Immigration statistics: Update on quota permits in Switzerland

As we are nearing the middle of 2022, it is time for a refresher on the Swiss quota system, the number of quotas released by the Swiss Federal Council and how these are shared between the Cantons. Understanding that there is a quota system in place in Switzerland helps to have a full picture on how many permits are being used up between different groups of nationalities and is further useful to companies when planning their future hires.

To recap, generally, it is stipulated that anyone wishing to live and work in Switzerland for longer than four months must apply for a permit, thereby using up a quota—which is called a “quota permit.” Exempt from this rule are EU27/EEA citizens who are employed with a local employment contract. There are two types of quota permits: short-term L permits and long-term B permits.

Third-country nationals

For third-country nationals, the number of available B and L permits has not changed compared to 2021. At the beginning of 2022 there were 4,500 B quota permits and 4,000 L quota permits available. These are divided between the federal government and the individual Cantons.

Based on the latest statistics published by the State Secretariat for Migration at the end of April 2022, 1,163 B quota permits and 1,036 L quota permits have been used so far. This adds up to only 26% of both categories having been used, while 33.3% of the year has passed. The Swiss Federal Reserve, thus, still has 2,627 B quota permits and 1,825 L quota permits available, while the Cantons have another 710 B quota permits and 1,139 L quota permits left. In addition to these, there are 916 B quota permits and 1,062 L quota permits left over from last year.  

EU27/EFTA nationals

EU27/EFTA nationals benefit from the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, but this only applies in the case of a local employment contract. In the case of a posting in Switzerland, the rules of the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (“Ausländer- und Integrationsgesetz”, AIG) apply and, therefore, work permits for EU27/EFTA citizens on assignment in Switzerland are also subject to quotas.  

For EU27/EFTA nationals on assignment, the Federal Council has approved 500 B residence permits and 3,000 L short-term residence permits for the year 2022—as it did last year. These quotas are released on a quarterly basis and are jointly available to all Swiss Cantons.

The latest statistics published by the State Secretariat for Migration at the end of April 2022 show that 104 B quota permits and 424 K quota permits have already been used— or 21% and 14%, respectively. The number of quota permits available for the rest of the year (including those left over from 2021) are 600 B quota permits and 4,052 L quota permits.

UK nationals

Since the transition agreement on Brexit was implemented as of 1 January 2021, UK nationals are also subject to separate quotas in Switzerland. For 2022, 2,100 B quota permits and 1,400 L quota permits were available, consistent with the year before. Out of these, 199 B quota permits (9%) and 84 L quota permits (6%) had been used by the end of April. As such, 1,901 B quota permits and 316 L quota permits are still available for the rest of the year.

Croatian nationals

While Croatian nationals were subject to quotas since joining the European Union in 2013, these restrictions on their freedom of movement to Switzerland were suspended as of 1 January 2022. This means that no separate quotas were released for Croatian nationals in 2022 and they are treated as full-fledged EU nationals.

Need to know more?

We will keep you updated on the developments of the available quotas and other immigration related topics. If you have any questions about this topic, please contact Timo Heck, Konstantin Schmid or the Fragomen Swiss Immigration Team. This blog was published Wednesday, 8 June 2022. To keep up-to-date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 site, subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.