EU/EFTA free movement: which rights apply in Switzerland

If you are a national of an EU or EFTA state, you can live and work in Switzerland without the quotas and labour-market tests that third-country nationals face. This comes from the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP, SR 0.142.112.681) with the EU and the parallel EFTA Convention. You still have to register with your canton if you stay longer than three months, and you need a job, enough money to live on, and health insurance.

In short

• No visa, no quotas. A passport or ID card is enough for up to three months. For longer stays you register and get an L, B or later C permit.
• Job over one year: a B permit valid for at least five years. Under a year: an L permit.
• Free to move: you can change employer, occupation and canton without a new permit; just report a canton move.
• Social insurance is coordinated with the EU/EFTA, so contribution years in other states count.
• Special cases: Croatia had time-limited transitional rules, and UK nationals who arrived after Brexit are treated as third-country nationals.

How the agreement works

The AFMP was part of the first package of bilateral agreements with the EU (the "Bilaterals I"); the EFTA Convention extends the same rules to the EFTA states. It gives covered nationals the right to enter, live, work or set up as self-employed, as long as they can support themselves and have adequate health insurance (Annex I Art. 6 and Art. 24 AFMP). The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) keeps the current state of the agreements at sem.admin.ch.

The AFMP is an international treaty, not EU law. It is interpreted by a Joint Committee, not the EU Court of Justice, so Switzerland keeps some room in how it applies it. In practice, your rights are close to those inside the EU/EEA.

In Switzerland it is implemented by the Ordinance on the Introduction of the Free Movement of Persons (VEP, SR 142.203). The Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (FNIA, SR 142.20) and the Ordinance on Admission, Residence and Gainful Employment (OASA, SR 142.201) apply only where the AFMP has no more favourable rule (Annex I Art. 12 AFMP).

Which countries are covered

United Kingdom. Since Brexit, UK nationals are no longer covered by the AFMP. If you lived in Switzerland before the cut-off date, you keep your rights under the Switzerland to UK Acquired Rights Agreement. If you arrive now, you are treated as a third-country national, with admission requirements and quotas. The SEM gives the exact cut-off date.

Registering

You need no visa. For up to three months, a valid passport or ID card is enough. If you stay longer than 90 days, whether to work, run a business, study or retire, you must register with the cantonal migration authority (VEP, SR 142.203; the general duty to register is in Art. 12 FNIA).

Register with the residents' office of your municipality within the cantonal deadline, which is 14 days in many places. The canton then issues your permit. Late registration can delay it.

Typical documents (your canton sets the exact list):

• a valid passport or ID card;
• an employment contract or proof of self-employment;
• proof of enough money, if you will not work;
• proof of health insurance;
• a biometric passport photo, in some cantons;
• a tenancy agreement or proof of accommodation.

Your permit is a biometric card in credit-card format. Processing times vary by canton.

Health insurance. If you are subject to Swiss compulsory insurance, you must join a health insurer under the Health Insurance Act (SR 832.10) within three months of taking up residence or starting work. Cover applies back to that date. Insurers and premiums are listed at priminfo.admin.ch.

Which permit you get

You get the same permit types as other foreigners, on easier terms and without annual quotas.

L short-term permit

For a job contract of under one year or another temporary reason (Art. 32 FNIA, with Annex I Art. 6 AFMP). It lasts as long as the contract and can be extended if you keep working. With a contract of twelve months or more, you can get a B.

B residence permit

For employees with a contract of one year or more, the self-employed, and people with enough means such as pensioners and students. If you are employed for at least a year, Annex I Art. 6 para. 1 AFMP gives you a permit valid for at least five years, extended as long as you still meet the conditions. A third-country national's B, by contrast, is usually valid for one year and checked every year. The article on the B permit and the C permit compares the longer-term options.

