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Comment by pkaye | Hacker News Reader

Is it much easier in the EU? For example, can I go to Switzerland or France and easily get permanent residency?

Switzerland is not a part of the EU.

Right, but it's part of the Schengen area, which also covers most of the EU countries, so once you got a visa to e.g. France, you're free to work and live in Switzerland as well.

Nope. There are many different types of Schengen visa [1] and it generally does not allow you to work. For this you need a national visa from a specific member state [2]. So, no, if you get a work permit in France, you are not free to live and work in Switzerland. In fact, EU citizens generally need a residency and work permit if they wish to live and work there.

[1] http://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-types/ [2] http://www.schengenvisainfo.com/frequently-asked-questions-s...

> In fact, EU citizens generally need a residency and work permit if they wish to live and work there.

No, they generally don't.

https://www.ch.ch/en/working-switzerland-eu-efta/

From the page: "For employment lasting longer than three months, a residence permit is required."

I named their permit incorrectly: should be "residence permit" instead of "residency and work permit". The point remains that EU citizens generally need an official permit to work in Switzerland.

EU citizens have the right to move to and work in any country within the EU. See here: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=457

Switzerland is not in EU.

I thought he meant France. Anyway, the correct link to the Swiss page was already posted.

Wrong. You can enter Switzerland with a Schengen visa as a tourist. Finding work in Switzerland is difficult (employer has to prove it can't hire Swiss citizen for this position).

Switzerland is not part of the EU nor Schengen. Eu citizens can travel visa-free to Switzerland, but they can't work there. Same goes for US and many other nationals...

It seems I was wrong about the Schengen part. Switzerland is part of Schengen, which is what allows EU citizens to travel there visa-free.

Alright what about France and Germany?

It depends where you are from. But it's not that hard for US and Canadian citizens if you have a job or want to study. You won't be thrown out as quickly as in the US.

You don't need to do anything inside the Schengen area in order to be allowed to "reside permanently". For the citizenship, it's a different issue I guess.

> Is it much easier in the EU?

You still need a job offer to first enter the country, but changing jobs will involve less bureaucracy than in the USA, and after having been employed in the country for 5-10 years, and speaking a local language, you can apply for permanent residency or citizenship yourself, so the hassle of needing you employer to do it for you, does not exist.

In the US, most H1B hires I personally know have had their green card sponsorship started within an year of hire. Then it takes about 2-3 years to get it finalized. I knew of one who even got the process started in 2 months.

So there are some differences from other countries but no 5-10 years wait.

> 5-10 years wait

I mean, having been in the country 5-10 years, depending on the country, is a requirement of getting the citizenship, not just to to get the process started.

Wrong. The green card on EB2 takes 6-8 years for Indian and Chinese born immigrants. On EB3, it can take over 10 years. The green card process involves a per-country quota. Folks from countries other than India, China, and a couple of others get it "finalized" in 2-3 years.

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