SWITZERLAND – 2017 Quotas for EU/EFTA L and B Permits for Assignees Exhausted
The 2017 quota for short-term L permits and long-term B permits for assignees from European Union (EU) / European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) countries, has been filled.
For new, incoming EU/EFTA nationals who are assigned to Switzerland but remain on their foreign employment contracts, new permit quotas will only be available from 1 January 2018.
Who is Not Affected?
Permits not subject to quotas, such as the local-hire B permit, the 120-day permit and the four-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:
Aargau
The authorities will establish a preliminary decision which will allow assignees to start work. The quota will be issued on 1 January 2018.
Basel
The authorities will establish a preliminary decision which will allow assignees to start work. The quota will be issued on 1 January 2018.
Bern
The authorities will establish a preliminary decision which will allow assignees to start work. The quota will be issued on 1 January 2018.
Geneva
The authorities will establish a preliminary decision which will allow assignees to start work. The quota will be issued on 1 January 2018.
Neuchatel
The authorities will grant permit approval for one or two months for the time being (if the applicant has not already used four months in the past 12 months).
Ticino
The authorities will not issue any preliminary or temporary approvals. Any quota-based permits can be applied for only for assignments starting from 1 January 2018.
Vaud
The canton of Vaud refers to the online registration model which can be used as a temporary solution until 1 January 2018 (if the applicant still has registration days left).
Zug
The authorities will establish a preliminary decision which will allow assignees to start work. The quota will be issued on 1 January 2018.
Zurich
The authorities will grant permit approval for one or two months for the time being (if the applicant has not already used four months in the past 12 months).
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). For 2018, the Swiss Federal Council has decided to increase the work permit quotas (see our alert of 2 October 2017).
The quotas are allocated to the cantons on a quarterly basis.
Action Items
- Allow for possible delays with sending EU/EFTA nationals to Switzerland on assignment.
- Contact your immigration supplier for any new EU/EFTA national assignments to Switzerland, as pending applications will be treated differently depending on the canton.
