On 27 May the Federal Council announced further easing of the COVID-19 related border entry restrictions as follows:

As of 8 June:

• The authorities will again start processing applications for EU/EFTA nationals
• New applications for highly skilled non-EU/EFTA nationals can be submitted if this is in the public interest or if they are urgently required
• For job vacancies with an unemployment rate of more than 5%, the exclusive notification requirement for the first 5 days with the Swiss unemployment office has been re-instated
• Family reunification will be possible again for all persons with a permanent residence permit, a residence permit, a short stay permit or who have been temporarily admitted to Switzerland, under the usual conditions.
• A medical examination at the border for certain groups of people, including a temperature reading, a health questionnaire or quarantine, for any person from a high-risk country listed in the COVID-19 Ordinance can be requested.

As of 15 June (if the pandemic situation permits):

• Travel restrictions with Germany, Austria and France are lifted: All travel restrictions to these countries will be lifted and free movement of persons will be re-established.

Until the 6 July (if the pandemic situation permits):

• Expected travel restrictions will be lifted for all Schengen Countries: If developments with respect to the pandemic situation in Switzerland and in the EU/EFTA countries permit, restrictions on entering, working and living in Switzerland will be lifted for all Schengen states from mid-June and no later than 6 July.
• The Federal Council will decide on lifting further entry restrictions for third countries at a later date and in consultation with the Schengen member states

If you would like to discuss more on this topic, please do reach out to our key contacts below.

Learn more about the other Swiss economical and legal COVID 19 measure here

Key contacts

David Wigersma - Partner, Global Employer Services

David has 20 years of experience in the area of international corporate and individual taxation planning. He specialises in addressing the complex compliance needs of a cross-border workforce with varied elements of compensation.

Julia Stutzer - Director, Immigration

Julia is an Immigration Director at Deloitte in Switzerland. She has been supporting both global companies as well as medium and small sized enterprises with their immigration needs for more than 8 years. Julia puts her focus on immigration advisory services, advising clients on best practice and coordinating complex interdisciplinary requests with the tax and social security teams.

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Julie Nielsen - Assistant Manager, Immigration

Julie is an Immigration Assistant Manager at Deloitte in Switzerland. She has profound knowledge in Swiss Immigration Law and advises both domestic and international companies in providing client-tailored immigration solutions for every-day business and complex individual cases. Julie has 7 years of experience as an immigration consultant.

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