The C settlement permit

The C permit is Switzerland's permanent residence permit. It has no end date and no conditions, so unlike a B permit it is never renewed; only the card is replaced every five years. Most third-country nationals can get it after ten years, nationals of certain treaty states after five, and anyone after five with successful integration. You can still lose it, most often by living abroad for more than six months without asking to keep it.

In short

• What it is: an unlimited, unconditional residence permit (Art. 34 para. 1 of the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration, FNIA, SR 142.20).
• When: as a rule after ten years, including the last five continuously on a B permit (Art. 34 para. 2 FNIA); after five years for nationals of treaty states; early after five years with successful integration (Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA).
• Rights: work in any job and canton, move canton by simply registering, family reunification under Art. 43 FNIA, and the right to apply for ordinary naturalisation.
• Living abroad: the permit lapses after six months abroad, unless you applied beforehand to keep it, for up to four years (Art. 61 FNIA).
• Revocation: only on serious grounds such as a long prison sentence (Art. 63 FNIA). If you are not integrated, it can be downgraded to a B permit (Art. 63 para. 2 FNIA).

What the C permit is

The C settlement permit is Switzerland's permanent residence permit for foreign nationals, whether from third countries, EU/EFTA states or treaty states. It is granted without conditions and without a time limit. The card is replaced every five years (Art. 41 para. 3 FNIA), but this is only an update of your biometric data, not a review of your permit. At the end of 2024, 1,430,297 people held a C permit (SEM).

Art. 34 FNIA sets the rules. In short:

• Para. 1: the permit is unlimited and unconditional.
• Para. 2: it may be granted after at least ten years in Switzerland on a short-term or residence permit, including the last five years continuously on a residence permit, if there are no grounds for revocation under Art. 62 or Art. 63 para. 2.
• Para. 3: it may be granted earlier for important reasons.
• Para. 4: it may be granted after five years of uninterrupted residence on a residence permit if you meet the integration criteria of Art. 58a para. 1.

The Ordinance on Admission, Residence and Employment (OASA, SR 142.201) adds details on the form, duration and card renewal (Art. 60 onwards).

Getting a C permit after ten years

If no treaty gives you a shorter route, you need at least ten years in Switzerland on a short-term or residence permit, with the last five continuously on a B permit (Art. 34 para. 2 FNIA). What counts:

No grounds for revocation under Art. 62 or 63 para. 2 FNIA may have arisen in that time.

The clock starts when you first enter with a short-term or residence permit. Time as a tourist, family visitor or business visitor without a permit does not count, and neither does any time you were here unlawfully, for example without papers, on an expired permit or after a removal order.

If you change status in Switzerland, for example from L to B or from a student B to a work B, the clock keeps running as long as your stay stayed lawful. If your stay is interrupted, for example by deregistering, a long stay abroad without asking to keep your permit, or your permit lapsing, the ten years usually start again. Practice varies by canton.

Getting a C permit after five years

Treaty states

Several treaties shorten the wait to five years. The oldest is the treaty between Switzerland and the USA of 25 November 1850 (SR 0.142.113.361). Similar treaties exist with Germany, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, Canada and the United Kingdom (for rights acquired before Brexit; after Brexit, the Switzerland-UK Citizens' Rights Agreement applies).

The five-year rule applies to nationals of these states, not to third-country nationals who live there. EU/EFTA citizens are also covered by the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP, SR 0.142.112.681), but in practice the minimum is still five years. See the Switzerland-USA Settlement Treaty 1850 and the UK Citizens' Rights Agreement.

Recognised refugees

Under Art. 60 AsylA (SR 142.31) with Art. 34 para. 2 FNIA, recognised refugees can receive a C permit after five years of lawful residence if they meet the integration criteria. Cantons differ; several look closely at language skills and financial independence. See the Asylum Act glossary.

Early C permit with successful integration (Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA)

Anyone can be granted a C permit after five instead of ten years if they meet the integration criteria of Art. 58a para. 1 FNIA. This is discretionary: the authority "may" grant it, and cantons use this discretion strictly. Expect to need:

• B1 oral and A1 written in the cantonal official language (Art. 62 para. 1bis OASA);
• five uninterrupted years on a B permit;
• financial independence, with no ongoing social assistance;
• respect for the law: no significant criminal record, no significant open debt enforcement;
• credible participation in social life.

Integration criteria (Art. 58a FNIA)

When assessing integration, the authority considers:

• respect for public security and order;
• respect for the values of the Federal Constitution;
• language skills;
• participation in economic life or education.

