Updated
CH-SP
Talent and specialists
A work and residence permit for a professional with rare qualifications: no investment is required, but a Swiss employer and a place in the annual quota are.
01 / About the program
Switzerland admits specialists from outside the European Union to its labour market only exceptionally: the employer must prove that no candidate was found in Switzerland or the EU countries. The permit is issued within the annual quota shared out between the cantons. No money has to be invested — the ground lies in the qualifications and the contract.
The application is filed by the Swiss company, not by the specialist. It is also the company that proves the need to hire you in particular.
The employer shows that it looked for a candidate in Switzerland and the EU and found none. Without that procedure the permit will not be issued.
The annual number of permits for citizens of countries outside the EU and EFTA is limited and shared out between the cantons — the timeline depends on availability.
The terms of employment and the pay must match local ones — paying a foreigner less is forbidden.
02 / What you get
No investment and no purchase of a business: the ground is your qualifications and the contract with the employer.
A spouse and minor children move with you, and the spouse has the right to work in the country.
Travel around the Schengen area without a visa for up to 90 days in every 180.
Pay and conditions at the level of the local market, with a full social package and insurance.
Once the status is obtained a move to another company is agreed with the canton, but it is not forbidden.
After ten years of residence the C permit opens up, with naturalisation possible after that.
A preliminary assessment
Set out who is moving with you. At the review we assess your field against the cantons’ requirements and look at the quotas, the timeline by stage and a plan of action.
Who is moving?
about a minuteno calls and no obligationsconfidential
03 / Why people apply
This path is chosen by professionals with rare qualifications: engineers, doctors, scientists, IT architects, financiers. Here it is the labour market that pays, not the applicant.
There is no need to invest a million or to pay a lump-sum tax: a job offer is enough.
The level of salaries, the research base and the international companies are why specialists choose Switzerland.
A spouse with the right to work and children in schools — the move is arranged in a single pack.
After ten years of residence the permanent permit, and then the possibility of naturalisation.
Swiss employment law and social guarantees protect both the specialist and their family.
Some clients start on a specialist’s status and later move to a company of their own in the country.
04 / Travel
The B permit gives the right to live and work in Switzerland and to travel around the Schengen area, but it is not citizenship.
Residence and work in the canton that issued the permit, for the whole time the status is in force.
Travel around the Schengen area without a visa. The status does not give the right to work in other EU countries.
On dismissal the permit may be reconsidered. A change of employer is agreed with the canton.
You travel to third countries on your passport of citizenship: that is what sets the visa regime.
Sources: the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (FNIA), the ordinance on admission, residence and employment and the practice of the SEM. For citizens of countries outside the EU and EFTA annual quotas apply.
05 / The composition of the application
The permit extends to the specialist’s immediate family. Open a row to see the conditions.
06 / Cost
The programme requires no investment. The costs are the permit fees, legalisation of documents and support through the procedure.
A contract with a Swiss company · the main scenario
No investment is required
No investment is required
The term of the status The term of the employment contract
A transfer within the company · an international group
No investment is required
No investment is required
The term of the status The term of the secondment
Scenario
The programme requires no investment. The cantonal fees for the permits of the applicant and the family members, legalisation and translation of documents, recognition of a degree where needed and the support are payable. The quotas and requirements differ from canton to canton — the conditions are checked as at the date of the enquiry. This is a preliminary calculation, not a decision of a state authority.
07 / Comparison
A professional has several paths open. Here are the main parameters side by side.
| Switzerland | US O-1 | France | Portugal | The UAE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An employer is required | Yes | Yes, a sponsor | Yes, most often | No | Yes |
| Investment required | No | No | No | from €200,000 | No |
| Quotas | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Work for the spouse | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Processing time | 2-4 months | 2-4 months | 2-3 months | 6-18 months | 1-2 months |
The data are given as at the date this page was updated and are checked again before the agreement is signed.
Full program comparison →10 / How it works
We go through your education, experience and field: whether there is a chance the canton will treat your qualifications as rare for the local market.
