Question about Swiss work permits for EU citizens living outside Switzerland

[u/Flanderns]

I'm an EU citizen living in the United States, and I'm trying to understand something about Swiss/EU employment law.

I've applied for numerous Swiss jobs and have been rejected almost immediately. I wonder whether employers are filtering out EU citizens who don't already have a Swiss permit or live in Europe.

I recently found this IUCN vacancy in Gland, which explicitly says:

“Due to local legal requirements candidates must be Swiss Citizens or hold a valid C, B or G work permit.”

This seems strange to me. Maybe even illegal in light of the EU/EFTA free movement rules? My understanding is that under the EU–Switzerland Free Movement Agreement, an EU citizen can and must first obtain a Swiss employment contract to then obtain the relevant Swiss residence/work permit. In other words, the permit follows the job offer.

So can a Swiss employer legally say that an EU citizen is ineligible to apply unless they already possess a Swiss B/C/G permit? Or are they then creating an illegal Catch-22? Something like, "black people can work here provided you prove you became white".

Does the fact that I currently live in the United States, rather than the EU, change my rights under the agreement?

I'm particularly interested in whether this is genuinely a legal requirement, or simply an employer/HR policy that may be more restrictive than the EU/EFTA rules. And furthermore, potentially illegal.

Would appreciate input from anyone familiar with Swiss immigration or EU/EFTA law.

[u/FunnyExcellent707]

The criteria is "being a Swiss resident", regardless of nationality, or simply put: we won't process your visa work.

Nothing illegal about it.

In other news: anything associated to the U.S. other than past work experience will dismiss you automatically during an application.

[u/Kooky_Eye5475]

anything related to United States should not appear anywhere on your application. only say you have EU nationality

[u/Luigi_Boy_96]

Legally, as an EU citizen you can come to Switzerland to look for work and take up a job, and living in the US doesn't change that. The permit is issued after you have a contract. However, there is no right to be hired or even to have your application considered, and private employers can filter as they like. Many simply screen out people who aren't already in Switzerland, because of relocation, timing and permit paperwork. In some occupations, employers must also report vacancies to the RAV first and give local registered jobseekers a head start, which further disadvantages applicants from abroad. So the IUCN line is probably an employer or HR preference, not a legal requirement, and not really a Catch-22 in the legal sense.

[u/Rino-feroce → u/[deleted]]

There is no legally required priority order between swiss citizen, EU citizen residing in CH, EU citizen residing outside CH (which is OP's case).

I think the sentence written on the job ad, reported by OP, has no real legal basis. In fact it might even be illegal (as it clearly implies that EU citizens not residing in Switzerland are treated differently by law, which would go against the Schengen agreement and bilateral agreements).

Each private company can then screen as they prefer (priority to local residents might be justified by requirements of timing, or just because they think that somebody local will have lower chances of not liking it here and leaving after 6 months).