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Expat guide: Switzerland
This expat guide offers information and advice if you are moving to Switzerland. Click on the different tabs to find out about anything from tax rules and banking to education and cultural highlights.
Download this guide as a pdfMoving to Switzerland
The prosperous, orderly cities and cantons of mountainous Switzerland make for an ideal expat destination. Expat workers have long been integrated into the economy, particularly the financial and diplomatic sectors, where the demand is high. Over 21 percent of Switzerland's 7.5 million workers are foreign nationals.
Although above average salaries compensate for it, the cost of living is exceptionally high. Crime is a rarity, and social problems virtually non-existent. Appropriately for a country famed for its watch making, Switzerland runs likes clockwork, a point of great pride for the fastidious Swiss. For expats living here is a trouble-free, if slightly sanitised, experience.
Switzerland ranks second in quality of life according to the Economist. The few drawbacks include an occasionally insular population of locals who don't fully welcome expats, and comprehensively cold and snowy winters. But as they say, if life gives you snow, go skiing, and that is precisely what many expats find themselves doing on the world class Alpine slopes around Geneva, Interlaken and St Moritz.
Shipping and removals
To import your household goods into Switzerland, you need to complete Form 18.44: “Declaration/Application for clearance of household effects”. Together with this you need to submit assurance of a residence authorisation or proof of accommodation. Ensure your removals company advises you on these requirements. You can find more information and download the form from the Swiss Federal Customs Administration.
To import pets from your home country, you need a veterinary certificate and electronic tagging. Check in with the Federal Veterinary Office (www.bvet.admin.ch) for the precise details.
Customs information: www.ezv.admin.ch
This content is provided by www.expatarrivals.com, copyright © 2011 Globe Media Ltd. All rights reserved. By its very nature much of the information in this travel guide is subject to change at short notice and travellers are urged to verify information on which they're relying with the relevant authorities. Neither Globe Media nor Bupa International can be held liable for any errors or omissions, or any loss, damage, illness and/or injury that may occur as a result of this information.
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