Work permits for students

⚡tl;dr students can work during the semester up to 15 hours per week and during the holidays they must either notify the authorities or obtain a work permit graduates from swiss universities benefit from an easier procedure to work in switzerland after their studies as long as their job is of high academic or economic interest they can also get a 6 months' permit to apply for jobs book a free call with us on our website can students work during their studies? eu/efta nationals have a right to work during their studies depending on the canton, they must either notify the migration office or formally request a permit non eu/efta nationals need to apply for a work permit in order to and before being able to work during their studies in switzerland a request by an employer is necessary in any case, there might be a waiting deadline , meaning for example, that such an activity can only be authorized by the university and the authorities 6 or 12 months after the start of the studies this is due to the fact that universities must certify that the activity won't delay the studies during the notification/application process, students might need to get a form from their university always keep in mind that these processes are governed on a cantonal level in general, students can only work up to 15 hours a week during the study semesters and 100% of the time during the study holidays these times are defined by the academic calendar of the university in which the student is enrolled the above also applies to internships, meaning a 100% internship is only possible during the holidays and requires either a notification to the authorities or a work permit can foreign students do an internship in switzerland? switzerland concluded deals related to interns with the following countries argentina, australia, canada, chile, japan, monaco, new zealand, philippines, russia, south africa, tunisia, ukraine, usa if some requirements are fulfilled, citizens of these countries have a right to do an internship in switzerland for a duration of up to 18 months these requirements are notably (i) to be within a given age range depending of the country, (ii) to have completed vocational training, and (iii) to work in a field where the intern has been trained can foreigners who studied in switzerland work after their studies? graduates from a swiss university benefit from an easier way to obtain a work permit to stay in switzerland to work after their studies this is mainly relevant for non eu/efta nationals , considering that eu/efta nationals have a right to work in switzerland anyway (see work permits for employees docid\ cebqvm7gqlubs8frjokel ) for these graduates, the precedence criterion does not apply this means the employer must not prove that a swiss national, a person with a valid swiss work permit, or an eu/efta national would have been a similarly suitable candidate for the position other criteria apply the job that the graduate will be performing is of high academic or economic interest the threshold depends on the activity itself, but it is usually easier to reach than the precedence criterion this is notably the case if there is a need for specific skills in the swiss market there must be a close link between the knowledge acquired while studying in switzerland and the job in question the applicant must be a specialist , however and contrary to what applies to "normal" applicants (see work permits for employees docid\ cebqvm7gqlubs8frjokel ), the yearly salary can be lower than chf 100'000 the applicant must have proper accommodation in switzerland the relevant canton must have freely available quotas or be able to obtain some from the confederation graduates from a swiss university can also be granted a 6 months' permit to stay in switzerland after their studies to look and apply for jobs how do i get this done? you can obtain a lot of information from (i) the university the student is enrolled in, (ii) the migration authorities from the relevant canton, and (iii) this document published by the state secretary for migration besides, you can book a call here to discuss your options