Service providers from EU/EFTA member states may work in Switzerland without a permit for up to 90 days per calendar year due to the Free Movement of Persons Agreement (FMPA). However, according to Art. 6 of the "Entsendegesetz" (EntsG), their work assignments must be reported by means of a so-called reporting procedure ("Meldeverfahren").

Thanks to the Agreement on the Mobility of Service Providers (Services Mobility Agreement, SMA) concluded between Switzerland and the United Kingdom, this also applies to UK nationals - despite the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU at the end of 2020. For the time being, the SMA is limited to two years until the end of 2022.

Service providers

According to the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (FMPA), the term "service providers" includes:

• Temporally limited self-employment of an EU/EFTA national with no place of residence in Switzerland,
• Employees with EU/EFTA nationality posted by companies domiciled in an EU/EFTA state to provide a service in Switzerland for a limited period of time;
• Employees from third countries may only be posted if they are permanently admitted to the regular labour market in an EU/EFTA member state, i.e. have been in possession of a work and residence permit from an EU/EFTA state for at least 12 months.

No permit but mandatory registration

No permit is required for services lasting a maximum of 90 days per calendar year. Since 1 January 2022, this also applies to Croatian nationals without exception.

However the work assignment must be registered at least eight days before the start of work using the online registration procedure.

If the assignment(s) last no more than eight days, no notification is required as a rule. In the case of activities in the following sectors, the declaration must be made from the first working day, irrespective of the duration of the assignment:

• Construction
• Gardening and landscaping
• Hotel and catering industry
• Cleaning business (industry and private households)
• Surveillance and security services
• Business conducted by persons of no-fixed residence (except fairs and circuses)
• Erotic business

In the case of postings, the 90 days apply per company. If a company posts several persons on the same day, for example, it will only count as one day.

The notification must be received by the authorities at least eight days before the start of work.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Immigration Team.

Author: Urs Haegi
Co-Author: Andrea Elvedi