UK authorities recently announced that the UK-Swiss Services Mobility Agreement (SMA) has been extended for 3 years.
The SMA allows UK professionals to work in Switzerland for up to 90 days without requiring a Swiss work permit. The agreement originally came into force on 1 January 2021, and will now run until 31 December 2025. It is anticipated that the UK and Switzerland will negotiate a free trade agreement in 2023, which will also deal with the longer-term plans for services mobility.
Swiss service providers can currently enter the UK under various visa routes, the main ones being:
- Preferential access under the Global Business Mobility (GBM) Service Supplier route, which allows Swiss contractual service suppliers and independent professionals to enter the UK under an agreement between the countries, as per the SMA signed in London on 14 December 2020.
- Service provision arrangements for those eligible under the provisions in the Agreement on Citizens’ Rights between the UK and the Switzerland, signed in Berne on 25 February 2019.
- Standard work visa provisions, such as Skilled Worker visas and wider provisions of the GBM route.
- UK visitor route, as long as their activities are permitted by the current rules.
Additionally, the UK authorities have also released a list of Swiss qualifications which it considers equivalent to UK degrees, which will facilitate easier access of Swiss Service Providers to the UK under the GBM visa routes.
How Gherson can assist
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The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.
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