Guides for Moving to and Living in Switzerland

How to use these Switzerland expat guides

Every move to Switzerland follows a similar sequence, even though the details differ from one family or employee to the next: understanding your permit route, deciding where to live, arranging housing and schooling, and handling the administrative steps once you arrive. Our guides follow this sequence so you can jump to whichever stage matches where you are today.

Some guides are general overviews, such as our guide to relocation in Switzerland, which is a good place to start if you are at the very beginning of your planning. Others are specific to a city or a practical task, such as choosing where to settle or building a realistic moving budget.

Planning your move: permits, cities and budget

Before you can plan housing or schooling, you generally need clarity on two things: the permit category that applies to you, and the region or city where you will be based. These two decisions shape almost everything else, from the rental market you will face to the school options available to your children.

• •Understand the overall relocation process, from initial planning to your first weeks in Switzerland
• •Compare cantons and cities to find the one that fits your professional, family and lifestyle priorities
• •Build a realistic budget for your move, including costs that are easy to overlook from abroad

Choosing a city: guides by destination

Switzerland is small, but its cities differ meaningfully in cost of living, language, international school availability and commuting patterns. Beyond the major hubs of Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich, several mid-sized cities are popular with expats and offer a different balance of affordability and lifestyle.

Our city-specific guides cover practical questions: what the housing market looks like, how the local administration works, and what daily life feels like for newcomers, including in Bern, Lucerne and Lugano.

Settling in once you have arrived

Once your permit and housing are in place, a second wave of practical tasks follows: commune registration, health insurance enrolment, opening a bank account, enrolling children in school, and understanding local rules that vary by canton and municipality. These steps are time-sensitive, and missing a deadline can create avoidable friction.

Families relocating with children generally spend more time on this stage than single movers or couples without children, since schooling and childcare require decisions specific to each canton and each school's admission calendar.

Guides for companies and global mobility teams

If you are relocating employees rather than yourself, the practical questions are similar but the stakes are different: consistency across assignees, compliance with cantonal requirements, and a predictable experience for the employee and their family. Our resources for companies address relocation support at that scale, separately from our individual-focused guides.