Swiss immigration outlook 2023 - Part 2

Part 2 of this blog covers the changes regarding the job registration and the language requirements, the admission for non-EU/EFTA citizens holding a CH university degree to the CH labor market, the extension of the status S and of the SMA with the UK.

As of 1 January 2023, several amendments regarding Swiss immigration law will come into effect. KPMG Law provides you with an overview of the latest decisions taken by the Federal Council.

Every year, the Federal Council updates the list of occupations that are subject to registration. This list contains every occupation in Switzerland with an unemployment rate exceeding 5%. Swiss employers are obliged to register open positions of listed jobs at the local unemployment office. In addition, they are not allowed to publicly advertise open positions within five working days after their registration. The regulation aims at making jobs in areas with higher unemployment rate available exclusively to Swiss citizens before offering them to EU/EFTA and other citizens. The job registration requirement provides priority for Swiss citizens over EU/EFTA citizens for a limited period. You may find additional information in KPMG’s initial blog to this topic.

The updated list of job openings which are subject to registration from 1 January 2023 can be accessed via this link. 

The list of occupation types that are subject to the job registration requirement was extended in 2021 and 2022 due to the pandemic and the consequential rise of unemployment. For 2023, however, the number of occupations has been reduced. 

The Federal Council has released a message that non-EU/EFTA citizens graduating from a Swiss university or a Federal Institute of Technology with a master or a doctoral degree in an area with a shortage of skilled workforce should have simplified access to the Swiss labor marked. 

Already today, graduates from non-EU/EFTA countries with degrees e.g. in mathematics and computer science may be exempt from quotas in case they pursue gainful work in Switzerland in areas with a shortage of skilled workers. The Federal Council has proposed to amend the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (FNIA) regarding such graduates from Swiss universities. In the future, they will be able to stay and work in Switzerland if they are employed in areas with high scientific or economic interest for Switzerland. For such employments, the quotas, which are normally applicable for non-EU/EFTA job seekers, will be lifted. Nevertheless, the other admission requirements (e.g. education and employment in areas with high scientific and/or economic interest for Switzerland) will remain the same. In practice, hiring non-EU/EFTA citizens with a Swiss university degree will be in the discretion of the different cantons and can hence still be a complex process.

It is estimated that around 200 to 300 graduates per year will benefit from this amended FNIA. In general, this group of people is well integrated in Switzerland. 

The planned amendment in the FNIA is expected to enter into force once and if it passes public hearing and the decision by the parliament. 

In March 2022 the Federal Council activated the protection scheme (status S) for “people in need of protection” due to the outbreak of the Ukrainian war. The protection status, which was limited to one year, has now been extended by the Federal Council until 4 March 2024. A condition for the lifting of status S is lasting stability in Ukraine, which, according to the Federal Council, is presently not the case.

Therefore, Ukrainian citizens and non-Ukrainian citizens with valid residence permits in Ukraine who have fled the war can still apply for the protection status (S-permit) in Switzerland. The S-permit can be applied at any open border crossing or at one of the six federal asylum centers. The entry visa exemptions for Ukrainian citizens still applies.

The federal as well as the cantonal authorities have agreed to extended support measures and according to the immigration authorities in Switzerland, the resident’s offices of the respective municipality will be responsible for processing the extension of S-permits. 

At this point in time, the registration offices cannot confirm the details of the process of permit extension. It is expected that the process will involve S-permit holders to appear at the local Swiss authorities in charge, in person, and to complete an extension form. As the authorities expect a large demand for permit extensions in the coming few months, an expected processing time is difficult to communicate but the process is estimated to take approx. 3-5 weeks, at least. However, the right to remain (working) will still be valid once the application has been submitted with the authorities, even if the current permit has expired and the new has not yet been issued.

The SMA between the UK and Switzerland, which was due to run out at the end of 2022, has been extended until 31 December 2025. The bilateral agreement applied since January 2021 facilitates access for services providers despite the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and services to alleviate the immediate effects of Brexit on companies and working professionals. 

As a result of the extension of the SMA, service providers located in the UK may still send their employees or themselves to Switzerland to provide services for up to 90 days in a calendar year using the online notification procedure. The following employees can be registered: 

• UK-citizens employed in the UK (incl. self-employment); and
• Non-UK citizens employed in the UK, if integrated long-term in the regular labor market in the UK (either for at least twelve months with a temporary residence permit or with a settlement permit).

Self-employed service providers who are EU/EFTA citizens resident in the UK can continue to provide services if the following two conditions are met: the service provision has started no later than 31 December 2020 and a written contract has been concluded before that date. 

The SMA only applies to cross-border services provisions of up to 90 days per calendar year and per employer. Any local hires are governed by the FNIA. You may find more detailed information about the extension of the SMA and its consequences in our latest blog. 

EU citizens of countries with which Switzerland has concluded a settlement treaty are generally entitled to a C-permit after an ordinary and uninterrupted stay of five years, if the integration criteria are met and no grounds for revocation exist. Citizens of these countries (below) were previously exempt from the general language requirements in connection with a C-permit application.

Switzerland has particularly concluded settlement treaties with the following EU-countries:

• Belgium
• Germany
• Denmark
• France
• Liechtenstein
• Greece
• Italy
• The Netherlands
• Austria
• Portugal
• Spain

On 1 October 2022, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has issued a directive amendment to the FNIA. According to the amendment, foreigners applying for a C-permit must prove that they possess the required language skills (at least: oral A2, written A1). The cantons are yet to transpose this directive into their practice, but it’s expected that the first cantons will start as of 1 January 2023. Hence, EU citizens of these countries will soon need to meet the required language requirements to obtain a C-permit as a new prerequisite.

The KPMG immigration team will make sure to share any future immigration-related changes on the different media channels (Flash Alerts, Social Media, Client Mailing). In case you have a general query or even a specific case, do not hesitate to contact your immigration experts at KPMG.