the two year mark post graduation you would need to request a C based on the above and it will be up to them to decide whether to grant it or not. The guidance is written with sufficient ambiguity (as with many things in CH, for better or worse) for them to basically decide as they please.

Thanks for the info!

This paragraph is new and is added to the Law in the June 2019:

ou si le séjour au titre d’une autorisation de courte durée a acquis un caractère durable en raison, par exemple, d’un contrat de travail de durée indéterminée ou parce que les autorités et l’étranger sont partis de l’idée qu’il s’agissait dès le début d’un séjour durable.

it did not exist in the previous versions (Version of October 2013 (and in its update on 18 July 2016)). I think it will be realy crucial for us thank qwertz!!
I hope they will not remove it in the next two years!!!

Just remember to write the details in your letter!

Also the L you received might just be due to then running out of Bs. You might be upgraded sooner rather than later.

Sure! I think we need to wait a few months and see how the immigration authorities in Valais, Vaud and Geneva will interpret this new paragraph and if they will treat L permit issued with open ended contract equally as B permit when it comes to early C permit application.

It is not a question of quota in Valais. As the work and commercial section in Valais explained me the first work permit for non-eu is always an L in Valais, independent of work contract or quota, it will turn to B only after 2 years. I applied in January and got an L in February when the qoutas should be available.

Thanks Medea. French is not a problem I already have C1. Since you have a lot of experience, I wanted to know how do you interpret the new paragraph that L permit issued with open ended contract will be treated equally as B permit when it comes to early C permit application (changes in June 2019 in new foreigners law directives undersection 3.3.5.2 page 57)

My feeling is that first they implemented this rule in Zurich and now they want to do that in all cantons for the reason of uniformity.

No way to say, since each canton will do its own thing regarding this as they do with so many other things.

If in doubt, it seems most cantons and the federal government are moving towards making it more difficult to obtain C permit as well as naturalization. Hope for the best, plan for the longer-term scenario.

I have similar experiences: PhD in ETH with B permit, and later a job with unlimited contract since 07.2016 with L Permit. In 2018, I got B permit based on same company. In 06.2019, I tried to apply C permit in Zurich, which was actually 9.5 years since I moved to Zurich or Switzerland. And they issued me with C permit.

So according to my experience, the earliest date you can get C is 2022.

Maybe a silly question, but the years are counted only within the same canton right? If one changes canton, the count starts from 0 again?

No, shouldn't be.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Yes we had previously reports that it is possible to do so in ZH. However other cantons have not yet implemented it apparently.