Moving to Switzerland: Monito's In-Depth How-To Guide

When thinking about a move to Switzerland, it may be tempting to believe that the country’s reputation as a well-coordinated, peace-loving nation would neatly characterize your experience of relocating there.

Unfortunately, that will most probably not be the case! Moving to Switzerland can be a complicated process indeed, with a good degree of administrative foresight and cultural wherewithal needed to make a smooth transition.

Fortunately, our guides are here to help! In this comprehensive guide, we’ll help you get a better picture of what you can reasonably expect along the way as you prepare for, embark upon, and embrace your move to Switzerland:

An Introduction to Switzerland

Switzerland has long been an attractive destination for foreign nationals to live and work. Despite its small population, this Alpine nation punches well above its weight in terms of quality of life, standard of living, and numerous other well-being and economic indicators.

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According to the 2020 Best Countries report by U.S. News, for instance, Switzerland is the best country in the world in which to be living. More specifically, in areas as diverse as innovation, press freedom, global competitiveness, human development, and happiness, Switzerland finds itself time and time again among the top ten players globally according to the respective indices. 

To top it all off, the country has consistently maintained a low rate of unemployment, a highly-skilled labour force, and some of the highest wages in the world — altogether making Switzerland an attractive place to live and work indeed!

Taxes in Switzerland

Despite the popular image of Switzerland as a money-grubbing tax haven, having to pay a slice of your paycheck every month to the government is, in fact, an unavoidable reality of life in Switzerland.

While they vary from canton to canton, tax rates in Switzerland are relatively low by European standards, with residents being expected to pay an income tax to all three levels of government and a value-added tax (VAT) on the products they purchase.

As a foreigner in Switzerland, you will be taxed at the source of your income, meaning the municipality and canton in which you earn your money will be the same municipality and canton that levies taxes from your paycheck. Fortunately, you'll not have to bother very much with the actual process of filing your tax returns, as foreign residents have their taxes deducted automatically from their earnings at the end of every month.

Take a look at ETH Zürich's net salary calculator to get a better picture of how much you can reasonably expect to walk home with every month after taxes.

Housing in Switzerland

Finding an apartment or house to rent or buy in Switzerland can be a tricky process indeed — especially in the big cities. Many Swiss people are all too familiar, for example, with having to partake in group viewings when a new apartment comes up for rent in places such as Zürich and Geneva, competing with sometimes dozens of others to have their files picked by the rental agent for the contract.

When you find your place, learn your PLZ/NPA, and get used to how the system works! A PLZ (German) or NPA (French) is a four-digit Swiss postal code. These little numbers are exceedingly useful to memorize, as you'll need to provide yours without fail on countless occasions while living in Switzerland.

While it tends to become easier to find a place to stay the further away from city centres you search, you should still expect to budget at least one month toward finding a place in Switzerland.

Important Documents You May Need To Enter Switzerland

For the latest and most accurate information concerning permits and entry into Switzerland, we recommend that you double-check the overview on the Swiss government’s official website.

While the documents you'll need will vary slightly from canton to canton, you will generally need to show the following things to the authorities once you've arrived in Switzerland:

• A scan of a valid passport;
• Proof of residence in Switzerland;
• A signed employment contract, or the necessary documentation concerning self-employment;
• A completed arrival form;
• One or more passport-sized photographs.

Waiting For Your Permit: What To Anticipate

As the process is managed by cantonal authorities, the length of time you can expect to wait for your permit can differ substantially, ranging anywhere from a few weeks to an entire year depending which canton you're moving to and whether or not you'r an EU/EFTA national.

"Geneva, Vaud and Zurich are the cantons where you will find the most expats and where immigration authorities receive a high volume of permit applications, therefore need more time to process them," Alexa Mossaz explains.

"In Geneva, a EU permit application takes approximately 4-6 months where non-EU permit application can take up to one year. However, if you apply for a permit in Valais, for example, permits are processed much faster (1-2 months)."

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In addition to this, you may also run into trouble while trying to find information from the cantonal authorities about the status of your application.

"For most cantons expats must physically go to the authority to obtain information or drop their forms. Staff at the counter rarely speak English and the process can be quite frustrating," Mossaz points out, adding "it can also be challenging to obtain simple information from immigration authorities and where the staff rarely answer the phone or emails."

The Official Address "Catch 22"

Depending on your individual circumstances, you may be confronted with something of an administrative "catch 22" during your arrival in Switzerland:

As mentioned above, on the one hand, in order to obtain your residence permit, you'll need to provide the authorities with a permanent address in Switzerland. However, the problem is that unless you're planning to move in with a legal resident, you'll likely not yet have a permanent address in Switzerland. This can cause a tricky situation because, in order to rent an apartment from a rental agency, you'll need to provide your residence permit.

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In order to get around this hurdle, we recommend that you explore your options for temporarily moving in with somebody who'd be prepared to host you and sign an official document that confirms you're indeed staying on their premises. This could be a personal relation of yours, or it could be the owner of an Airbnb, hotel or another form of accommodation who's happy in advance to help you out with your paperwork.

You can find these documents on the relevant website of the municipality to which you're moving. Once signed, you can then submit this document in lieu of a proof of residence.

Once you have filed all of your paperwork to the municipal authorities, you should receive confirmation within two weeks that your residence has been approved. This will allow you to proceed to the steps ahead:

How to Move Your Belongings to Switzerland

Moving your belongings to Switzerland can be a complex process. This is especially true if you're planning to move a household's worth of belongings over a continent. On the other hand, if you're moving to Switzerland within Europe, things become cheaper and easier to organise (although the process will still require some planning and foresight).