C settlement permit

The C permit has no end date and is not tied to a job (Art. 34 FNIA). The AFMP itself gives no right to it: it comes from the FNIA and from settlement agreements with individual states. As a rule you get it after ten years of uninterrupted, lawful residence, or after five years if your state has a settlement agreement with Switzerland. Early grant for successful integration is possible under Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA, with the integration criteria in Art. 58a FNIA. Your canton sets out the details.

Working as an employee

You can take any job in Switzerland (Annex I Art. 4 AFMP). Your employer does not have to prove that no Swiss or EU/EFTA worker was available: the priority rule for third countries in Art. 21 FNIA does not apply to you.

• Equal treatment: the same working conditions, pay and social benefits as Swiss employees in a comparable job (Annex I Art. 2 and Art. 9 AFMP).
• No quotas: except under any transitional rules for Croatia.
• Cross-border commuters: if you live in a neighbouring state, you can work here on a G permit as long as you go home as a rule daily, and at least once a week (Annex I Art. 7 AFMP).
• Changing job or canton: no new permit needed (Annex I Art. 8 AFMP). Report a canton move to the migration authority.
• Part-time work: there is no minimum workload. Part-time work counts if it is real and genuine.

Self-employment

You have the right to set up as self-employed (Annex I Art. 12 AFMP). Unlike third-country nationals, you mainly need to show that the business really operates and is viable.

Typical proof: registration with the cantonal compensation fund (AHV), a commercial register entry where needed, and evidence of business activity such as client contracts or orders. Your canton sets the list. You then get a B permit marked "self-employment".

Coming to look for work

You can come to Switzerland to look for a job without an offer (Annex I Art. 2 AFMP). For a reasonable search period you in principle need no permit; the SEM gives the exact time frame. If you find a job, register and apply for your permit before you start. If you do not, you must leave, unless you can show enough money and health insurance to stay without social assistance.

You have no right to Swiss social assistance while you search. You may, under conditions, keep drawing unemployment benefit from your home state for a limited time with form U2 (PD U2, formerly E303).

Social insurance across borders

Art. 8 AFMP and Annex II make the EU coordination rules binding between Switzerland and the EU: Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 and its implementing Regulation (EC) No 987/2009. Switzerland applies them directly. The EFTA Convention does the same for the EFTA states.

1. One system at a time: you are insured in one state only, usually where you work.
2. Periods add up: insurance, work and residence periods in one state count in another.
3. Benefits can be exported: pensions and some family allowances are paid wherever you live.
4. Equal treatment with nationals of the host state.

So, for example, contribution years in Germany count towards a Swiss pension and vice versa. Posted workers can stay insured at home for a limited time; the A1 certificate shows which system applies.

Posted workers

If your EU/EFTA employer sends you to Switzerland temporarily to provide a service (Art. 5 AFMP), the Posted Workers Act (SR 823.20) also applies:

• Postings or work of up to 90 working days per calendar year usually need only an online notification in advance, not a permit.
• Longer postings need a permit.
• Swiss pay and working conditions apply, including minimums in standard employment contracts and collective agreements declared generally binding.
• You can stay insured in your home state for a limited time (A1 certificate).
• The employer must name a contact office or representative in Switzerland.

Tripartite and joint commissions and cantonal labour authorities check compliance to prevent wage undercutting. Breaches can lead to sanctions up to a ban on providing services. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) publishes the thresholds, notification duties and sanctions.

Croatia

Croatia joined the EU in 2013 and was brought into the AFMP by a separate protocol (Protocol III), with time-limited transitional rules in stages. Whether any restrictions still apply depends on where those rules stand now; only the SEM at sem.admin.ch has current information. Where a transitional rule applies, it can mean:

• annual quotas, separate from the third-country quota;
• a check that no Swiss or already-admitted EU/EFTA worker was available;
• checks that pay and conditions match local standards;
• an extra check for self-employment.

Possible changes ahead

Popular initiatives that seek to cap immigration could affect the AFMP. Whether such a proposal passes, when it would take effect and what it would change remain open. Follow admin.ch and sem.admin.ch for the current position.

Details and cantonal practice vary, so confirm your case with your cantonal migration authority.