Hello everyone,

I am planning to move to Switzerland for a job. My employer applied for my permit by the end of February. In the beginning of March I have got a letter that my application was received from the Immigration office Basel. But then all applications processing was suspended. Recently, I have contacted the Immigration officer to ask about my status and was told that my application might start processing from 15.06. Does it mean that I will need to wait at least for 8 weeks again? My job starts from 01.08., is it possible that they could issue a D-national visa until my contract begins? I have a residence-permit from EU, which expires exactly when my job contract starts. Your advice would be helpful to me. Thank you.

Welcome to the Forum.

Unfortunately no one knows if your D-visa will be processed in time for you to arrive and start on 3 August (1 August is a holiday and a Saturday). There's a backlog, but it sounds like you're at least in that queue instead of starting fresh today.

12 weeks is quite common for first-time, non-EU. Also there's no guarantee you'll receive B permit, so be prepared for that. To me, 8 weeks seems reasonable given the circumstances.

What you can do in a few weeks is contact immigration again. Instead of asking just "what's the status", ask if there is any additional information they need to help keep things moving.


Good luck and keep us posted. It will be helpful to know how quickly things are moving.

Also - which canton? Some seem to be much slower than others.

That is surprising to hear, the immigration website says that non-EU applications that were submitted before 18 March and were suspended, should be re-processed starting from 11 May:
https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home...FTA%20citizens)

It's not really possible to know if it will be delayed, or if it will actually be sped up now they are trying to get things back to normal...



Generally, the Swiss are extremely good with processes and procedures, but generally the timing is maximum 3 months from when the paperwork was correctly submitted. If it is rejected, that will happen quite quickly...so essentially 'no news is good news' .


From my experience, but that was a long time ago, the consulate will be the last to know when it is ready for the D visa. The employer is the one handling the paperwork with the authorities in Switzerland, and they will have a contact person and know when they can enquire on the progress.


As for your arrival, it really depends on whether the visa gets processed in time. Either way, your employer should be fine to wait...



To be on the safe side I would check if it possible to stay as a tourist for a period of time in the EU after your EU permit expires. Generally, you cannot enter Switzerland until you have that D Permit for residency purposes...



Out of curiosity, what passport do you hold and what country are you currently in ?

The canton is Basel. Once I applied, some documents were missing and immigration office contacted me to send missing documents to them. So I don't think they might need something additional from me. I will ask them again in a month probably if I don't get any news. Thank you.

I was thinking the same. But it seems it was not my case =(

Thank you for your answer. I hoped at least they would keep processing applications and issue visas after June 15. Though, it doesn't seem like the case. In any case, I can apply for the extension of my EU permit and keep waiting. I currently live in Finland (from Kazakhstan).

Hi guys again,

I wanted to let you know that I have got permission to entry today from the Immigration office. It means that most probably applications during covid19 still were processing. Good luck to everyone, who is waiting their response!