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Getting Started

Relocating the family to Switzerland

Getting Started

23/11/2011Relocating the family to Switzerland

How to bring families with you to Switzerland, plus information on day-care centres in Switzerland and the child benefit programme.

Residence and work permits in Switzerland

Bringing the family

EU citizens

EU citizens are allowed to bring family members to Switzerland. This includes children younger than 21 years old, as well as financially dependent parents and grandparents. Girlfriends and boyfriends can relocate if you have lived together for at least four years.

Non-EU citizens

As a tourist in Switzerland, your partner can stay in the country for six months a year, with a maximum of three months’ duration per visit. Your partner will not have the right to work. Your partner can obtain a residence permit if he or she enrols at a college or university.

Swiss cantons do not recognise unmarried couples regarding residency permits. Unlike EU citizens, a special permit is required for financially-dependent parents and grandparents to join you. To relocate your au pair, he or she must apply for a work permit, which can be a complicated procedure.

Day-care centres
Children younger than four years of age can be cared for at home, in nurseries or in kindergartens. Nurseries are open on weekdays from 7h00 to 18h30. The cost is calculated on the basis of the parents’ income, and typically ranges from 9-12 percent of their salary.

Family nurseries or crèches familiales organise day care at the home of a certified nurse assistant.

Haltes-garderies are short-term nurseries, used by parents when they want to go shopping, for example. Parents can make use of them for a maximum of three hours a day, three days per week.

Child benefit
The child benefit is regulated on a cantonal basis in Switzerland. The benefit can vary between CHF 150 and CHF 400 per child, depending on the canton. At least one parent must be gainfully employed or drawing daily benefits from the unemployment insurance fund to be entitled to the child benefit. Part-time workers may receive only a partial child benefit or none at all. In some cantons, self-employed individuals can claim child benefit.

The Family Compensation Fund requires registering your family and your child’s birth certificate in order to receive the benefit.

EU citizens are entitled to the full child benefit. Non-EU citizens must adhere to certain regulations. Some cantons pay the child benefit only if your home country has entered a social insurance agreement with Switzerland. Benefits to children living abroad are only paid to asylum seekers after a fixed residence status has been obtained in Switzerland.