The process starts with a job offer. If there is no employer yet, we help with positioning on the Swiss market.
The company documents its search for a candidate in Switzerland and the EU. That procedure is compulsory; without it the application will not be accepted.
The employer files the documents with the cantonal labour office, which checks the terms of the contract and the availability of a quota place.
The State Secretariat for Migration approves the permit within the federal quota.
After approval a D visa is arranged, then the entry and registration of residence in the canton.
We arrange the statuses of the spouse and children, the insurance and the schools. The permit is renewed together with the employment contract.
The same seven steps as a document: what the employer does, what you prepare and how the quotas work.
Admission of specialists is governed by the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (AIG).
Assess the qualifications11 / Our role
Most of the work here is done by the employer, and that is exactly where things go wrong: a labour market priority procedure done badly means a refusal whatever your qualifications.
We help the company through the labour market priority procedure and describe the position properly — that is the decisive part of the application.
If your field is not in short supply we say so straight and propose alternatives — other countries or another status.
The availability of places in the canton’s quota changes the timeline by months. We check that before the work begins.
The statuses of the spouse and children, the insurance, the schools, the registration. The family moves in a single pack, not through separate procedures.
12 / Team
The application is run by a permanent team: the programme lawyer, a documents specialist and a family coordinator.
Viktoria LebedevaManaging Director, Private ClientsThe strategy and the work with the employer
Eva LauriHead of OperationsThe documents, the degrees and the application to the canton
Yan NovakWealth Structuring AdvisorTaxes and social contributions
Igor VencReal Estate Managing DirectorCoordinating the family and contact at every stage15 / Materials
Materials on a specialist’s permit: the requirements, the quotas and how the work with the employer runs.
The main materialPresentation
The presentation gathers the essentials: the requirements as to qualifications, the employer’s duties, the quotas, the family composition and how the work is done.
Inside:
PDF · free · current as of August 2026
Which qualifications the cantons treat as in short supply and what strengthens an application.
The list for the applicant, the employer and the family, marking what has to be translated and legalised.
We work out the timeline taking the quotas into account and assess the chances for your field.
All the materials are updated regularly by our team and are used when supporting BRIDGES clients.
16 / News
The annual quotas for permits for citizens of countries outside the EU and EFTA were confirmed, the quota for seconded employees among them.
The cantons clarified how priority for the local labour market is to be evidenced when foreign specialists are hired.
Worth having
The short document we give clients before the start: the requirements as to qualifications, the employer’s duties, the stages and the timelines — in one list, with nothing padded.
Inside the document
We will send it after a short form - no call or obligation.
17 / Questions
No. The ground is your qualifications and an employment contract with a Swiss company. The costs come down to the permit fees, the legalisation of documents and the support.
No. The application is filed by the Swiss company, which also justifies the need to hire you in particular and goes through the labour market priority procedure.
The employer must show documentarily that it looked for a candidate in Switzerland and the EU countries and found none suitable. Without that a permit for a third-country national will not be issued.
The annual number of permits for citizens of countries outside the EU and EFTA is limited by a federal quota shared out between the cantons. If a canton has no places left, you will have to wait for the next period.
Those where Switzerland has a shortage: engineering disciplines, medicine, research, IT architecture, finance and narrow manufacturing competencies. The decision is taken by the canton on the particular vacancy.
Yes. The spouse receives a residence permit with the right to work and the children study in schools. The family moves in a single pack with the main applicant.
Once the status is obtained a move to another company is possible, but it is agreed with the canton. In the first year changing jobs is harder, so the choice of the first employer matters.
2-4 months from the employer filing the documents to the visa, where quota places are available. Checking the quotas is the first thing we do.
After ten years of residence the C permit opens up. For citizens of certain countries that period may be shorter under international treaties. Naturalisation is possible later, subject to the cantonal requirements.
The permit is tied to the job: if the position is lost the canton gives time to find a new employer, but the status may be reconsidered. We warn about this before the move.
INITIAL ASSESSMENT
We will design a solution for your case, choose the country and the right status, and take the whole process through to the result.
