SWITZERLAND – Quotas for EU/EFTA L and B Permits Exhausted for Third Quarter of 2017
The quota for L and B permits for the third quarter of 2017, for assignees from European Union (EU) / European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) countries, has been filled.
Who is Affected?
New, incoming EU/EFTA nationals who are assigned to Switzerland but remain on foreign employment contracts will not be issued L or B permits until 1 October 2017.
Who is Not Affected?
The quota for permits not subject to quotas, such as the 120-day permit and the 4-month short-term permit, are not affected. Quotas for non-EU/EFTA nationals are also not affected.
Cantonal Variations
The cantonal procedures in dealing with the situation vary:
Zurich
The authorities will grant permit approval for one month for the time being (if the applicant has not already used four months in the past 12 months). From mid-September, applicants can request a quota-based permit for the duration after expiration of that month, and should be able to join the applications which fall under the next quarter, from 1 October 2017 onwards.
Basel and Geneva
The authorities will establish a preliminary decision which will allow assignees to start work. The quota will be issued on 1 October 2017.
Bern
The canton of Bern has a delay in processing at the moment, and is not likely to be able to process pending applications for quota-based permits earlier than 1 October 2017 in any case.
Geneva
The authorities will establish a preliminary decision which will allow assignees to start work. The quota will be issued on 1 October 2017.
Vaud
The canton of Vaud refers applicants to online registration, which can be used as a temporary solution until 1 October 2017 (if the applicant still has registration days left).
Ticino
The authorities in Ticino will not issue any preliminary or temporary approvals. Any quota-based permits can be applied for only for assignments starting from 1 October 2017.
All other cantons
Still under investigation.
Background
The Swiss government decided to keep the reduced amount of permit quota for EU/EFTA nationals on assignment for the year 2017 (see our alert of 13 October 2016). The quotas are allocated to the cantons on a quarterly basis.
Action Items
- Allow for possible delays with sending EU/EFTA nationals to Switzerland.
- Contact your immigration supplier for any new EU/EFTA national assignments to Switzerland, as pending applications will be treated differently depending on the canton.
