WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH
SWISS WORK PERMITS
FOR BRITISH TRAINEES?

Getting a ski instructor job after the Saas Fee and Verbier courses has always been popular.

WHAT’S THE CURRENT SITUATION?

As EU members British workers used an EU-Swiss deal to get work permits in the past.

But after leaving the EU, Britain had no replacement work permit deal with Switzerland.

So until the UK negotiates a new deal we have defaulted to the rules for ‘third nation nationals’.

That means instead of being fairly easy to get work permits, it hasn’t been possible.

But are things going to change?

HAS ANYTHING CHANGED?

Whilst there aren’t any concrete changes, we have certainly heard more about possible permits for the British in Switzerland.

We wrote a blog back in April as negotiations for a new trade deal began.

That could move fast or slowly – depending on the depth and nature of the deal.

But the assumption (reinforced by the British Embassy in Bern) – is that work permits are a part of the negotiations.

And it could happen quite quickly.

But it wouldn’t necessarily need a whole new trade deal to change things.

The Swiss could simply pass a new law to allow more Brits to work here.

For example a deal between Croatia and Switzerland has just been agreed to make work permits available even though Croatia is not (yet) in the EU.

WHAT’S THE MOST LIKELY SITUATION FOR THIS WINTER?

Now this is a good question. But also almost impossible to answer…

On one hand the Swiss don’t want to create a deal that isn’t reciprocated by the UK. So that suggests a big trade negotiation needs to be completed.

But equally the tourist industry is dependant upon seasonal workers and Brits made up a big part of that work force. Removing it has made it difficult for many industries to recruit enough staff.

So rumours have been going round about an allowance for tourist work permits. Theoretically that includes ski instructors.
 

It’s a waiting game…

We are cautiously optimistic judging by what we have heard – and we’ve been talking to people who really know what’s happening, and they tell us there could be some very very big news before winter.

But, like all changes that require the government and the Cantons (regional assemblies) to agree in order to write a new law, you never know if it will be delayed or suddenly happen…

Needless to say as soon as we hear more we will update the website – so follow us on Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and TikTok) and keep an eye on the blog for the latest news.

We certainly aren’t writing off the chances of getting permits just yet – and if it happens there will be a lot of Swiss ski schools desperate for well trained English speaking instructors for the peak season…