How to relocate to Switzerland — step-by-step checklist for expats.
First-90-days sequence: cantonal registration, basic insurance within 3 months (Art. 3 KVG), housing, banking, school, taxes. Insurance is one piece; the relocation logistics live elsewhere — we point to the partners we use.
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In brief
The first 90 days in Switzerland sequence: arrival → cantonal Anmeldung → permit → bank account → basic health insurance (3-month deadline under Art. 3 KVG) → housing → schooling → tax registration. Each step has a federal or cantonal deadline; missing one cascades. Our scope is the insurance + pension architecture; relocation logistics (movers, school search, bureaucracy navigation) sit with specialised relocation agencies. For end-to-end logistics, we use relofinder.ch to match clients with the right agency. Off-market housing — particularly in Zürich, Zug, Geneva — sits on offlist.ch. The 45-minute review with Robert covers the insurance side specifically: 3-month deadline, supplementary clean window, model + Franchise selection, IPV eligibility check.
First 90 days in Switzerland.
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Day 1–14 · Cantonal registration (Anmeldung)
Register at your cantonal Einwohnerkontrolle / Office des habitants within 14 days of arrival. Required documents: passport, employment contract, tenancy agreement (or temporary accommodation), passport photos. The cantonal Anmeldebestätigung is the foundation document — banks, insurers, schools, tax authority all reference it. Permit (B / L / G / C) follows the registration.
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Day 14–30 · Bank account + permit collection
Open a Swiss bank account — UBS, ZKB, Raiffeisen, PostFinance for traditional; Yuh, Neon, Revolut Switzerland for fintech. The Anmeldebestätigung enables account opening for most permits. Permit card typically arrives within 2–4 weeks of cantonal registration.
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Day 0–30 · Apply for supplementary insurance in the clean window
Strongest application window for VVG supplementary is the first 30 days — no Swiss medical history exists yet. Multi-insurer simultaneous application is the standard approach for any non-trivial case. Under Art. 5 KVAG basic insurance must accept everyone — supplementary underwrites individually under Art. 4 VVG.
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Day 0–90 · Register basic health insurance (Art. 3 KVG)
Federal deadline: 3 months from your cantonal Anmeldung under Art. 3 KVG and Art. 7 KVV. On time, coverage applies retroactively from the registration date. Miss the deadline and cover starts only when you join, with a premium surcharge (Art. 5 KVG); never join and the canton assigns you an insurer (Art. 6 KVG). Plan to apply by week 4 — registration takes 2–3 weeks for written acceptance.
Tip If you've delayed past the 3-month line, register immediately — the surcharge runs for twice the length of the delay (Art. 8 KVV). We can help draft the application to the right insurer for your address even in the late-arrival case.
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Day 30–60 · Housing finalisation + cantonal-region check
Most expats arrive on temporary housing (Airbnb, hotel, corporate apartment). Long-term housing decision affects insurance premium tariff (premium region under Art. 61 §2bis KVG). For Zürich Region 1 vs Region 2: ~11% premium gap on the same plan. Bern Region 1 vs Region 3: ~17% gap. Notify your insurer of any address change in writing. Off-market premium housing in Zürich, Zug, Geneva: offlist.ch.
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Day 60–90 · Tax registration + IPV application
Tax registration follows cantonal Anmeldung automatically; first-year tax-at-source (Quellensteuer) typically applies. Apply for IPV cantonal premium subsidy in year 1 with provisional income evidence — most cantons evaluate automatically only after a Swiss tax assessment exists (year 2+); manual year-1 application unlocks subsidy where eligible. See IPV guide.
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Day 60–90 · Pension architecture (pillar 3a + BVG check)
BVG (pillar 2) starts automatically with employed work above the salary threshold. Pillar 3a is optional but tax-deductible — open an account before year-end to claim the deduction in your first Swiss tax year. The architecture decisions (banking vs insurance 3a, account count) belong in a 45-minute pension review with Nicole Bohne. See pension section.