For example, moving across continents can range from $10,000 to $15,000 (for a household's worth of belongings), while an intracontinental move is more likely to cost in the region of $5,000. This is because several intermediary parties are involved, including shipping companies, freight forwarders, and customs authorities.

Take a look at our in-depth guide on how to move your belongings overseas to learn more about the process.

For moving your belongings to Switzerland, we recommend shipping your belongings overseas with Eurosender, whose innovative online platform connects shippers with logistics companies worldwide to find you the best price and service for your relocation needs:

When coming from abroad, it's well worth noting that many of the things you'd become used to in your home country will likely be a bit different in Switzerland.

For instance, be aware of the fact that, on Sundays, life in Switzerland pretty much grinds to a halt! The streets tend to become considerably quieter, and only a very few stores and services remain open in and around the train stations.

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Online Retailers in Switzerland

Some of the world's most well-known online stores either do not operate in Switzerland or face some restrictions on their business. Instead, Swiss online shoppers make use of their own bevvy of stores:

For buying and selling second-hand goods, for example, Ricardo (unavailable in English) is more or less the Swiss version of eBay (which is available in Switzerland — only it's less popular than Ricardo). Online giant Amazon, which isn't available in Switzerland, has had its would-be market snapped up by Microspot (unavailable in English) and Galaxus, Switzerland's two online retail heavyweights. Similarly, if you're looking for classified ads, many Swiss like to use anibis.ch (unavailable in English) instead of Craigslist, whose service is limited in the country.

The above trend is no different when it comes to online grocery shopping. Instead of Amazon Fresh, the two popular alternatives for Swiss people are LeShop.ch and Coop (also a major brick-and-mortar retailer in the country).

Job Boards in Switerland

For jobseekers, while Swiss employers do indeed make use of popular listing platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed, many positions tend to also to be listed on neuvoo, jobs.ch, and jobup.ch, with global platforms such as ZipRecruiter not operating in Switzerland. For roles in startups, a popular job board in Switzerland is Investiere, Swissdevjobs is popular for engineers and for English-language jobs, many expats find interesting positions listed on The Local Jobs.

Public Transport in Switzerland

When it comes to Swiss public transport, there are certainly a few things to be mindful about. Switzerland's national train company, known as SBB/CFF/FFS in the country's three major languages, runs routes all across the country and works with smaller regional public transport providers to form your go-to resource for all things public transport-related in Switzerland.

Buying train tickets at market price can be a pricey ordeal. A return ticket between Zürich and Bern (a one-hour journey each way) will cost you around CHF 50 in the second class, with a return ticket from Zürich to Geneva being as high as CHF 90 in the second class. If you're taking the train a lot, these prices can stack up very quickly indeed!

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For this reason, if you plan to make at least several trips by public transport each year, it would be a smart idea to buy yourself a Half Fare Travelcard. These usually cost less than CHF 200 for adults, and they give you a 50% discount on every purchase of a public transport ticket for a vast majority of routes across the country. Half Fare Travelcards are very popular among locals in Switzerland, and it's common knowledge that you'll probably make your money back very quickly!

If you plan to commute to work on a daily basis using public transport, or otherwise use the transport system very regularly, another option could be to buy a GA Travelcard. This will cost you around CHF 3860 per year for adults in the second class, with discounted rates for children, people under the age of 25, disabled people, and senior citizens. GA Travelcards can also be paid for on a monthly basis, although you will save more than CHF 200 per year as an adult if you pay the annual amount upfront.

Languages of Switzerland

The official languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansch. The former three languages you'll find yourself encountering in no short supply while living in the country, from the local retailers to the authorities alike.

Romansch, on the other hand, while an official language on paper, is only spoken by some 44 thousand speakers in the country's easternmost canton, Graubünden, and it'll probably be unusual for you to encounter in your day-to-day.

Interestingly, despite being an official language, German is hardly spoken in Switzerland. Instead, some 60% of the population speak Swiss German (Schwiizertüütsch) ⁠— a term used to define the many Germanic dialects that are spoken in Switzerland and which form a language distinctly different from the German spoken in Germany (known as High German or Hochdeutsch).

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In the case of French, the version that’s spoken in Switzerland — which is dominant in the Western part of the country in a region known as Romandy — remains very similar to the French spoken in France. There are, however, some minor differences in the local lingo and in the rate of speech.

In addition to the national languages, English is widely spoken in Switzerland as a second, third, or even fourth language by many locals across the country. In this way, having a solid grasp of the language would be very useful to get by if you don't happen to speak German, French, or Italian. While many services still remain unavailable in English, the language has become increasingly widely adopted in Switzerland in recent years, and English websites such as English Forum Switzerland provide insights to the country's English-speaking community.

However, especially if you're planning to live for a long period of time in Switzerland, learning one of the local languages can be very useful for general communication and for becoming integrated into the country.

Final Thoughts

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Moving to Switzerland can prove a challenging undertaking for many reasons. If you're not from the EU/EFTA, for example, not only will you face many administrative hurdles in getting into the country, but it's possible that you will have many cultural hurdles to overcome too.

However, regardless of where you come from, living and working in Switzerland provide many opportunities. High wages, good public systems, tasty cuisine, and unique natural beauty are just some of the many things that lie in wait to make your Swiss experience all the more memorable.

Looking for a Low-Cost Swiss Bank Account?

The fees that go along with holding a traditional Swiss bank account can be burdensome indeed. If you're somebody who likes to keep costs down while accessing your finances in one easy-to-access app, then we recommend you check out Neon — Switzerland's pioneering neobank: