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 January 1, 2018.
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.
The cantonal procedures in dealing with the situation vary:
- Aargau, Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zug:
- The authorities will establish a preliminary decision which will allow assignees to start work. The quota will be issued on January 1, 2018.
- Neuchatel, 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).
- Ticino
- The authorities will not issue any preliminary or temporary approvals. Any quota-based permits can be applied for only for assignments starting from January 1, 2018.
- Vaud
- The canton of Vaud refers to the online registration model which can be used as a temporary solution until January 1, 2018 (if the applicant still has registration days left).
The Swiss government decided to keep the reduced amount of permit quota for EU/EFTA nationals on assignment for the year 2017. For 2018, the Swiss Federal Council has decided to increase the work permit quotas. The quotas are allocated to the cantons on a quarterly basis.