If a disability, illness or other serious personal circumstance makes it impossible or very hard for you to meet the language or work criteria, this must be taken into account (Art. 58a para. 2 FNIA). The Federal Council sets the required language levels (Art. 58a para. 3 FNIA). Under Art. 60 para. 2 and Art. 62 para. 1bis OASA, based on the Common European Framework of Reference:

You usually prove your level with a certificate recognised by the SEM (fide, telc, Goethe, DELF, CILS or similar) or with schooling in an official language. The levels are set federally, but cantons differ on details such as accepted test providers and exceptions for health reasons. See the FNIA and OASA terminology glossary.

Keeping your C permit

You never renew a C permit (Art. 34 para. 1 FNIA). Every five years the canton asks you to update your biometric data (Art. 41 para. 3 FNIA): you give fingerprints and a photo, pay the cantonal fee (typically CHF 80 to 120 for adults) and receive a new card a few weeks later. Your permit is not reassessed and continues without interruption.

The C permit can, however, lapse or be revoked.

Living abroad (Art. 61 FNIA)

Under Art. 61 FNIA, a permit lapses:

• when you deregister to move abroad;
• when you receive a permit in another canton;
• when its validity expires;
• with an expulsion order under Article 68 FNIA;
• with a final criminal expulsion under Art. 66a or 66abis of the Swiss Criminal Code (StGB) or Article 49a or Article 49abis of the Military Criminal Code.

If you leave without deregistering, a C permit lapses after six months. On request, it can be kept for up to four years (Art. 61 para. 2 FNIA). In practice:

• Up to 6 months abroad: your permit stays valid.
• 6 months to 4 years: only if you applied to your cantonal migration office to keep the permit. Without that, it lapses automatically after 6 months.
• More than 4 years: it lapses for good, even if your application was approved.
• Deregistering at your municipality ends the permit immediately, however long you are actually away.

This is the most common way people lose a C permit by accident, for example through a posting abroad, caring for relatives, studying abroad or trying out a return home. Applying in good time, before you leave or in the first weeks, is the only reliable protection.

Applying to keep your permit

Send the application, informally or on the cantonal form, to the migration office where you last lived. Include:

• the planned dates of your stay abroad;
• the reason (work, study, family, care, military service and so on);
• proof of your continuing ties to Switzerland, such as property, family here or a job with a Swiss link;
• your address abroad, if known.

The office decides by ruling. The maximum is four years from departure and cannot be extended beyond that. You can return early at any time. Extending an approved period after you have left needs a new application and is not guaranteed.

How the six months are counted

The six months run from the day you actually leave, not from when you deregister. Short visits back, such as family visits, weekends or business meetings, do not automatically stop the clock; what matters is where your centre of life is. You must prove that your centre of life stayed in Switzerland.

Your rights with a C permit

Work. You can work as an employee or be self-employed in any job, sector and canton, with no labour-market checks such as the priority rule of Art. 21 FNIA. Changing employer, sector or becoming self-employed needs no permission.

Changing canton. You do not need a new permit. You register with your new municipality, and the new canton issues a card confirming your C permit. With a B permit, by contrast, the new canton must agree.

Voting. Federal law gives C holders no political rights. Some cantons give voting and election rights, mostly at municipal level. As of 2024:

• Jura: municipal and cantonal rights, under certain conditions;
• Neuchâtel: municipal rights after one year in the canton, cantonal voting rights after five years;
• Vaud: municipal rights after ten years in Switzerland, including three in the canton;
• Fribourg: municipal rights after five years in the canton;
• Geneva: municipal rights after eight years in Switzerland.

Family reunification (Art. 43 FNIA). You can bring your spouse and unmarried children under 18. If they live with you, they first receive a B permit. Your spouse is entitled to a C permit after five years of lawful, uninterrupted stay if the integration criteria are met (Art. 43 para. 5 FNIA); children under 12 receive a C permit directly (Art. 43 para. 6 FNIA). Families of B holders have no such entitlement (Art. 44 FNIA).

Social insurance. You are insured like Swiss citizens (AHV, IV, EO, ALV, pension funds, KVG health insurance, UVG accident insurance). You can claim supplementary benefits to AHV/IV (ELG, SR 831.30), but receiving them may count in the integration assessment (Art. 58a FNIA) or a downgrade review (Art. 63 para. 2 FNIA).

Naturalisation. A C permit is required to apply for ordinary naturalisation (Art. 9 of the Swiss Citizenship Act, SCA, SR 141.0).

