Bringing your family to Switzerland: EU and non-EU rules

Whether and how your family can join you in Switzerland depends mainly on your nationality. EU and EFTA citizens bring a broad circle of family under the free movement agreement: a spouse, children under 21 (or older if dependent) and dependent parents or grandparents. Non-EU residents, including UK nationals arriving since 2021, follow the Swiss Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (AIG): the spouse and children under 18 may join if housing, finances and language conditions are met, and there are firm deadlines.

Key facts (as of September 2026)

• EU/EFTA family: spouse, descendants under 21 or dependent, and dependent parents and grandparents (art. 3 para. 2 Annex I FZA).
• The family's right depends on the main holder's right and lasts only as long as it does.
• Non-EU (AIG), B holders: spouse and unmarried children under 18 may join: shared home, suitable housing, no social assistance or supplementary benefits, language skills (art. 44 AIG).
• Deadlines (AIG): within 5 years; children over 12 within 12 months (art. 47 AIG).
• The updated Switzerland–EU free movement rules are not in force.
• Household staff are not family members for these rules.

Two systems: free movement or the AIG

Switzerland runs two separate sets of rules for foreign nationals, and family reunification follows the same split.

UK nationals admitted before 1 January 2021 keep their acquired rights. Anyone arriving from the UK since then is treated as a non-EU national.

EU and EFTA citizens: who counts as family

Under the free movement agreement, the family members who may join an EU/EFTA citizen are (art. 3 para. 2 Annex I FZA; SEM directives VFP §7.1.2):

• the spouse;
• descendants under 21, or older descendants who are dependent;
• ascendants (parents, grandparents) who are dependent.

The family's right is a derived right. It exists because of the main holder's right and only for as long as that right exists. If the main holder's permit ends, the family members' position has to be looked at again.

For EU/EFTA students the circle is narrower: only the spouse and dependent children.

If you come to Switzerland without working, as a retiree or a person of independent means, you may live here with your family provided you have sufficient financial means and comprehensive health and accident insurance (art. 24 para. 1 Annex I FZA). There are no quotas. We explain that route in detail in the B permit without gainful activity for EU citizens.

Non-EU citizens: conditions for B permit holders

For non-EU residents on a B permit, the spouse and unmarried children under 18 may receive a residence permit if (art. 44 AIG):

• they live together with the permit holder;
• suitable housing is available;
• the family does not depend on social assistance;
• they can communicate in the local national language, where enrolling in a language course is enough at first (this is not required for children under 18);
• the family will not claim supplementary benefits (Ergänzungsleistungen).

The wording is "may": this is not an automatic right, and the canton assesses each case. In practice, the more clearly you document housing and finances, the smoother the process tends to be.

Retirees and the fiscal-interest route

If you come as a non-EU retiree aged 55 or over, or on the basis of important cantonal fiscal interests, your spouse and minor children may come with you (SEM directives AIG §5.3; art. 43 and 44 AIG). It is usually simplest to apply for the whole family at the same time. Both routes are covered in Swiss residence for financially independent non-EU nationals.

Deadlines: the 5-year and 12-month rules

The AIG sets deadlines that are easy to miss when a family moves in stages (art. 47 AIG):

• The request must be made within 5 years.
• For children over 12, the request must be made within 12 months.
• The deadlines start when the permit is granted or when the family relationship begins (for example, a marriage after arrival).
• After the deadline, reunification is only possible for important family reasons.

The 12-month rule for older children matters most. If you plan to move first and bring a teenager a year or two later, for instance after a school year ends abroad, you may run out of time. Planning the order of the move is part of the permit strategy.

The Switzerland–EU package is not in force

You may have read about the new package of agreements between Switzerland and the EU, sometimes called "Bilaterals III", which includes an updated free movement agreement. The Federal Council adopted its dispatch to Parliament on 13 March 2026. Parliament is still debating it and an optional referendum is planned.

Until the package enters into force, nothing changes for residents: the current agreement and the rules above continue to apply. We do not recommend planning a family move around changes that are not yet law.

Household staff are not family

Families who move with a nanny, housekeeper or other long-standing staff are sometimes surprised to learn that staff are not family members under either system. The free movement family definition and art. 44 AIG cover relatives only, however close the working relationship.

Staff therefore need a permit of their own, under the rules that apply to their nationality and their work. It is worth raising this early, when the family's own applications are being planned.

Lump-sum taxation and your spouse

If you plan to be taxed on a lump sum, remember that both spouses must meet every condition. If one spouse works in Switzerland, or is or becomes Swiss, the couple loses the lump sum for the whole tax period (art. 14 para. 2 DBG; ESTV Circular 44 §2.4). A spouse's job offer in Switzerland is therefore a tax question as well as a permit question. See Swiss lump-sum taxation for the conditions.

If your spouse is Swiss, a faster route to citizenship may be open to you; see Swiss citizenship for new residents.

Practical points once the family arrives

• Registration: each family member registers with the commune, within 14 days of entry for stays over 3 months.
• Health insurance: each person with a B or C permit must take out Swiss basic health insurance within 3 months of registering (art. 7 para. 1 KVV). Our health insurance guide explains how it works.
• AHV/AVS contributions: non-employed residents pay contributions based on wealth and pension income until the reference age of 65. For a married couple, each spouse is assessed on half of the joint wealth and pension income. A non-employed spouse is exempt if the working spouse pays at least CHF 1,060 a year (AHV/IV leaflet 2.03, 2026).
• Schools: if you are considering an international school, start the admissions process early. See international schools in Switzerland.

How we help

We plan the permit applications for the whole household together: who applies when, what evidence the canton will look for, and how staff and older children fit into the timetable. We also check how the family's situation affects lump-sum eligibility. Start with our eligibility check.

This guide is general information as of 30 September 2026; a ruling or specific advice is needed for your own situation.