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Day 90+ · Restructure as life shapes change
The first 90 days set the foundation. Year-2 onward: revisit Franchise tier as actual usage data accumulates, revisit IPV after the first Swiss tax assessment lands, restructure supplementary if life events warrant (pregnancy, chronic diagnosis, relocation between cantons, leaving Switzerland). Annual review is the cadence.
What we catch every week.
Trap 01
The 3-month miss
New arrivals delay basic insurance registration past the 3-month line under Art. 3 KVG. Late cover starts only on joining, with a premium surcharge. We help even late arrivals choose a non-default insurer.
Trap 02
The missed clean window
Supplementary applications get pushed to month 3 or later. Swiss medical records start accumulating; the questionnaire scope widens. The clean window is week 1–4.
Trap 03
The silent address change
Households move from temporary housing to long-term housing without notifying the insurer. Wrong-region tariff persists for months. Notifying the insurer matters.
Trap 04
The year-1 IPV skip
Households assume year 1 isn't possible because there's no Swiss tax assessment. Manual year-1 application with provisional income evidence unlocks subsidy where eligible.
These four are specific to this topic. The four we check in every review — from the age-curve trap to the 3-month deadline — are in the four traps deep-dive.
A real-pattern case.
Anonymised pattern
An American household relocates to Zug for a tech-sector role. Spouse + two children. Arrival mid-September. They engaged a relocation agency for the logistics (school search, housing, registration paperwork) via relofinder.ch. Housing settled in Zug Stadt by week 6. Our review timed alongside: basic insurance applied week 3 (well within the 3-month deadline), supplementary applications submitted week 4 in the clean window — three insurers approached for hospital semi-private. Two clean acceptances received; selected the cleaner of the two. IPV check: the household qualified for partial Zug subsidy at their income level — the 'Zug means rich' assumption held them back from applying initially; manual year-1 application unlocked ~CHF 130/month per adult. Pension architecture (pillar 3a + voluntary BVG buy-in) reviewed with Nicole separately in month 3.
Aggregated from real client patterns. Names anonymised; figures illustrative.
Beyond this guide — the 45-minute review.
The 45-minute review with Robert covers the insurance side specifically: 3-month deadline timing against your cantonal Anmeldung date, multi-insurer simultaneous supplementary application, model + Franchise selection for your address, IPV year-1 manual route, and post-housing-finalisation tariff verification. The relocation logistics (movers, school, registration paperwork) live with specialised agencies — for that we use relofinder.ch to match clients to the right agency.
Robert Kolar
Insurance advisor — health insurance specialist
20+ years in Swiss insurance. Reads the basic and supplementary contract for every review. The 45-minute review covers the four-lever framework applied to your address, age, household and existing coverage. German, English, Czech.
Common mistakes.
Missing the 3-month deadline
Late cover starts only on joining, with a 30–50% premium surcharge. Register basic insurance by month 1 to leave processing margin.
Late supplementary application
The clean window is the first 30 days. Push the clean window narrows quickly.
Silent address change
Moving from temporary to long-term housing means notifying your insurer. Silence creates wrong-tariff drift.
Year-1 IPV skip
Manual year-1 application with provisional income evidence works in most cantons.
Architecture set-and-forget
First-90-days decisions need annual review as life shapes change.
Frequently asked — relocate to Switzerland — checklist.
What is the first thing to do when arriving in Switzerland?
How long do I have to get Swiss health insurance?
When should I apply for supplementary insurance after arriving?
Do I need a relocation agency to move to Switzerland?
Can I get help with finding off-market housing in Switzerland?
What is the difference between B, L, C, G permits?
When should I apply for IPV (premium subsidy)?
Do I need to set up pillar 3a immediately?
Relocation, read properly.
We've been timing Swiss-insurance setup for arriving expats since 2017. The 3-month deadline, the supplementary clean window, the cantonal-region tariff verification, the year-1 IPV manual route. Free, 45 minutes, in English, with Robert. The insurance side is ours; for relocation logistics, we use relofinder.ch.
Book your first Swiss insurance review