Also in the news...
How to successfully expand your business and set up in the UK
Tell us about your business and we'll give you the official information and data you need, in one place
Foreign Office travel advice updates
Latest travel information for British nationals affected by the situation in the Middle East.
Check if you need a UK visa
You may need a visa to come to the UK to visit, study or work.
Apply to use simplified declarations for imports you entered in your records without authorisation
Choose how you’ll make supplementary declarations for goods that you entered into your own records without authorisation.
UKEF backs Leicester sustainable packaging firm in Australian expansion
UK Export Finance announces support for a UK luxury sustainable packaging company to expand into new foreign markets.
Establish own business in Switzerland as a foreigner
Foreigners are generally not disallowed from founding a company in Switzerland. However, a distinction is made between persons from EU/EFTA-states and citizens of third countries.
Persons from EU/EFTA countries
Citizens of EU/EFTA countries (currently still excluding Romania and Bulgaria) are allowed to make themselves self-employed in Switzerland. According to the free movement of persons agreement, persons who do not have a residence permit (C-permit) are also allowed to found a company—the five-year residence permit (B-permit) is sufficient. To register in Switzerland, the planned business activities have to be declared and proven. Documents to provide this proof can be—among others—the following: commercial register entry, VAT-number, business plan, professional register entry, proof of social insurance as a self-employed person, and books of account. Further information is provided by the cantonal migration offices.
Persons from third countries
Persons from non-EU/EFTA states wishing to be self-employed in Switzerland have to live up to standards of labour law. Only C-permit holders or people married to such or Swiss citizens have a legal right to be self-employed in Switzerland. All other persons have to request a permission from the respective administration. Furthermore, these persons have to convince the authorities that the planned company will have a “sustainable positive effect on the Swiss economy.” It is preferable to hand in a fully worked-out business plan. If the request is granted by the administration, the applicant receives a short-term permit for citizens of third-party states (L-permit).
In general, this permit is limited to twelve months and may only be extended for another twelve months. A new labour law examination is conducted by the administration each time the permit is extended.