Looking for highly-skilled employees?

Thanks to freedom of movement, citizens of EU/EFTA member states can enter, live and work in Switzerland. 

1. Short-term employment 

No residence permit is required if you are employed in Switzerland fur up to months or 90 days per calendar year. However, employers must register paid employment through the notification procedure for short-term work in Switzerland at least one day before job is due to begin. 

2. Employment longer than 3 months 

A residence permit must be obtained from the Swiss commune where the applicant lives before starting work. The following documents are needed: 

• a valid identity card or passport 
• confirmation of employment from your employer or a certificate of employment (e.g. an employment contract). 

The residence permit is valid throughout Switzerland and allows you to change your job or employer. Its period of validity depends on the length of your employment. 

3. Self-employment  

Registration of arrival in Switzerland within 14 days is needed and an application for a residence permit from the commune in which the applicant is living. The following documents are needed: 

• a valid identity card or passport 
• documents proving self-employment status (e.g. accounting records)

Source: ch.ch Easy answers about life in Switzerland

Qualified non-EU/EFTA nationals, for example, managers, specialists, or university graduates with several years of professional experience, may work in Switzerland. Non-EU/EFTA nationals require a work permit, even for short-term employment. The number of permits issued is limited. A work permit may also be issued for self-employment. Spouses of Swiss nationals or of persons with a settlement permit do not require a work permit. 

Requirements 

Employers must demonstrate that the hiring of a non-EU/EFTA employee is in Switzerland's economic interests and that they cannot recruit the necessary personnel in Switzerland or from an EU/EFTA member state. An employer must provide the same working conditions and remuneration as for Swiss nationals. 

How to obtain a work permit 

It is up to the employer to take the necessary steps to obtain a work permit from the cantonal immigration and employment market authorities. In case of self-employment, it is up to the self-employed individual to take the necessary steps. 

Further information on the procedure for non-EU/EFTA nationals is available on the website of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). 

A work permit alone does not necessarily entitle you to enter Switzerland. Depending on your nationality, you may also require a visa. To find out if this applies to you and how to obtain a visa, see also here. On arrival in Switzerland, applicants must register with the communal authorities in the place where they are living within 14 days. Applicants cannot start work before then. 

Source: ch.ch Easy answers about life in Switzerland

Since 1 January 2021, UK nationals are no longer citizens of the EU and are therefore subject to the same rules that apply to third-country nationals, including quotas. 

If you are a UK national and already had residence rights in Switzerland before 2021, you benefit from special provisions under the agreement between Switzerland and the UK on acquired rights.  

Source: ch.ch Easy answers about life in Switzerland

Since 1 July 2018, employers are required to notify Swiss Regional Employment Centers (RAV) of all available vacancies relating to types of occupation in which the corresponding domestic unemployment rate is 5% or higher. Every year on January 1, the Swiss government publishes a new list of job types that will be registered. Check whether your vacancy is subject to the registration requirement: Check-Up 2023