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07/10/2009Residence and work permits in Switzerland

How to apply for a residency or work permit in Switzerland for you and your family.

Anyone who works in Switzerland or lives here for longer than three months requires a residence permit. A distinction is made between short term residence permits (less than 1 year), annual residence permits (limited) and permanent residence permits (unlimited).

There are three aspects to consider when applying for a permit:

  • Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons (regions). Each canton has Cantonal Migration Offices that are responsible for issuing residence permits and Cantonal Labour Offices responsible for work authorisation. Although all cantons operate under the same federal law, each canton has some autonomy over immigration into the region. Therefore, individual cantons are the first resource for information regarding requirements for work and residence permits. For contact details for the various cantons, see the Swiss Confederation website.

  • Obtaining a work permit differs according to your place of origin. Switzerland has a dual system for the admission of foreign workers. For employed nationals from EU/EFTA states, the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons applies (to varying degrees; see below) leading to a straightforward permit process not subject to quotas. Only a limited number of management-level employees, specialists and other qualified employees are admitted from other countries.

  • Your type of employment (local hire, assignment, period of employment) can determine whether you are granted a work permit.

Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons
In 1999, the EU and Switzerland signed seven two-way agreements including the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, which began in 2002. The agreement allows Europeans in Switzerland access to the Swiss employment market, regardless of their qualifications. The agreement was later changed to gradually introduce ten new EU member states beginning 2006. Because the agreement is still being implemented, transitional measures still apply to some member states.

For citizens of the EU-17/EFTA (France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Norway, Iceland und Liechtenstein) the Free Movement of Persons fully applies.

Work and residence permits issued to citizens of the EU-8 (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia) are subject to quotas and additional regulation.

The Free Movement of Persons Agreement applies to nationals from Bulgaria and Romania from June 2009.

Labour / Work permits
In general, EU-17/EFTA nationals working in Switzerland may stay in Switzerland without a residence permit for three months (90 days) in a calendar year, though their employer must register them with the Cantonal Labour Office, which can be done online.

People who work in the construction, hospitality, cleaning, surveillance, security and travelling sales industries must register with the authorities from the first day of their activity, regardless of its duration.

Any non-Swiss national who works in Switzerland for longer than three months requires a permit.



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1 reaction to this article

northwestrider posted: 14-10-2009 | 5:46 PM

A question I have is, what if the spouse (an American citizen) of the EU-17 national (from Ireland) were to receive an offer of employment before their spouse? As I understand, that as the spouse of an EU-17 member, I can work freely in Switzerland, residing there with my husband.

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