The N permit

The N permit is the document you receive when you apply for asylum in Switzerland. It confirms that you may stay here while your application is being decided, by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and, if you appeal, the Federal Administrative Court. It is not a normal residence permit: your rights to work, travel and choose where to live are limited, and it ends when your asylum procedure ends.

In short

• Legal basis: Art. 42 of the Asylum Act (AsylA, SR 142.31) lets you stay in Switzerland until your asylum procedure is finished.
• Work: not allowed for the first 3 months after you apply; after that, only with cantonal authorisation (Art. 43 AsylA).
• Free legal help: you get free legal advice and representation throughout the procedure (Art. 102f to 102l AsylA).
• Short appeal deadlines: 7 working days (accelerated procedure), 30 days (extended procedure), 5 working days (Dublin decisions).
• No travel abroad and no family reunification while you hold an N permit.

What the N permit is

When you file an asylum application in Switzerland, you may in principle stay until the procedure is finished (Art. 42 AsylA). The N permit documents that right. It is not a residence permit under the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (FNIA, SR 142.20). It ends automatically when your asylum procedure ends with a final decision: asylum, provisional admission, a decision not to examine your application, or removal.

The three phases of the asylum procedure

Since 1 March 2019, the procedure has three phases. Your N permit is valid through all of them. See the Asylum Act glossary for more detail.

Phase 1: federal asylum centre, accelerated procedure

You are first assigned to a federal asylum centre with a procedural function. Switzerland is divided into several asylum regions; the SEM lists the centres on its asylum portal. In this phase:

• you are registered, including fingerprints for Eurodac;
• the SEM checks under the Dublin rules whether another Dublin state is responsible (Art. 31a AsylA);
• you are heard on your reasons for asylum (Art. 29 AsylA);
• you are given free legal representation (Art. 102f to 102l AsylA).

The deadlines for the accelerated procedure are in Art. 37 AsylA and Asylum Ordinance 1 (AsylO 1, SR 142.311). If the SEM cannot decide in time, your case moves to the extended procedure.

Phase 2: extended procedure, assignment to a canton

In the extended procedure you are assigned to a canton (Art. 27 AsylA and the SEM distribution key). The canton now houses you, but the SEM still handles your case. Legal advice comes from the legal advice and representation office under AsylO 1 (Art. 52e). There is no fixed maximum duration, but the SEM must deal with your case promptly.

Phase 3: appeal to the Federal Administrative Court

You can appeal against the SEM's decision to the Federal Administrative Court (Art. 105 AsylA with the Federal Administrative Court Act, SR 173.32). The deadlines are:

• 7 working days for a decision in the accelerated procedure (Art. 108 para. 1 AsylA);
• 30 days for a decision in the extended procedure (Art. 108 para. 2 AsylA);
• 5 working days for a Dublin decision not to examine your application (Art. 108 para. 3 AsylA).

Your N permit stays valid during the appeal. In asylum matters, the court's decision is generally final: appeals to the Federal Supreme Court are largely excluded (Art. 83 let. d of the Federal Supreme Court Act, SR 173.110).

Your rights with an N permit

Your rights come from the AsylA, AsylO 1 and AsylO 3, and cantonal asylum ordinances. They are narrower than with a B, C or F permit.

Housing

In phase 1 you live in a federal asylum centre, provided by the SEM (Art. 24 AsylA). In phase 2 the canton houses you, usually in a collective centre or, depending on the canton, in separate housing. Living privately is possible only to a limited extent: you usually have to register it with the cantonal migration office, and asylum social assistance may be tied to collective housing. Ask the asylum social assistance office or the cantonal migration office what applies in your canton.

Work

You may not work for the first 3 months after you apply (Art. 43 para. 1 AsylA). After that:

• you need authorisation from the cantonal authority (Art. 43 AsylA with the FNIA rules);
• your employer must notify or apply to the cantonal migration or labour office;
• your pay and working conditions must match what is usual for the place, profession and sector (see Art. 22 FNIA);
• if your asylum application is rejected at first instance and removal can be enforced, the SEM can stop you working (Art. 43 para. 2 AsylA).

Cantonal practice varies.

Asylum social assistance

You receive asylum social assistance, not regular social assistance under the SKOS/CSIAS guidelines, and it is usually lower. The Confederation pays in phase 1 and the canton in phase 2 (Art. 80-87 AsylA and cantonal ordinances). It usually covers housing, food (in kind or as a flat rate), basics such as hygiene and clothing, and pocket money, which varies a lot between cantons.

Receiving asylum social assistance is normal for asylum seekers and is not held against you in the asylum procedure, which looks only at refugee status (Art. 3 AsylA) or whether removal is lawful, reasonable and possible (Art. 83 FNIA). It can matter later, as part of an integration assessment, for example when moving from F to B (Art. 84 para. 5 with Art. 30 para. 1 let. b FNIA), from B to C (Art. 34 and 58a FNIA), or for naturalisation (Art. 12 of the Swiss Citizenship Act, SR 141.0).

