Your first 90 days in Switzerland: a new-resident checklist

Your first 90 days in Switzerland follow a fairly clear order: register with your commune, take out health insurance, settle your tax position and start the practical steps that make a house a home. Only a few items have firm legal deadlines, and they are easy to meet if you know them in advance. This checklist walks through them calmly, week by week.

Key facts (as of September 2026)

Before you arrive

A good first 90 days starts a few months earlier. If you can, have these settled before you travel:

• Your permit route. EU/EFTA nationals who do not work use the free-movement rules; non-EU nationals usually come through the retiree route or the fiscal-interest route, which needs cantonal and federal approval.
• Your tax position. If you plan to be taxed on a lump sum, the amount is agreed with the canton before or on arrival. In Geneva, you apply in writing with the migration procedure, proposing an amount and completing a lifestyle form. In Vaud, a signed lump-sum agreement is one of the documents for a non-EU residence permit. Our guide to getting a tax ruling before you move explains why this is worth doing early.
• Your home. Renting at first is often the gentlest start. If you are buying, check how Lex Koller applies to you: see buying property as a foreigner.
• Schools. Contact schools early, ideally before you choose a home.
• Leaving well. Your home country may have its own departure rules, such as exit taxes or a tail of inheritance tax. It is worth taking advice at home before you leave.

Week 1–2: register

Register with your commune. This is the first formal step and the one many later deadlines count from. If you are staying longer than three months without working and entered with an entry permit, registration is due within 14 days of arrival (art. 10 VZAE). EU/EFTA nationals also have a duty to register.

Bring your passport, your entry permit if you have one, your lease or property deed, and civil-status documents for the family, such as marriage and birth certificates. The commune will tell you exactly what it needs and may ask for translations.

While you are there, ask about:

• waste collection and local rules, which are communal and differ from place to place
• school registration for children in the local system, if relevant
• whether there is a welcome pack or information for new residents in English

Week 2–6: health insurance and money

Take out basic health insurance. If you hold a B or C permit, you must insure within three months of registering (art. 7 para. 1 KVV). If you do it on time, cover is backdated to your registration date; if you are late, it starts only when you join. Don't cancel an international policy until Swiss cover is in place. More in our guide to health insurance for new residents.

Open a Swiss bank account. You will need it for rent, insurance premiums and local payments. Banks are likely to ask about your residence, source of wealth and tax status, so have documents ready.

Keep your records. Swiss withholding tax of 35% is deducted from Swiss dividends and bank or bond interest. Swiss residents can get it back by declaring the income, so keep your bank statements in order from the start.

Week 4–8: AHV/AVS and tax

Register for AHV/AVS. The Swiss old-age and survivors' insurance (AHV in German, AVS in French) also applies to people who do not work. Contact the cantonal compensation office. For 2026, contributions for non-employed people work like this:

• they are based on wealth plus 20 times annual pension income
• the minimum is CHF 530 a year (for amounts under CHF 350,000)
• the maximum is CHF 26,500 a year, reached at CHF 8.95 million
• married couples are each 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
• contributions are owed until the reference age of 65

Confirm your tax file. Whether you are taxed ordinarily or on a lump sum, make sure the cantonal tax administration has opened your file and knows your address. If you are taxed on a lump sum, remember that you must report changes in your situation to the tax authority without being asked, and that each year the tax authority checks that the conditions are still met. See our guide to Swiss lump-sum taxation.

Week 6–12: car, home and daily life

Import your car and belongings. Household goods and motor vehicles can come in duty-free as relocation goods if you move your home to Switzerland, have used them personally for at least six months, and keep using them. Relocation vehicles are also exempt from the 4% automobile tax. Keep proof of ownership and use, and check the customs procedure with the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) before the move.

Register your car. Once your car is imported, ask the cantonal road traffic office how to register it locally.

Plan your driving licence. You need a Swiss licence once you have lived here for 12 months without a break of more than three months abroad (art. 42 para. 3bis VZV). That is outside the 90 days, but it is easy to forget. Contact the cantonal road traffic office early to find out what they need for your licence, as the process depends on where it was issued.

Settle into the neighbourhood. Find a family doctor and a dentist, register children for activities, and learn the rhythm of the commune.

A one-page checklist

Common slips we see

• Leaving health insurance to the last week. The three-month window passes quickly during a move.
• Cancelling an international policy too soon. Keep it until Swiss cover is confirmed.
• Forgetting AHV/AVS. It applies to people who do not work, and the contribution can be significant.
• Treating registration as a formality. Your registration date drives several other deadlines.
• Assuming a holiday home is a home. For tax and property rules, your actual domicile is where your life really takes place.

How we help

We help families through each of these steps, from registration and insurance to schools, cars and the tax file, so that nothing important slips while you are settling in. Our settling-in service is built around this checklist. If you are still planning the move, the eligibility check is a good place to begin.

This checklist is general information as of 30 September 2026 and is not legal or tax advice; deadlines and documents should be confirmed with your commune and canton.