I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by hyperion_ on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @11:45AM (#9765411)

Switzerland is not a part of the EU.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by eax_ on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @02:41PM (#9766751)

Right, but it's part of the Schengen area, which also covers most of the EU countries, so once you got a visa to e.g. France, you're free to work and live in Switzerland as well.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by avz on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @04:52PM (#9767699)

Nope. There are many different types of Schengen visa [1] and it generally does not allow you to work. For this you need a national visa from a specific member state [2]. So, no, if you get a work permit in France, you are not free to live and work in Switzerland. In fact, EU citizens generally need a residency and work permit if they wish to live and work there.

[1] http://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-types/ [2] http://www.schengenvisainfo.com/frequently-asked-questions-s...

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by jahnu on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @05:10PM (#9767824)

> In fact, EU citizens generally need a residency and work permit if they wish to live and work there.

No, they generally don't.

https://www.ch.ch/en/working-switzerland-eu-efta/

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by avz on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:28AM (#9776434)

From the page: "For employment lasting longer than three months, a residence permit is required."

I named their permit incorrectly: should be "residence permit" instead of "residency and work permit". The point remains that EU citizens generally need an official permit to work in Switzerland.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by semigroupoid on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @05:17PM (#9767872)

EU citizens have the right to move to and work in any country within the EU. See here: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=457

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by cosmolev on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @05:29PM (#9767961)

Switzerland is not in EU.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by semigroupoid on Wednesday June 24, 2015 @06:07AM (#9770628)

I thought he meant France. Anyway, the correct link to the Swiss page was already posted.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by jotm on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @06:44PM (#9768321)

Switzerland is not part of the EU nor Schengen. Eu citizens can travel visa-free to Switzerland, but they can't work there. Same goes for US and many other nationals...

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by jotm on Wednesday June 24, 2015 @02:44AM (#9770032)

It seems I was wrong about the Schengen part. Switzerland is part of Schengen, which is what allows EU citizens to travel there visa-free.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by cosmolev on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @05:27PM (#9767937)

Wrong. You can enter Switzerland with a Schengen visa as a tourist. Finding work in Switzerland is difficult (employer has to prove it can't hire Swiss citizen for this position).

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by pkaye on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @03:36PM (#9767165)

Alright what about France and Germany?

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by orkoden on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @05:06PM (#9767794)

It depends where you are from. But it's not that hard for US and Canadian citizens if you have a job or want to study. You won't be thrown out as quickly as in the US.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by bnegreve on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @04:20PM (#9767498)

You don't need to do anything inside the Schengen area in order to be allowed to "reside permanently". For the citizenship, it's a different issue I guess.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by sampo on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @08:07PM (#9768697)

> Is it much easier in the EU?

You still need a job offer to first enter the country, but changing jobs will involve less bureaucracy than in the USA, and after having been employed in the country for 5-10 years, and speaking a local language, you can apply for permanent residency or citizenship yourself, so the hassle of needing you employer to do it for you, does not exist.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by pkaye on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @09:15PM (#9768962)

In the US, most H1B hires I personally know have had their green card sponsorship started within an year of hire. Then it takes about 2-3 years to get it finalized. I knew of one who even got the process started in 2 months.

So there are some differences from other countries but no 5-10 years wait.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by storgendibal on Wednesday June 24, 2015 @01:23AM (#9769790)

Wrong. The green card on EB2 takes 6-8 years for Indian and Chinese born immigrants. On EB3, it can take over 10 years. The green card process involves a per-country quota. Folks from countries other than India, China, and a couple of others get it "finalized" in 2-3 years.

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Re:I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American an... by sampo on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @09:43PM (#9769076)

> 5-10 years wait

I mean, having been in the country 5-10 years, depending on the country, is a requirement of getting the citizenship, not just to to get the process started.

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