School

Children of school age must go to school, at the public school where they live. Cantonal school law applies (harmonised in the HarmoS cantons). The Federal Constitution (Cst., SR 101) guarantees adequate, free primary education (Art. 19 and Art. 62 para. 2 Cst.).

Health care

You must have health insurance under the Health Insurance Act (SR 832.10, Art. 3), with special rules for asylum seekers (Art. 82a AsylA). The canton or the asylum social assistance office usually arranges it. Expect limits on your choice of insurer and a family doctor or gatekeeper model. You have access to basic care, including mental health care.

Travel

Family reunification

You have no right to family reunification while you hold an N permit. It comes only with a positive decision:

• family asylum (Art. 51 AsylA) if you are recognised as a refugee;
• family reunification with an F permit (Art. 85c FNIA), only after a waiting period and on conditions; see provisional admission (F permit);
• family reunification under the FNIA if you later get a B permit.

If family members come to Switzerland themselves, they must file their own asylum application, which may be joined to yours as a family procedure (Art. 51 AsylA; AsylO 1).

Assignment to a canton

When your case moves to the extended procedure, the SEM assigns you to a canton (Art. 27 AsylA), using a key based on cantonal population. Exceptions are possible if close family members already live in another canton (Art. 27 para. 3 AsylA) or for serious medical or other protective reasons. Changing canton later is possible only exceptionally, under AsylO 1 (Art. 22), and practice is strict.

Possible outcomes

The SEM, or on appeal the Federal Administrative Court, decides. The possible outcomes are:

• Asylum. If you meet the refugee definition (Art. 3 AsylA) and no exclusion ground applies (Art. 53-54 AsylA), you get refugee status, a B permit marked "refugee" (Art. 60 AsylA), family asylum for your close family (Art. 51 AsylA) and a refugee travel document. See recognised refugee in Switzerland.
• Rejection with provisional admission. If removal would be unlawful (for example against the ban on refoulement), unreasonable (for example for medical or humanitarian reasons) or impossible, the SEM orders provisional admission (Art. 83 to 88 FNIA) and you get an F permit. See provisional admission (F permit).
• Rejection with removal. If removal is lawful, reasonable and possible, the SEM orders removal and sets a departure deadline. You can appeal within the deadlines above; otherwise, or if the appeal fails, removal is enforced.
• Dublin decision not to examine. If another Dublin state is responsible (Art. 31a para. 1 let. b AsylA), the SEM does not examine your case and orders your transfer. The appeal deadline is 5 working days. Art. 31a AsylA lists other cases too, such as a responsible safe third state.

Free legal advice and representation

Since 1 March 2019 you are entitled to free legal advice and representation (Art. 102f to 102l AsylA; AsylO 1, Art. 52a to 52g).

• At the federal asylum centre, a legal representative is assigned to you automatically (Art. 102h AsylA). They accompany you through the hearing and file access, comment on the draft decision and lodge an appeal if it has a prospect of success (Art. 102h para. 3 AsylA). It is free.
• In the extended procedure, a cantonal legal advice and representation office takes over (AsylO 1, Art. 52e): it explains the procedure, comes to hearings and lodges appeals. Also free.
• Advice centres mandated by the SEM include the Swiss Refugee Council (OSAR/SFH), HEKS/EPER, Caritas Switzerland, SOS Ticino and the Berner Rechtsberatungsstelle für Menschen in Not (BRB). The Asylum Act glossary lists them by canton.
• A private lawyer is possible but rarely needed. Asylum social assistance does not pay for one. You can ask for free legal aid in an appeal to the Federal Administrative Court under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA, SR 172.021, Art. 65) if you have no money and the appeal is not hopeless. A lawyer must be registered in a cantonal bar register (Lawyers Act, LLCA, SR 935.61, Art. 8).

Protection of your data

Because many asylum seekers are in danger, the rules are strict. Your personal data may not be passed to your home country if that would endanger you or your family, and the authorities may not tell it that you applied for asylum (Art. 97 AsylA). Disclosure to other states and international organisations is allowed only under very narrow conditions and never if it would endanger you or your family (Art. 98 AsylA). Eurodac fingerprint data (Art. 102a to 102c AsylA) may never be passed to private bodies (Art. 102c para. 5 let. c AsylA). For questions about your Eurodac data, ask your legal representative or an SEM-accredited advice centre. See data protection.

If the procedure takes a long time

Despite the 2019 acceleration, complex cases, the extended procedure and appeals can take months or years. Throughout, your N permit stays valid and is renewed by the cantonal migration office, and your rights stay the same unless a first-instance rejection changes them (for example a work ban under Art. 43 para. 2 AsylA). Your legal representative can tell you where your case stands. A long procedure does not guarantee any outcome or give you a right to another permit; the separate hardship rule is in Art. 14 para. 2 AsylA.

Who does what

Support in a crisis

Many asylum seekers face heavy strain: separation from family, uncertainty and trauma from flight. Besides your free legal representation, Caritas, OSAR/SFH and cantonal services offer psychosocial support. In an emergency, call 143 (Die Dargebotene Hand) or 144 for medical emergencies.

Related pages

• S protection status: temporary group protection, a separate system from the asylum procedure.