Moving to Switzerland: the complete guide for newcomers

Residence permit, registering with your commune, health insurance, finding a home, furnishing it: here is what to sort out, in order, to arrive in Switzerland without unpleasant surprises. A practical guide from Swaap, who set up new arrivals in Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich and across Switzerland every month.

1. Before you leave: what to prepare

Swiss administration works well, but almost everything is interlocked: no address means no bank account; no employment contract or permit means a weak rental application. The order in which you tackle things matters as much as the list itself.

Three things are worth preparing from abroad:

• Your personal documents: valid passports and ID cards, birth and marriage certificates, employment references, diplomas, vaccination records and your children's school files. Many authorities and schools ask for these translated or legalised — far easier to arrange before you leave.
• Temporary accommodation: very few families find their permanent home before arriving. Plan for a furnished flat or apart-hotel for the first few weeks while you view properties.
• Your timing: arriving in July or December complicates everything (letting agencies on holiday, schools closed). March to June and September to November are the smoothest windows.

Rules vary depending on your nationality (EU/EFTA or third country) and on the canton. Treat this guide as a general map, and always confirm the details with your commune or your cantonal migration office.

2. Residence permits: B, L, C or G

Your permit shapes nearly everything else: renting, taxation, sometimes even opening a bank account. These are the four categories you are most likely to encounter.

Permit	Who it is for	Duration
L	Short-term stay, usually tied to a contract of less than a year	Up to 12 months, extendable in some cases
B	Longer-term residence: the most common permit for a permanent position	Renewable, generally on an annual basis
C	Settlement, after several years of continuous residence	Open-ended, with periodic review
G	Cross-border commuters living in France, Germany or Italy	Tied to the employment contract

The application usually goes through your employer and the cantonal migration office. Allow several weeks between filing and receiving the physical card: a provisional confirmation is generally enough in the meantime.

3. Your first few weeks: the essential steps

Register with your commune

This is the first step, and it is mandatory: you must present yourself at the residents' registration office of your commune, as a rule within 14 days of arriving. Bring your identity documents, your rental contract and your employment contract. This registration is what triggers almost everything else.

Take out health insurance

Basic health insurance (LAMal) is compulsory for everyone resident in Switzerland, children included. You generally have three months after arriving to arrange it, but cover is backdated to your arrival date: waiting does not save money, it simply defers the premiums. Premiums vary widely between providers for identical basic cover — compare before signing.

Open a bank account

Most banks ask for proof of address and your permit, or at least your registration confirmation. Swiss online banks often accept lighter documentation and can be a useful way to get moving in the first few weeks.

The small obligations people forget

• The radio and TV levy (Serafe): charged per household and billed automatically once you register with your commune.
• Tax at source: for most B permit holders, tax is deducted directly from your salary. A tax return is still required in some situations.
• Personal liability insurance: not required by law, but demanded by virtually every letting agency before they will sign a lease.
• Your driving licence: residents generally need to exchange a foreign licence within twelve months.

4. Finding somewhere to live

This is the hardest step, especially around Geneva, Zurich and Zug where vacancy rates are among the lowest in Europe. A single flat can attract fifty applications.

What makes an application stand out:

• A complete file, ready at the viewing: employment contract, your last three payslips, a copy of your permit, a debt enforcement register extract and proof of liability insurance.
• An income of roughly three times the rent — the informal rule most letting agencies apply.
• Speed: listings disappear within days on the Swiss property portals.

Budget for the rental deposit too: up to three months' rent, held in a blocked account in your name. Deposit guarantee companies offer an alternative in the form of an annual premium — easier on your cash flow, but non-refundable.

Finally, be aware that the vast majority of Swiss homes are let unfurnished — often without light fittings or curtains, sometimes without appliances. This is the gap newcomers most often underestimate.

5. Should you use a relocation agency?

A relocation agency supports you with the housing search, administrative formalities, school registration and settling in. Many employers fund one as part of the expatriation package — the first question to put to HR.

It is particularly worthwhile if you are arriving from outside the EU, if you speak neither French nor German, or if you need to find housing in a tight market in under two months. Conversely, if you speak the language and have time, doing it yourself is perfectly feasible.

If you do choose one, look at three things: its genuine coverage of your canton, whether it is paid by you or by the letting agencies (this changes its incentive to find you the right property), and exactly what the fee includes.

We work regularly with Swiss relocation agencies to furnish their clients' homes: if yours is looking for a furniture solution, put us in touch.

6. Furnishing your home: buy, ship or rent?

You have the keys, the flat is empty, and you are still sleeping at a hotel. You have three options, and the right one depends mostly on how long you are staying.

Option	Realistic lead time	Upfront cost	Right if…
Buying new	4 to 10 weeks for the main pieces (furniture lead times are long in Switzerland)	High, paid upfront	You are settling for the long term and already know your permanent home
Shipping your own	4 to 12 weeks by container	Transport, customs formalities and storage	You are attached to your furniture and can wait
Renting	A few days	Low, spread monthly	You are staying 1 to 5 years, or need to be settled quickly

This is exactly the problem Swaap solves for newcomers: turnkey packs for the living room, bedroom or office, delivered and assembled by our own team, with an option to buy if you decide to stay. You can also build your home piece by piece from our catalogue — sofas, beds, tables, desks and decoration.

The advantage is not only speed: it is not locking up several thousand francs in furniture before you even know which neighbourhood you will want to live in two years from now. And if you work from home, our guide to setting up a home office covers what to plan for.

7. Where to settle: our regions

Every Swiss region has its own logic — housing market, taxation, language, commuting times. We deliver and install across both French- and German-speaking Switzerland:

For German-speaking Switzerland, we set out our coverage in this article: Basel, Bern and Zug.

8. What does settling in actually cost?

Beyond the rent itself, arriving in Switzerland ties up several months of cash very quickly: the rental deposit (up to three months), the first month's rent, health insurance premiums for the whole family, furnishing, and the move itself.

This is precisely where renting furniture changes the equation: it turns a large one-off outlay into a predictable monthly cost, exactly when your cash flow is under most pressure. We have set out the real figures in our article How much does renting furniture in Switzerland cost?.

For an overview of the whole process, our complete checklist for moving to Switzerland walks through what to do before, during and after your arrival.

9. Frequently asked questions

Let us talk about your arrival

Tell us about your home, your move-in date and your region: we will send you a tailored furnishing proposal within 24 hours, with no obligation.

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