Hey all. I'm back on here for some more advice!

My boyfriend is Swiss and I am American. My plan of coming here to be an au pair while I found a real job worked, but with one hitch. HR refused to try and get a B permit for me at the time because they thought it would be too hard and take too much time. Because I was needed very soon for this job and I didn't really have much choice as this was my only job offer, I flew to America and took the burden of filling out all my own information to get a traineeship L permit. HR wanted it for 6 months so they could extend it to the maximum amount of time later. It all worked out and I came back here in summer.

Now my department boss would rather I have a long term permit, but he doesn't deal with this stuff. He leaves it up to HR. They have been told now to try and figure out a long term permit for me.

HR's plan right now is to extend my visa for the maximum 18 months allowed on this L permit, but after that the L permit is non-renewable. They said they will "try" (I sure hope they try!) to get a B permit for me in 2011 then, but HR is VERY negative about the outcome of this. It's been hinted that they could just find someone else from Schweiz or the EU easily. And when I say hinted I mean that's what they said. Ouch! They also said maybe if I were getting married that would change things, but for all HR has NOT done for me so far... I don't really feel like I should have to jump into marriage because they don't feel like doing their jobs.

Simply put, my boss is not going to be happy if he loses me and has to spend another 1-2 years training someone to be good at this job. (It supposedly takes 1 year at least to become decent) and HR and IT in our company are notorious for having little to no understanding of how the other departments work, not to mention those departments are mainly Swiss so the *could* be a little biased.

However, my boss, along with his boss, and several of my fellow coworkers are all confused why HR hasn't tried to get a B permit for me. We are a large international company and they just recently in January hired someone from Australia... who would have the same permit issues as someone like me. Why did the Australian get a B permit and I'm stuck with L?

I feel a little let down when I hear from so many people how someone from America or other "third world" countries has gotten a B permit, and when so many of my colleagues are honestly confounded as to why I am not getting one either. Is HR really being honest with me when they say it is SO hard and NEARLY impossible to get a B permit? Or are they just being lazy or obstinate?

Should I continue to try and press them to try and get a B permit for me or shut my yap up? I'm kind of tired of the "just get married!!" comments for now, and I would really just like someone to care about me enough to give me a B permit. Yeah, sounds a little whiny I know... but it's stressing me out!

Anyway, I just wondered what you guys think and what your experiences as Non-Eu's have been. Thanks!

Read around the forum...what HR is saying is true...

If you aren't Swiss or from the EU you do not have priority - to get you a visa they have to prove you have skills/experience/expertise not found from candidates locally or in the EU...

Yes, marriage is the 'easier' solution...they won't generally reject you a visa if you are married to someone who has the right to live permanently here...

The HR has limited influence on the L/B thing - the issue is that you were employed as a 'trainee'. If you didn't have a trainee visa, do you actually have skills/education/qualifications/experience that would get you into Switzerland on your own merit....that they couldn't find amongst other candidates ?

Even if you did have such qualifications, you would more than likely get an L permit for the first 2 years - that seems to be the pattern lately...and I get the distinct impression that there is 'no point' in trying to upgrade your visa until the current one is due to expire...and generally you are expected to be grateful you have the visa at all...

Is there a reason why you aren't happy with your L permit ? Apart from feeling 'temporary' ? Which, by the way, I can totally relate to...

Well apart from not being able to roam outside the country with my cell phone unless I put another 300 franc deposit (in addition to the initial 300 franc deposit) down, not being able to rent a flat on my own, and not being allowed a credit card unless I put down a 2000 franc deposit which would also act as my credit limit, I am fine with my L permit right now.

I'm just already concerned about what happens when the L permit has run it's full 18 months, and my boss just wants it to be long term anyhow. To him, he wasn't hiring a "trainee". He was hiring me to fill the position after doing a search in Switzerland and all of the EU, including flying out to London to interview people. Trainee just happened to be the only way HR would let me do the paperwork, even though they could have proved they did searches throughout the whole EU region.

If this is the current norm, do you think I'll run into issues when the time comes to have to get a new (hopefully B) permit?

Your situation seems a bit strange on the surface.....

Why, if your company could have proved that you were the only person out of all the thousands of Swiss and Eu members, not apply and submit the proper documents to prove this and secure you a more permanent Visa(B)? The HR dept. can only submit the proper paperwork and hope for the best. If as they said, they could easily find someone from CH or EU to fill your job, what position do you want them to take with the authorities. They will have to show your credentials/CV/etc, and prove that no one else has the same credentials coming from the EU and CH.

My wife, coming from the EU-8, had to jump through hoops, aswell. The authorities had the company that wanted to hire her repost the job ad for an additional 30 days! And she had to present all pertinent docs/CV and reference letters from previous employers to HR for them to bolster their position in why she should be allowed to take the job. In the end she did receive a (B) permit.

And, considering what is happening with American here regarding banks not wanting to do business with us, maybe other companies are starting to follow this trend. The Swiss are very private, and they do not like being told what to do, especially by a foreign government. The U.S.... If you are on their payroll, it could subject them to more scrutiny regarding handling your taxes etc...

Maybe, when your L permit nears it's end, you can have your boyfriend sponsor you... I think he would have to sign a documents stating he would be responsible for you financially for up to 30,000 CHF. You should check into it.

Who knows, maybe by the time your permit is up, you will have had enough of CH and are ready to leave....

So, stop worrying and just deal with the cards you've been dealt. Enjoy your time here!

Life happens while you are making plans.....