SWITZERLAND – Quotas for EU/EFTA L Permits Exhausted for First Quarter of 2015
The Q1 2015 quota for short term L permits (for assignments longer than four months and generally up to one year), 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 short term L permits until the second quarter of 2015.
New short term L permit quotas for EU/EFTA nationals will be available from 1 April 2015. Some cantons will, in the meantime, continue to accept new applications in this category and will keep them on hold until the second quarter of 2015; other cantons will not. This should be checked on a case-by-case basis.
Who is Not Affected?
The quotas for long term (over one year) B permits have not yet been filled.
Also, permits not subject to quotas, such as the 120 day permit and the short term permit for assignments of up to four months are not affected.
The first quarter 2015 quotas for non-EU/EFTA nationals have also not yet been filled.
Background
The Swiss government has reduced the work permit quotas for the year 2015 (see our alert of 1 December 2014). 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 supplier, or our partner (details below), for any new EU/EFTA national assignments to Switzerland, as pending applications will be treated differently depending on the canton.
