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18 November 2021
Are you young, completed your education abroad and fancy a job in Switzerland? - No problem thanks to the Stagiaire agreements!
Switzerland has entered into bilateral agreements with various countries outside the EU/EFTA area with the purpose of giving young professionals (stagiares/trainees) the opportunity to deepen their professional knowledge abroad and at the same time improve their foreign language skills in an uncomplicated manner and irrespective of the current labour market situation (Art. 30 AIG and Art. 42 VZAE).
Switzerland currently has trainee agreements with 13 countries worldwide. Particularly worth mentioning are Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, USA and Russia. However, there are also agreements with smaller and economically less significant countries, namely Argentina, Chile, Monaco, the Philippines, South Africa, Tunisia and Ukraine.
In order to be admitted to the Swiss labour market as a trainee, an applicant must be a national of one of the above-mentioned contracting states and fulfil the following conditions:
Part-time work and self-employment are not permitted.
If a company employs several trainees at the same time, they may not account for more than 5% of the total workforce.
Basis for the permit is a signed employment contract. In addition to the usual conditions regarding salary, probationary period, working hours, holiday entitlement, duration of the employment (max. 18 months) etc., a further training programme, deployment schedule, coursework etc. must be included.
The application, including all necessary enclosures, must be submitted by the foreign national to the competent authorities in the home country. It can be submitted in German, French or English (the official application form can be downloaded from the website of the State Secretary for Migration, SEM). The foreign authorities forward the application to the SEM for approval. While the application is being reviewed, the applicant may not yet reside in Switzerland. The decision will be communicated by the SEM to the authorities in the home country, who then issue the documents required for entry and employment.
Like all foreigners who take up residence in Switzerland in order to get gainful employment, young professionals must also register with the residents' registration office at their place of residence within 14 days.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Immigration Team.
Author: Urs Haegi
Co-Author: Andrea Elvedi
Category: Immigration
Attorney at Law
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