A 120-day work permit category is for those foreign nationals who wish to work in Switzerland for 120 days or less in a 12-month period. This category is exempt of any quotas. This permit is issued for a maximum of 120 days in a 12-month period, but the way in which this is adjudicated varies from canton to canton and Embassy to Embassy.

From our recent experience with these applications lodged with the Swiss Embassy in Mumbai, we observed a lot of variations with each case. To note a few of these observations:

  • Of all the applicants that applied for this visa, some of them were issued a type "D" visa and some were issued a type "C" visa. This decision was completely at the discretion of the Swiss Embassy and we did not have control over whether an employee would receive type "D" or "C" visa;
  • Most of the applicants who visited the Swiss VFS office for document submission were made to wait for nearly 4 to 5 hours by VFS officers on the understanding that the VFS office was waiting to receive an approval from the Swiss Embassy on their applications. This was the case even after we took the precautionary step of sending all the work permit approvals to the Swiss Embassy and the VFS office by email prior to the applicant's appointment;
  • Some of the applicants' biometrics were taken at the time when they visited the VFS office for their document submission. Few others were asked to visit the VFS office once again to provide their biometrics;
  • As per the Swiss VFS website, it is clearly mentioned that no form is required for a 120-day work permit application. This is so because a work permit authorization approval letter is already received from the Swiss canton. Yet some applicants were required to submit the Schengen visa application form;
  • One applicant who by way of caution had already submitted the Schengen visa form, was called once again by the VFS office to submit the visa form.

These discrepancies on the part of the VFS office has made the entire process of obtaining the 120-day work permit a tedious one. There is a complete disconnect between the Swiss Embassy and the Swiss VFS which in turn causes a huge amount of confusion and delay for the applicants.

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