Hi team,

I hope you are all well and enjoying the start of summer. Things are finally warming up in Zermatt and it feels like BBQ season is about to begin!

We realise that you might all be hearing snippets of news regarding Brexit and next winter and are probably starting to think about what may or may not be possible. So, we thought we would write to you explaining the situation as we understand it to be right now.

The long and short of it is that if you were not in Zermatt this winter and did not extend your permit for the summer, you will not be able to return to Zermatt and work with us this coming winter. UK passport holders now have the same right to work as other 3rd nations (eg Australia, USA and most other countries outside of Europe). Yes, there are a higher number of L permits for 3rd nation countries next winter to account for UK nationals needing them… but it doesn’t look like ski teachers will be granted them. These additional L permits are for those with ’special skills’ and for situations where a Swiss person is not able to do the job (or another person from any other EU nation for that matter), and it is not going to be possible to argue that only a UK person could teach skiing at our school. We have specifically been told that being a native English speaker is not a ’special skill’. It has even gone so far that the department of immigration, and BergPro have written to ski schools in Valais making it clear that we will not be able to hire instructors from the UK.

Of course we remain hopeful that some deal will be made and that something will change, but at the moment there is no evidence of this and we can’t imagine anything happening fast enough to impact next winter anyway.

In the meantime, if you are hoping to make your way back to work in Switzerland or Europe it’s worth chasing up any random family member with an EU passport and seeing if you could qualify for one.

We are deeply sad. We are going to miss you all and know how much this is going to change the dynamics of our team.

We will stay in touch and if anything changes will will let you know right away.
Big big love to you all,

E, H and P x