Registration procedure for short-term work in Switzerland

Under certain conditions EU/EFTA Citizens taking up employment or providing services in Switzerland and workers of other nationalities posted to Switzerland by EU/EFTA companies do not need a work permit but can instead benefit from an online registration procedure. The exact preconditions for this procedure depend upon the nationality of the worker and/or the location of the sending company and can be found below:

Conditions for Nationals of the EU-25, taking up employment in Switzerland, providing services in Switzerland on self employed basis or companies based in these countries posting workers to Switzerland.

• The registration procedure applies to employment in Switzerland lasting up to 3 months per calendar year and must take place before a person actually starts to work for the Swiss employer.
    
  
• Self-employed service providers can use the registration procedure for up to 90 individual working days per calendar year. The registration has to take place at least 8 days before taking up work in Switzerland. No registration is required for work lasting no more than 8 days per calendar year except for construction, hospitality, cleaning and security services as well as itinerant workers (including itinerant traders, door-to-door salesmen, market-traders, stall-keepers, circus and fairground workers) and erotic services where the registration 8 days in advance is always compulsory.
    
• Companies posting workers to Switzerland can use the registration procedure for up to 90 individual working days per company and calendar year. The registration has to take place at least 8 days before taking up work in Switzerland. No registration is required for work lasting no more than 8 days per calendar year except for construction, hospitality, cleaning and security services as well as itinerant workers (including itinerant traders, door-to-door salesmen, market-traders, stall-keepers, circus and fairground workers) where the registration 8 days in advance is always compulsory. Third country nationals can be posted using the registration procedure if they are directly employed by the sending company and have held a valid EU work permit for at least 12 months. Only a company's own employees can be posted, not temporary workers hired from an agency.
    
• For all situations not mentioned above (especially services or employment lasting more than 90 days or 3 months per calendar year) the registration procedure can not be used and a work permit is required. For employment in Switzerland this can be requested upon arrival at the communal registration offices. Services of more than the 90 days per calendar year are not covered by the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons and a permit has to be applied for in advance with the labour market authorities of the canton the service shall be provided in.

Conditions for Nationals of Romania and Bulgaria taking up employment in Switzerland, providing services in Switzerland on self employed basis or companies based in these countries posting workers to Switzerland.

• Taking up employment of any duration in Switzerland is always subject to a work permit that has to be applied for in advance with the labor market authorities of the canton the employer is situated in. The registration procedure is therefore not applicable.
    
• For providing services (self employed persons or posted workers) in the areas of construction, gardening, cleaning and security a work permit always has to be applied for in advance with the labor market authorities of the canton the service shall be provided in and the registration procedure is therefore not applicable.
    
• Otherwise the same rules as for the EU-25/EFTA apply.