Public services and online portals

Key authorities

• Commune / residents' registration office, cantonal population office: arrival registration, residence permit for foreigners (Geneva: Office cantonal de la population et des migrations, OCPM; Vaud: Service de la population, SPOP; Zurich: Migrationsamt des Kantons Zürich, the migration office). See CH-SEJOUR-TOUS-001.
• Cantonal tax administration: return, withholding tax, later ordinary assessment (see CH-IMPOTS-TOUS-001). In Geneva, your arrival must also be reported to the tax office.
• AVS compensation fund (caisse de compensation): AVS number, contributions of self-employed people and people without gainful activity (see CH-NIF-TOUS-001 and CH-ENTREPRISE-TOUS-001).
• Health insurer (caisse-maladie, approved private insurer): compulsory basic insurance; the canton checks affiliation (see CH-SANTE-TOUS-001).
• Regional employment office (Office régional de placement, ORP): job search and unemployment follow-up. Each canton must set some up (art. 85b of the unemployment insurance act); it organises them itself and entrusts its tasks to them. Benefits, however, are paid by the unemployment fund you choose.
• Cantonal vehicle office (motor vehicle service): exchange of a foreign driving licence, compulsory after 12 months of residence in Switzerland without a stay of more than 3 consecutive months abroad (art. 42 OAC); Swiss plates compulsory when you have lived in Switzerland for more than a year and have used your vehicle there for more than a month (art. 115 OAC).
• State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and Federal Tax Administration (AFC): federal rules, applied by the cantons.

Online services

• Cantonal portals: for example Geneva's e-démarches (including the online tax space); each canton has its own.
• EasyGov.swiss: the Confederation's online one-stop shop for businesses.
• Federal e-ID: free of charge, it complements the identity card without replacing it; it will be open to anyone who has a Swiss identity document, a valid residence permit within the meaning of the law on foreigners and asylum, or a legitimation card (diplomats), or who has applied for it (art. 14 of the e-ID act, accepted in the vote of 28 September 2025). Only a test app exists for now: the swiyu Sandbox Wallet (since 4 September 2026, the former "Public Beta" is called "Sandbox"), intended for future issuing and verifying organisations, not for the general public. On 30 June 2026, the Confederation announced that the launch of the e-ID is postponed, with no new date; the trust infrastructure should enter operation in the first half of 2027.

Steps

1. Register your arrival with the population office of your canton or with your commune. In Geneva, the OCPM page states 14 days after arrival; the newcomers' welcome page states 3 months for EU citizens who meet the conditions for a permit (see Pitfalls).
2. Take out basic health insurance with an insurer of your choice (deadline: see CH-SANTE-TOUS-001).
3. Open a bank account and, if you are a tenant in Geneva, take out liability insurance (compulsory for tenants depending on the canton).
4. Report your arrival to the tax office if your canton requires it (Geneva: dedicated procedure), or check that your employer applies withholding tax.
5. Enrol your children in school (see CH-ECOLE-TOUS-001).
6. Car: have your licence exchanged within 12 months and register your vehicle in Switzerland after one year of residence at the latest, with the cantonal office (see CH-PERMIS-TOUS-001).

Common pitfalls

• Two different deadlines in Geneva. The OCPM page (2025) states 14 days, the newcomers' welcome page (2026) 3 months for EU citizens. Federal law settles in favour of 14 days: the OASA ordinance (art. 10, para. 1, Fedlex version of 12/06/2026) requires you to report your arrival "within fourteen days of entering Switzerland" for a stay of more than three months without gainful activity, and art. 9 OLCP refers, for EU and EFTA citizens, to art. 10 to 15 LEI and to art. 9, 10, 12, 13, 15 and 16 OASA, so to those same deadlines; for an employee, the SEM specifies "within 14 days but before starting the activity". So report your arrival within 14 days, whatever the canton.
• Believing one rule applies to the whole of Switzerland. Procedures, office names and fees change from one canton to another.
• Translations: for official documents, Geneva keeps a list of sworn translators.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EFTA citizens: free movement, residence permit issued by the canton on presentation of the employment contract or proof of resources.
• Nationals of third States (British citizens included, Scotland too): in Geneva, personal registration within 14 days; permit to be obtained under the rules for third States.