Both my husband and I are US citizens. He is currently employed/studying with a university here in the US. (He earns a paycheck being a student) He is planning on doing research in CERN. His paycheck will still come from the university. My questions are....
1. Can I come with him?
2. Can I apply for a working permit?
3. I have read many posts regarding work is easier to find if you have skills that are in need. Does anyone know if there is a need for construction managers? (My current employment here)
4. Can I have a web based business and not have a working permit?

Thank you so much for your help!

Yes indeed you can come with him.
No you cannot as you get one "free of charge" - As he is an employee I assume of CERN you will get a Ci permit. This is basically allowing you to jump the queue. Info here: http://www.bfm.admin.ch/index.php?id=258&L=3&S=0

3. No idea.
4. Not if you come with him as you will have a permit but of course you can have the business

Its a pleasure;-)

Hi,
there are quite a few jobs advertised for project managers in building/civils etc on various websites www.adecco.ch and www.manpower.ch , www.kellyservices.ch etc . try the big agencies and look at the construction company websites- Losinger are recruiting now. However most of them will require very good French.I think they were looking for bilingual english /french recently
jo

Question - its not completely clear from your original post - he remains an employee of the US university and is a visiting scientist at CERN or he will be an employee at CERN?

Employee of CERN all the other answers apply, but as a visiting scientist you are much more limited. Then you can come with him on a tourist visa (3 months I think), but you can use that time looking for a job if you like, but you need to find one that is willing to hire you and get you a permit, since you husband wouldn't then have one. On the tourist visa you can definitely run a web business so long as it is not obviously based and directed for the CH market (then they might start asking questions!).

Hope he's a CERN employee!

Hi tinap,

Your husband will be classified as a CERN User and will qualify for an Attestation des Fonctions on which you will be included. This is a residence permit and not a work permit. You may be allowed to work 10 hours a week under that permit, but see http://ph-dep.web.cern.ch/ph-dep/UsersOffice/ for more info for users. Web businesses would be fine as long as you register it in the States.

My wife and I have been here for 6 months where I am a user. It is extremely difficult for a user's spouse to obtain work without a work permit if they are not from Switzerland or the EU. The job market here is very tight. Potential employers must act as a sponsor for you to obtain a permit and this is very rare. However, it is a significant help if you are fluent in French.

Good luck!

Hello,
I was wondering if you ever got this all figured out (I'm assuming so since this thread was created a few years ago).
I'm going to be relocating to CERN this summer and my husband will be in a similar situation. I'm going to contact the user's office too, but I figured I'd ask someone with actual experience. What type of visa should he apply for, or do the Ci permit and Attestation des Fonctions count as a residence permit? The initial impression I got was he could basically piggy back off my visa. Is this true or will he need to apply for his own separately?

Thanks

No, he needs to piggyback yours, otherwise he's unlikely to get one at all.

Thank you! The User's Office just responded as well saying he just needs to obtain a French/Swiss card (obviously depending on where we decide to live). They didn't go into detail though. Do we just bring a copy of our marriage license when we apply for our cards? Does he need to do anything else here in the States?

Thanks again.

Check with the Geneva migration office for their exact requirements.

Office cantonal de la population et des migrations (OCPM)
Service Étrangers et Confédérés
Rte de Chancy 88
1213 Onex
tél. : 022 546 48 88
fax : 022 546 48 10
Internet

You both also need to apply for Type D visas at the nearest Swiss embassy. If permits are granted to you, you'll need the visas stamped into your passports to enable you to enter Switzerland long term (more than 90 days) legally.