Hello

I have entered an employment position with a company in Neuchatel for November 1st and will move to the canton accordingly.

Thank you for the many inputs on this forum. I know some of my questions may have been answered previously.

But with different information from different sites, I was hoping someone in a similar situation would please provide some practical experience in applying for a permit B and getting a rental apartment in the Neuchatel canton (Boudry, Colombier).

- My employment will be >12 mos and I'm an EU citizen (Denmark). I have my employment contract signed by both parties. I believe that means a Permit B as the correct option. Do I apply from the Swiss embassy here or show up at the cantonal office to apply for a permit B?
- Will the permit B be issued right away or is there a waiting period to receive it?
- With regards to getting an apartment, did you AirBnB for a while and look for one, or did you arrange one before entering? Were any rental agencies particularly helpful for expats?
- I have seen some mentions of a debt certificate ("extrait du registre des poursuites") to get an apartment - how did you collect this or would the contract be similar?

Best regards!

Hi there,

I am just after coming across your post and will try my best to help but can only really provide my personal experience.

When I first arrived in Switzerland my company had arranged for me to stay in a bed and breakfast for the first month or two to allow me to find a place to live. I would recommend this and can provide you with a B&B recommendation in Boudry if you would like. You can search for apartments in Boudry or all over Switzerland on www.comparis.ch. The website will also allow you to shop around for insurance prices etc.

Regarding permit, when I first arrived I visited the local commune town hall to "announce myself". For this you will need a copy of your work contract and some ID and will need to fill out an application form for your residence permit. Perhaps your company could advise you if you require anything else. From there it will take up to a few weeks for your permit to be processed but from what you have said, it should be a permit B that is issued. If you go to to rent an apartment before receiving the permit and needed to provide proof of residence then the commune might provide an attestation of your permit application.

I hope this helps for the moment, if you have any further questions about the area then don't hesitate to get in touch!

Best of luck

Hello,

Welcome to Neuchatel!
Just want to share my experience, maybe related with your condition.

For permit B application, if i remembered correctly, the process already started in the home country (fill and send some form, work contract, etc.. to the swiss embassy). We get the temporary schengen visa. Upon arrival in Switzerland, proceed to Commune to register ourself and obtain the permit.
Since you are from EU, i don’t know if it would be different.. (as you don’t need visa).

For apartment, we were provided a temporary accommodation and relocation service agent (in our case, the vendor was Packimpex) to help with settle in (register in Commune, opening bank account) and apartment searching until sign the contract.
This service is helpful if you don’t speak French yet, as most of the contracts and communication are in French, and not all the tenant/property/apartment agent can speak English.

For renting the apartment, in my experience i dont need the ‘debt letter’. I just need the B permit, and need to open an account for deposit (the amount is usually around 3x the rent).
Otherwise, for a cheaper alternative, you can request for amount guarantee to company like Firstcaution etc. They will give you the guarantee letter which you can provide to Gerance/Management whose property you rented. You will then need to pay the fee to the Firstcaution, and can renew every year.

Hope it helps. Best of luck!

EU nationals just need an employment contract with a Swiss employer and they can't apply for a permit outside of Switzerland. It must be done once they arrive here.

For non-EU nationals the process is different, since the permit has to be pre-approved by the cantonal/Federal government. If it's not then you don't get the job (despite signing an employment contract - there will always be a paragraph in it to say subject to permit approval) and don't get a permit/visa. The non-EU permit application procedure is outlined here:

https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home...ensablauf.html