Revocation (Art. 63 FNIA)

A C permit can only be revoked if:

• the grounds in Art. 62 para. 1 lit. a or b FNIA apply: you gave false information or hid important facts in the permit procedure, or you received a long prison sentence or a criminal measure. According to the Federal Supreme Court, a sentence of at least one year is enough to open this ground, but proportionality must still be checked;
• you seriously breached or endangered public security and order in Switzerland or abroad, or endanger internal or external security (Art. 63 para. 1 lit. b FNIA). This does not require a criminal conviction.

If you do not meet the integration criteria of Art. 58a FNIA, your C permit can be revoked and replaced by a B permit (Art. 63 para. 2 FNIA). Revocation is not allowed if it rests only on an offence for which a criminal court imposed a penalty but decided against expulsion (Art. 63 para. 3 FNIA).

Lasting and substantial dependence on social assistance is a ground for revoking a C permit (Art. 63 para. 1 lit. c FNIA; for a B permit, Art. 62 para. 1 lit. e FNIA), subject to proportionality. Through the integration criteria it can also lead to a downgrade under Art. 63 para. 2 FNIA, but only under narrow conditions and with strict proportionality. In 2024, the Administrative Court of the Canton of Aargau held that temporary or blameless dependence on social assistance is not, on its own, enough for a downgrade. See debt enforcement and residence law.

Appeals

The cantonal migration office decides by ruling. You can appeal within 30 days of notification to the cantonal administrative court or a prior cantonal appeal body. From there, the route leads to the Federal Supreme Court (public-law appeal under the Federal Supreme Court Act, BGG, SR 173.110). Routes vary by canton.

Proportionality

Even when a ground exists, revocation must be proportionate. The Federal Supreme Court (in particular BGE 139 I 145, BGE 139 I 31 and BGE 137 II 297) weighs:

• how serious the offence was, repeat offending and risk of reoffending;
• how long you have lived in Switzerland;
• family ties, especially to a spouse and children here, and your health;
• your work, training, housing and social ties;
• your conduct since the offence;
• what removal would mean for you and your family, including language, network, prospects and the children's schooling;
• your right to family and private life under Art. 8 ECHR.

For people born or raised in Switzerland, the second generation, revocation is only allowed for particularly serious offences.

See revocation of the residence or settlement permit (Art. 62 and 63 FNIA).

After losing a C permit

If you lost your C permit through revocation, a stay abroad or criminal expulsion, you cannot simply apply again:

• Entry ban (Art. 67 FNIA): typically 5 years, longer for serious cases (up to 15 years or indefinite for particularly serious ones).
• Schengen-wide effect: the ban is recorded in the Schengen Information System (SIS) and applies across the Schengen area.
• New application: you must meet the ordinary FNIA conditions again, for third-country nationals usually work, family or hardship.
• Criminal expulsion under Art. 66a or 66abis StGB ends the permit for good, with the effects set out in the judgment.

If your permit simply lapsed because you lived abroad, with no revocation or criminal measure, there is no specific waiting period; the ordinary conditions apply.

C permit and naturalisation

Under Art. 9 of the Swiss Citizenship Act (SCA, in force since 1.1.2018), the Confederation only grants the naturalisation authorisation if, when you apply, you hold a settlement permit and have lived in Switzerland for 10 years in total, 3 of them in the last 5 years before applying (Art. 9 para. 1 let. b SCA). Years between the ages of 8 and 18 count double (Art. 9 para. 2 SCA); Art. 33 SCA sets which stays count.

Facilitated naturalisation (Art. 21 onwards SCA), for example for spouses of Swiss citizens, does not always require a C permit so strictly, but most cases still need a C permit or a comparable status. See naturalisation in Switzerland and the SCA terminology glossary.

Common misunderstandings

• "C means Swiss citizenship." No. It gives you unlimited residence and broad rights, but not federal voting rights, a Swiss passport, Swiss consular protection or EU free movement. For those you need naturalisation.
• "My C stays valid however long I live abroad." No. It lapses after 6 months abroad unless you applied to keep it, and after 4 years at the most (Art. 61 para. 2 FNIA).
• "C is the same as EU long-term residence." No. It is not the EU long-term residence permit under Directive 2003/109/EC and gives no comparable rights in the EU.
• "Marrying a Swiss citizen gets me a C." No. Spouses of Swiss citizens usually get a B permit (Art. 42 FNIA) and can get a C after 5 years with integration (Art. 42 para. 3 with Art. 58a FNIA).

Sources

• FNIA, SR 142.20: https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2007/758/de
• OASA, SR 142.201: https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2007/759/de
• SCA, SR 141.0: https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2016/404/de
• AsylA, SR 142.31: https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2005/1037/de
• SEM page on the settlement permit: https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/de/home/themen/aufenthalt/nicht_eu_efta/niederlassungsbewilligung.html