After graduation from ETH Zurich, I started to work in the private sector. As the "reason of stay" given in my B permit ("Ausbildung mit Erwerbstätigkeit" - formation with gainful employment) was not correct anymore, I had to have my B permit renewed. Somebody from the Migrationsamt Zürich said that I would probably not get a B permit, but an L permit for the first year. The reason for this would be that the quarterly quota for B permits was already exhausted. Not happy with this prospect, I looked a bit at the various documents I could find on the WWW and found comfort here. Quite clearly, the quota does not apply to me as a Ph.D. graduate from the EU.
I then came across a new version of the "Weisungen VEP" (you'll have to google them, as they are being regularly changed and the URL also changes - try this link). And what I read there delighted me: As an EU citizen, you're entitled to a C permit after five years of residence. However, time spent in Switzerland as a student, Ph.D. student, or postdoc does not count towards those five years. BUT: If after your scientific work as a Ph.D. student or postdoc you take a job in the private sector, your time as a student IS counted!
In the end, I attached printouts of the relevant passages to my permit application and wrote into the "notes" section that as I understood the current regulations, I should be getting a C permit. Which in the end I did. :-)
Last modification: 2008-06-13 12:00:39 (+0200)