EU/EFTA citizens: sufficient resources plus insurance
Economically inactive EU/EFTA citizens can receive a B EU/EFTA permit if they have enough financial resources to avoid becoming dependent on Swiss social assistance and have full health and accident insurance.
For the surrounding context, see Swiss residence routes.
The financial test is not one nationwide millionaire threshold. The authorities assess whether the available resources are adequate under Swiss welfare standards. Pensions, investment income and assets can all be relevant.
The permit is generally valid for five years. If resources later become insufficient, renewal can be restricted or the residence position can be affected.
A useful correction to common online summaries: the benchmark for an ordinary person of private means and the benchmark for a newly arriving pensioner are not necessarily identical. Swiss administrative guidance distinguishes between the general welfare benchmark and the additional rules applied to newly arriving pensioners.
If this decision changes the viability or sequence of your move, a Swiss relocation strategy consultation can apply it to your own facts.
Non-EU/EFTA nationals: no general private-means permit
For a third-country national, simply being wealthy is normally not enough.
The statutory retiree route is available from age 55 if the applicant has special personal relations with Switzerland, sufficient financial means and does not work in Switzerland. Cantonal authorities assess the personal ties; owning a property or having spent holidays in Switzerland is not automatically enough.
If you are under 55 and do not have an employer, spouse/family route or study basis, the options become much narrower. High-net-worth applicants sometimes explore residence in a canton on the basis of important fiscal interests, often in connection with lump-sum taxation. This is not a nationwide entitlement and should never be described as “pay tax and get a permit”. Immigration approval and tax treatment are separate decisions.
Health insurance is part of the residence file
Swiss compulsory health insurance generally applies once you take up residence. You normally have three months to enrol, but cover and premiums can run from the start of the insurance obligation. Each family member is insured separately.
For the surrounding context, see EU/EFTA residence.
For non-EU applicants, immigration authorities may require proof of comprehensive cover as part of the permit process before the ordinary Swiss insurance arrangement is fully in place.
If you plan to use lump-sum taxation
Expenditure-based taxation requires, among other things, that you do not engage in gainful employment in Switzerland. That makes the immigration and tax analysis inseparable: a permit route that depends on fiscal interest and a tax regime that depends on no Swiss gainful activity must be designed together.
For the surrounding context, see the B permit.
General information on Swiss law and practice, not individual legal, tax or investment advice.
