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Expat guide: Zurich
This expat guide offers information and advice if you are moving to Zurich. Click on the different tabs to find out about anything from tax rules and banking to education and cultural highlights.
You can also read our guides Switzerland and Geneva.
Download this guide as a pdfMoving to Zurich
Zurich is Switzerland's financial engine and home to the world’s fourth largest stock exchange, but there’s so much more to this city besides commerce.
Expats in Zurich are hard pressed to find a better lifestyle while pursuing their career ambitions. The city is set against the scenic backdrop of Lake Zurich and the Limmat River. Frequently ranked as the world’s top city to live in, Zurich is the textbook for urban living: It’s clean, safe and reliable with a strong economy and a rich culture.
Its medieval Old Town has been transformed by the contemporary pleasures of fashion stores and bookshops, wine and pastry shops, bars, restaurants and clubs. Having long influenced the arts and culture, Zurich is a city that pays homage to museums, galleries and theatres.
The Limmat River runs through Zurich, creating wonderful quays along which to stroll and enjoy the sights of the sailboats and motorboats whisking their passengers across Lake Zurich.
Because it is such a cosmopolitan city, expats may get by speaking English, which is widely spoken and understood. Swiss German, however, is the language spoken by Zurich’s residents with High German reserved for all written forms of communication.
Shipping and removals
A reputable removal firm can help ease the process of Swiss customs regulations and ensure you have the right documentation so that your household contents arrive safely at their destination.
It is possible to import household goods and personal effects duty-free to Switzerland. In order to do this you must have taken up residence before customs clearance so that you can register with local authorities. Furthermore, the items have to be a least six months old in order to be imported duty-free.
When moving household items to Zurich, you will need to have the right documentation, including a Customs Forum 18.44, a detailed Inventory for air and sea-freight shipments, a declaration of the importation of household goods, a copy of your passport as well as the copy of your Swiss work permit and rental or purchase contract. Liaise with your removals company to make sure that you have all the documentation you need.
Cars and other vehicles can be imported duty free provided they are imported within 18-months of the household contents shipment/removal and the vehicle has been owned and used longer than six months.
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For more information on the procedures and on removal companies:
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