On September 28, 2018, the Federal Council of Switzerland announced new quotas for work permit applications submitted during the 2019 calendar year that will be released on January 1, 2019.
Federal authorities have decided to increase the total number of “B” long-term permits for non-EU/EFTA nationals by 1000 authorizations (4500 in total) and decrease the number of “L” short term permits by 500 authorizations (4000 in total).
In addition, the federal authorities have decided not to change the total number of “B” long-term and “L” short-term for foreigners seconded from an employer based in the EU/EFTA.
Who is affected
All businesses who plan to hire or transfer non-EU/EFTA nationals and EU/EFTA nationals seconded workers to Switzerland during the 2019 upcoming calendar year.
The new quotas for work permit applications apply to the following applicants:
What to expect
The Swiss government announced the following quotas for 2019:
The quotas for non-EU/EFTA national or foreigners seconded from an employer based outside of the EU/EFTA are released on a calendar year basis while the quotas for foreigners seconded from an employer based in the EU/EFTA are released on a quarterly basis.
Please note that although more work permits will be available for non-EU/EFTA nationals or foreigners seconded from an employer based outside of EU/EFTA, the quota may be depleted before the end of the year. Furthermore, permit quotas for foreigners seconded from an employer based in the EU/EFTA may be depleted before the end of each quarter.
Authorities will privilege the applications representing the most important economic interest for Switzerland (e.g. executives, positions in a sector of activity with a severe lack of resources, cases with high political implications, companies operating in an innovative sector developing new mandates for the Swiss economy, etc.).
What you need to do