REPUBLIQUE
ET CANTON
DE GENEVE

procedures - work permits - eu / efta

FIRST APPLICATION: B, L and G permits

• Nationals of a member State of the EU-25/EFTA
• Nationals of the new member States of the EU (EU-2)
• Particular case of paid activity: au pairs

I. Nationals of a member State of the EU-25/EFTA

(Germany, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain, France, Finland, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein.
Since 1st May 2011 : Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic)
These applications fall under the exclusive competence of the OCP.

II. Nationals of the new member States of the EU (EU-2)

Romania, Bulgaria

The admission of nationals from the new countries of the EU is subject to transitional provisions until 31 May 2016 at the latest for Bulgaria and Romania. During this period, any application to take up a position of gainful employment is subject to an examination of the labour market by the service for the employment of foreign nationals.

Applications concerning a first gainful self-employed activity are dealt with directly by the service Etrangers. Bulgarian and Romanian nationals have to prove their self-employed activity after an installation period of six months.

Attention : the EU-2 national in possession of a permit for a self-employed activity may not, without a new permit, take up a salaried position. The employer must lodge a prior application which is subject to the restrictive conditions hereinafter.

A work permit is necessary before taking up any employment, whatever its duration.

1. The followingconditions must be met for the granting of a work permit for a salaried position to a national of a EU-2 country :
   • Observance of priority for the Swiss labour market

     It is only when the Swiss labour market has been explored in vain that an application for an EU-2 national can be lodged. At the time of the lodging of an application for a work permit, the employer must give proof :

     • that it has announced the vacancy of the post to the cantonal employment office at least 21 days in advance and that the placement service has not been able to find a candidate within a reasonable time;
     • that it has carried out an in-depth search in Switzerland in order to find a Swiss or foreign worker already in Switzerland and with a work permit (press advertisements, recourse to employment agencies, etc);
     • that it cannot, for the post in question, train or have trained within a reasonable time a worker available on the Swiss labour market.
   • Observance of the salary and working conditions customary in the field
   • Availability of quotas for B and L permits
   • Examination of the qualifications for stays of less than 4 months (L permit )
   • Maintenance of the border zones for G permits


2. Procedure

   The application is always made by the employer.

   The following documents are generally necessary for the examination of the application :

   • the EU application form from the service Etrangers duly completed (or F for a cross-border application); this is available from the service Etrangers and may be downloaded from their website ;
   • a covering letter describing the employer's situation, its projects and the reasons for the engagement;
   • evidence of the search carried out on the Swiss market;
   • the copy of the contract of employment signed by the employer at least;
   • the curriculum vitae of the candidate and copies of the diplomas;
   • for a cross-border application, the proof of domicile in the border zone;
   • a copy of a valid national identity document;
   • 2 passport format photographs

   For all types of work permits, any application must - always - be lodged with the Cantonal Population Office. The service Etrangers opens a personal file for each foreigner and carries out a preliminary examination.

   The service Etrangers then transfers the file to the service for the employment of foreign nationals for the continuation of the examination of the application. This latter is submitted, according to the circumstances, to the Tripartite Commission for the economy of the canton of Geneva.

   The proceedings before the commission last 2 to 3 weeks in routine cases. Decisions for stays of less than 4 months are made directly by the service for the employment of foreign nationals within 1 to 6 days.

   The employer is informed in writing of the favourable decision or of the refusal by the service for the employment of foreign nationals. An appeal against a decision of refusal by the service for the employment of foreign nationals is possible within 30 days following the notification from this latter. The appeal procedure is described in the letter of refusal sent to the employer.

   The Service de la main-d'oeuvre étrangère (MOE) always returns the file on the foreign worker to the service Etrangers so that this latter may establish and issue the requested permit. The time needed depends on the possible information or additional documents to be provided to the service Etrangers by the employer.

3. Urgent cases

   If it is urgent for an EU-2 worker to take up an employment, a copy of all the documents lodged with the service Etrangers may be sent at the same time to the service for the employment of foreign nationals. The application is then dealt with in parallel with the preliminary examination by the service Etrangers, thus making it possible to save considerable time (several weeks depending on the case).

   Such urgent examinations must nevertheless remain the exception in order not to compromise the examination time of the other files, the competencies of the service Etrangers remaining reserved.

   Urgent cases must be justified, clearly announced as such and sent to :

   OCIRT, service for the employment of foreign nationals
   35, rue des Noirettes - PO Box 1255 - 1211 Geneva 26 La Praille.

   

III. Particular case of paid activity: au pairs

The following conditions must be observed:

• the language spoken by the host family and the region must be different from that of the au pair;
• the initial duration of one year may be extended by one year at the maximum;
• the au pair should be 17 to 30 years old;
• the engagement is subject to a written contract of employment defining the rights and duties of the au pair and the host family (enclose copy of the contract of employment);
• the working conditions of the standard contract for au pairsmineures ormajeures are observed (wages, schedule of work, etc);
• the nature of the activities required corresponds to the au pair placement (no complex tasks);
• the au pair has her own bedroom in the home of the host family;
• the employer must insure the au pair against sickness with a health insurance fund in Switzerland and assume half the costs;
• attendance at a language course is compulsory. The costs of schooling are the responsibility of the employer;
• availability of quota for EU-2 nationals.

Attention : au pairs do not have professional mobility. Any change of employment is subject to permit. For EU-2 nationals, this permit is only issued if the conditions relating to the labour market are observed (priority for the local market and observance of salary and working conditions).