Croatian nationals: Easier access to the Swiss Labour Market from 2022

In October 2021, Switzerland amended its directives and from 1 January 2022, Croatian nationals will have full access to the Swiss labour market, the same access as people from EU or the EFTA countries, who have benefited from the full agreement for years.

Croatian nationals with a Swiss employment contract will no longer have to wait for a positive decision from the competent labour market authorities. For Croatian service providers the decision to grant a work permit remains the canton’s responsibility, as it does for other EU or EFTA nationals.

 

When do the changes come into effect? 

Until 31 December 2021, however, Croatian nationals seeking paid employment in Switzerland must wait for a positive decision from the Labour Market Authority of the responsible Canton. In other words, Croatian workers do not yet benefit from the full free movement agreement between Switzerland and the European Union. Up until this date, businesses that wish to hire Croatian nationals must prove that priority has been given to the local workforce and the authorities have to issue a favourable decision before commencement of work.

In 2020, Swiss statistics reported that 28,324 Croatians were residing in Switzerland. According to the 2019 figures, the Croatian presence in Switzerland is stable, but with the opening of the Swiss labour market to Croatians, these figures could change.

 

Safety clause

As a result, Switzerland has planned a safety clause limiting the number of permits for Croatians from 2023 and for a maximum of three years, in the event that the number of Croatian arrivals into Switzerland during the year 2022 exceeds a certain number. We will return to this topic in 2022 and keep you informed of the effects and implications of the full access to the Swiss labour market for Croatian workers.

 

Need to Know more?

For further information on this topic, please contact Jehona Islami at [email protected] or Magali Ntongo at [email protected]. This blog was published on 30 December 2021, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 site, subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.