Switzerland · Passive income
EU/EFTA Residence Permit for Non-Employed Persons (Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons)
Open
Last verified July 2026
A treaty entitlement under the Swiss–EU Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, not a discretionary permit. This is the route almost every lump-sum taxpayer actually uses, because most are EU nationals.
The quiet asymmetry of Switzerland: an EU passport turns Swiss residence from a discretionary favour into a treaty right. For a non-EU family, acquiring an EU citizenship elsewhere first is very often the cheaper and more certain path into Switzerland than approaching a canton directly.
Qualifying routes
—
Non-employed EU/EFTA national with sufficient means
No investment. Requires sufficient financial resources so as not to rely on social assistance, plus Swiss health insurance.
The facts
- Total landed cost
- Nominal permit fees only — the cost is the lump-sum tax ruling that usually accompanies it
- Timeline
- 1–3 months — Largely administrative for EU/EFTA nationals
- Physical presence
- Genuine residence; the B permit lapses if you leave Switzerland for more than six months
- Family
- spousechildren under 21 or dependentdependent parents and grandparents
- Permanent residency
- C permit after 5 years for most EU/EFTA nationals
- Citizenship
- 10 years' residence (years between ages 10 and 20 count double)
- Language test
- B1 spoken / A2 written in a national language
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- EU or EFTA nationalitysufficient financial means to live without social assistancecomprehensive Swiss health insurancea Swiss address
What can go wrong
- Only open to EU/EFTA nationals — of no help to a US, UK, Gulf or Asian passport holder.
- 'Sufficient means' is assessed by the canton and is not a published number.
- Swiss health insurance is compulsory within three months of arrival and is expensive.
- Switzerland is not in the EU. This is a bilateral treaty and has been politically contested; the Swiss–EU package agreed in 2024–2025 remains subject to domestic ratification and a likely referendum.