Non-EU/EFTA member states (third countries): Commencement of work with an employer in Switzerland and postings

Third-country nationals are subject to particular provisions regarding admission to the Swiss labour market. Information about access to the Swiss labour market is available from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM).

As of 1 January 2019, employment for recognised refugees (B permit),  temporarily admitted refugees (F permit) and temporarily admitted foreign nationals (F permit) is no longer subject to the requirement of an authorisation, but to the duty to notify. Before commencing employment, which can be executed throughout Switzerland, in compliance with the wage and employment conditions customary for the location and sector, employers / self-employed persons / mandated third parties must submit a notification to the responsible authority. In the Canton of Basel-Stadt, this is the Migrationsamt (migration office) Basel-Stadt. Consequently, notifications as well as further queries are to be sent to the following email address: Va-Flue.Migrabs@bs.ch.

General information for Swiss and foreign employers wishing to locally hire or post a third-country national to Switzerland.

As regards gainful work, the following foreign persons require a work permit and are subject to restrictive conditions under the law on foreign nationals:

• People who enter Switzerland for work purposes
  • Start of employment/immigration
  • Cross-border commuters
  • Postings
• Students with part-time jobs
• Family members of persons with a short-term residence (permit L)
• Asylum seekers (permit N) wishing to work after expiry of the waiting period

There are special conditions for:

Internships

In the case of applications for interns, decisions are made exclusively by the SEM based on existing internship contracts with the individual countries. See also Internship programmes.

Trainings

A work permit for a trainee may only be submitted if it relates to a mandatory internal corporate group or compulsory university training. In the latter case, the application must be submitted to us by one of the two student organisations IAESTE or AIESEC.

Important information: against the backdrop of the tense quota situation, only applications that meet the overall economic interest can be approved at present.

Please submit the completed application via our work permit platform (for this please use the link below, beginning with "Online application for a work permit...") or by post to the following address:

Office of Economy and Labour
Work Permits
Sandgrubenstrasse 44
P.O.Box
4005 Basel

Important note: Do not submit applications by email!

Please note

Face-to-face appointments by prior arrangement only.
Telephone advice
09:00 - 11:00 a.m.
02:00 - 04:00 p.m.
Tel. +41 61 267 50 60
ab.awa@bs.ch