Switzerland: 2010 Work Permit Quotas
Switzerland: 2010 Work Permit Quotas
Employers will soon be unable to obtain work permits in many Swiss cantons because 2010 work permit quotas are at or near exhaustion. Additional quota numbers are not expected unless cantonal authorities can demonstrate an absolute economic need for additional foreign workers.
Work permit quotas for 2010 are at or near exhaustion in many of the Swiss cantons with strong global economic sectors, such as Basel, Geneva, Vaud, and Zurich. Once a canton’s quota is exhausted, employers cannot sponsor non-European nationals for B-Permits (used for long-term assignments) or L-Permits (issued for a period up to one year). The Swiss Federal Council reduced the quotas for 2010 by fifty percent.
Many cantons have requested additional quota numbers from the federal government. Federal authorities have indicated that, in principle, they will only release additional quota figures to a specific canton if the cantonal authorities can demonstrate an absolute economic need for additional foreign workers. Cantonal authorities are expected to grant future B- and L-permits very sparingly, and as a result employers will need to demonstrate:
- The foreign worker is absolutely necessary or essential to the Swiss employer, its client, its project (if any), and to the cantonal economy and the Swiss economy as a whole;
- The foreign national is a highly qualified professional; and
- The foreign national will receive a salary that reflects high professional skills.
L- and B-permit applications that are rejected because the quotas are exhausted may be resubmitted at a later date if additional quota numbers are released. Federal authorities are expected to announce in June 2010 whether they will release new quota numbers for July to December 2010.
The separate quotas for foreign nationals from the EU’s “Accession 8” countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic, and Slovenia) and for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals were not lowered for 2010, and are not nearing exhaustion.
Note that work permit quotas apply only to first-time applicants seeking to take up employment in Switzerland, and the B-Permit quota also applies to those seeking to convert an L-Permit into a B-Permit. Work permit extensions are not subject to the quotas. Prospective non-European national workers may also be eligible for four-month work permits, which are not subject to a quota but have other restrictions, and it is likely that they will not be able to extend their status from within Switzerland.
In preparing this alert, Fragomen worked closely with SuterHowald (Switzerland). The content is provided for informational purposes only.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Global or send an email toemea@fragomen.com.
Source: Fragomen
Related News Stories: