Cross-border provision of services beyond the free-movement notification limit.
Switzerland
Switzerland sits in Western Europe. Its immigration system runs 64 distinct routes — led by family, humanitarian protection and residence-based status, each set out in official law. All 64 cite an official government source, shown on the route with the date we last read it. Who actually qualifies depends on your full profile.
- Immigration routes
- 64across 15 route categories, each set out in official law
- Source-cited routes
- 64 of 64cite an official government source, with the date we last read it
- Largest category
- Family11 of the 64 routes — see them under Family below
- Region
- Western Europe
- Capital
- Bern
- Population
- 9,092,436
- Official language
- French, Swiss German · +2
- Currency
- CHF
- Time zone
- UTC+01:00
Immigration routes
All 64 routes, grouped by purpose — 64 of 64 cite an official government source directly.
Work
6 routes
Longer-term employment in Switzerland by a qualified third-country national.
Cross-border employment in the Swiss border zone by a third-country national resident in a neighbouring-country border zone.
Temporary employment in Switzerland by a qualified third-country national.
Posted or qualifying self-employed cross-border service under the Switzerland–UK Services Mobility Agreement.
Employment in Switzerland by a UK national without protected pre-2021 acquired rights.
Business & self-employment
3 routes
Genuine self-employment in Switzerland by an EU/EFTA citizen.
Self-employment in Switzerland with a lasting positive labour-market effect.
Self-employment in Switzerland by a UK national without protected pre-2021 acquired rights.
Talent & merit
4 routes
Advanced study or research at a recognised Swiss higher-education institution beyond the foundation degree.
Employment matching a Swiss higher-education qualification after graduation.
Operational transfer within an international company of senior management or an essential specialist.
Job search after completing a recognised Swiss higher-education course.
Study
3 routes
A work placement integral to studies or qualifying international-company training and knowledge transfer.
Study at an educational institution in Switzerland by an EU/EFTA citizen.
Education or training at a recognised institution in Switzerland.
Family
11 routes
Access to Swiss residence and employment for qualifying family members of specified foreign-representation or international-organisation staff.
Entry to complete a Swiss marriage-preparation procedure and take up residence after the marriage.
Family reunification requested by a recognised refugee in Switzerland.
Family reunification with a person provisionally admitted in Switzerland.
Residence with a qualifying Swiss-citizen family member.
Residence with a third-country sponsor holding a Swiss residence permit B.
Residence with a third-country sponsor holding a Swiss settlement permit C.
Residence with a third-country sponsor holding a Swiss short-term permit L.
Residence with an EU/EFTA citizen exercising a qualifying right in Switzerland.
Residence of a foreign child placed with a foster or prospective adoptive family in Switzerland.
Family reunification connected to UK free-movement rights acquired before 2021.
Independent means
2 routes
Residence without gainful employment by an EU/EFTA citizen with sufficient means.
Retirement in Switzerland without gainful employment.
Residence-based status
9 routes
Exceptional B permit for a qualifying person from the asylum sector after sustained residence and integration.
Permanent settlement after five years of regular uninterrupted residence for covered nationalities.
Permanent settlement after the ordinary ten-year qualifying residence period.
Discretionary early settlement after five years with a residence permit and successful integration.
Assessment for a B permit after long provisional admission and advanced integration.
Continuation of residence after a family-reunification relationship ends.
Discretionary readmission of a former Swiss resident under the statutory exception.
Hardship-based B permit for a person who has lived continuously with protection status S for five years.
Continuation of free-movement rights acquired before 31 December 2020.
Free movement
8 routes
Employment under a contract of at least twelve months or unlimited duration.
Short employment with a Swiss employer for up to three months in a calendar year.
Employed cross-border work while remaining resident in an EU/EFTA state.
Self-employed activity based in Switzerland while remaining resident in an EU/EFTA state.
Looking for employment in Switzerland as an EU/EFTA citizen.
Employment under a contract lasting more than three months but less than twelve months.
Cross-border service by a worker posted from an undertaking established in an EU/EFTA state.
Cross-border service in Switzerland by an EU/EFTA self-employed provider established in an EU/EFTA state.
Youth mobility
1 route
Career-development employment in the profession or field of completed study under a bilateral trainee agreement.
Cultural, religious & volunteer
1 route
Temporary cultural and language exchange through childcare and light housework with a Swiss host family.
Short stay & visit
2 routes
Short visit to Switzerland and the Schengen area by a visa-required third-country national.
Short visit by a third-country national exempt from the Schengen visa requirement.
Humanitarian protection
10 routes
Application in Switzerland for protection from qualifying persecution.
Exceptional entry for a person in imminent, concrete and serious danger to life or limb.
Temporary collective protection for persons covered by Switzerland's current Ukraine general ruling.
Alternative temporary admission where removal is unlawful, unreasonable or technically impossible.
Residence after recognition as a refugee and grant of asylum.
Recognition of statelessness and the associated Swiss residence status.
Exceptional B residence permit for a person without regulated status whose removal would cause serious personal hardship.
Temporary admission of a recognised refugee who is not granted asylum.
Temporary or exceptional residence connected to trafficking victim protection, criminal proceedings or witness protection.
Direct and safe admission of a particularly vulnerable UNHCR-recognised refugee selected for Swiss resettlement.
Medical treatment
1 route
Temporary residence in Switzerland for medical treatment.
Transit
1 route
Transit through the international zone of a Swiss airport by a nationality subject to an airport-transit visa.
Other & special
2 routes
Exceptional non-working residence justified by an important public interest.
Residence attached to an official function at a foreign representation or qualifying international organisation.
Official sources
- eda.admin.chGovernment
- [NSO] Swiss Federal Statistical OfficeGovernment
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