🇨🇭 Work & skilled workers

KIP 4 will operate from 2028 through 2032 as the fourth generation of Switzerland's Cantonal Integration Programmes. The Federal Council's decision provides a total CHF 334.5 million commitment credit for this five-year period and anticipates CHF 66.9 million in federal spending on integration measures each year. This represents an annual increase of CHF 5.4 million compared with the current programme period. The Federal Council attributes the increase primarily to the growing number of people benefiting from integration support. The CHF 66.9 million annual federal amount is divided between CHF 37.3 million for the cantonal integration programmes and CHF 29.6 million for national programmes and projects. The CHF 37.3 million cantonal component is distributed through a five-year allocation formula. Each canton receives a basic contribution, while the remainder is calculated using population-based indicators. The indicators include the permanent resident population, entries of the foreign resident population, and the permanent foreign resident population, with the foreign-population entry indicator receiving double weighting. Cantons must provide funding at least equivalent to the federal contribution for KIP 4, including municipal funding. The published financing table therefore establishes CHF 37.3 million in federal funding alongside at least CHF 37.3 million in cantonal and municipal contributions for the relevant KIP 4 component, giving a minimum combined amount of CHF 74.6 million for that component each year. The programme maintains seven existing funding areas rather than creating a new integration category. These cover information, assessment and counselling; language; education and employability; early childhood; living together and participation; prevention of racism and protection against discrimination; and interpreting. The framework calls for better access to information, greater use of digital tools where appropriate, stronger quality assurance for language programmes, improved coordination with mainstream services and continued development of anti-discrimination and interpreting services. The first strategic priority is women's integration. Existing measures are to be adapted to gender-specific barriers and targeted offers for women are to be developed. The framework specifically identifies childcare-linked and part-time support as possible approaches and calls for mainstream institutions to take women's particular integration needs into account. The second priority is education as a route to employment. KIP 4 seeks to improve access to formal qualifications, recognition and use of qualifications obtained abroad, preparation for secondary and tertiary education, job coaching and supported employment. The programme states that rapid labour-market entry should not come at the expense of sustainable educational and vocational outcomes. The KIP 4 framework also requires closer coordination between cantonal programmes and national policies, including the Swiss asylum strategy, the 2026–2031 national strategy against racism and antisemitism, and other federal measures. The objective is to use existing structures and avoid duplication rather than create parallel systems.

The Federal Council rejects the popular initiative "Stop Asylum Abuse! (Border Protection Initiative)" and proposes to Parliament that it be recommended for rejection to the people and the cantons without a direct counter-proposal or indirect alternative proposal. The proposed initiative would require systematic control of all people entering Switzerland and would require people who do not meet the conditions for entry to be refused entry. It would also establish a maximum of 5,000 people per year who could be granted asylum. For people residing in Switzerland without regular status, the initiative would introduce a reporting obligation. Their employment contracts would be declared invalid, they would be excluded from social and health insurance benefits, and they would be required to leave Switzerland within 90 days. The initiative would also remove the possibility of provisional admission for certain people, including people fleeing war zones, according to the Federal Council's description of the proposal.

The accommodation registration system for foreign guests is to be digitalised nationwide. Accommodation providers will be able to transmit reports electronically and without the guest's signature. In such cases, providers must verify that the guest's data matches the identification document presented. The digital solution will be implemented on the EasyGov platform, but cantons with existing well-functioning digital systems can continue to use them.

Protection status S for individuals from Ukraine is extended until 4 March 2028. However, new applications submitted on or after 20 August 2026, will only be granted to individuals who are in compliance with their military obligations in Ukraine. This restriction applies to Ukrainian nationals of conscription age, those on the reserve list, and those who have voluntarily joined the armed forces.

The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) will resume deciding on asylum applications from Syrian nationals on a case-by-case basis, effective 1 May 2026. The SEM no longer assumes a situation of general violence in all regions of Syria, allowing for the potential enforcement of deportations to these regions under specific favourable circumstances.

The facilitations are temporarily suspended. Applicants must generally provide the full supporting documentation, while the standard processing period increases to 45 calendar days instead of 15. Multiple-entry visas are no longer available under the suspended facilitation arrangements, and diplomatic/service passport holders no longer receive the relevant visa-fee exemption.

Cantons will gain more discretion to set the standard of social assistance for individuals with protection status S who have been in Switzerland for five years or more. The federal government will cease providing subsidies to cantons for these individuals. Additionally, a one-time federal payment to cantons for emergency aid costs, when protection status S is revoked and a removal decision is legally binding, will be set at 1300 Swiss Francs per person.

The Asylstrategie 2027, jointly developed by the Confederation, cantons, cities, and municipalities, is being implemented since December 2025. It aims to improve and further develop the asylum system by focusing on individuals in need of protection, relieving the system from unfounded asylum applications, enhancing security in the asylum sector, strengthening integration programmes, and improving the asylum system's resilience to fluctuations. Specific measures are being prepared in areas such as asylum procedures (including a preliminary jurisdiction procedure), protection status S, handling of repeat offenders in the asylum sector, and integration.

The Federal Council is considering extending Schutzstatus S beyond March 2027 and is currently in consultation regarding potential changes. These potential changes include giving cantons more discretion in setting social assistance standards for Schutzstatus S holders from March 2027 and potentially excluding Ukrainian conscripted men from Schutzstatus S.

The planning instrument now includes TZCH-2 Buosingen and no longer includes ZSCH-2 Schwyz (Wintersried). SEM can now continue with the planning and approval procedures for the Buosingen centre. The centre is expected to have 170 places and is currently planned to begin operating in 2031.

The temporary federal asylum centre (BAZ) in Brugg will operate with a regular capacity of 250 places. In extraordinary situations, and in consultation with the Brugg city council, this capacity can be temporarily increased to up to 350 places.

Switzerland is reintroducing visa facilitations for Ethiopian nationals, including the possibility to waive the requirement for supporting documents, exemption from visa fees for holders of diplomatic and service passports, issuance of multiple-entry visas, and processing of visa applications within 15 days. This follows the EU's decision to reinstate suspended Visa Code provisions due to improved cooperation on returns.

Switzerland is expected to contribute approximately 323 million Swiss Francs to the BMVI-Fonds by the end of 2027.

The proposed changes include: 1. Persons with Protection Status S who are employed for at least 12 months, are financially independent, and face unreasonable commuting from their canton of residence will have a right to change cantons. 2. Unemployed persons with Protection Status S must register with public employment services. 3. Third-country nationals who complete higher vocational training or a postdoctoral degree in Switzerland and whose employment is of high scientific or economic interest will have easier access to the labour market. 4. These individuals will also receive a six-month permit for job searching after completing their education.

Switzerland and Morocco have formally agreed on procedures that allow them to cooperate more quickly on: Identifying people who are subject to return. Confirming their identity. Organising their return to Morocco. The arrangement applies to people who are in Switzerland without authorisation and whose return to Morocco is being handled under the bilateral process.

SEM has temporarily taken six centres out of operation. The reduction is intended to match available capacity more closely with the lower number of asylum applications. The centres can be brought back into operation if demand increases.

Switzerland, as an associated Schengen-/Dublin-state, adopts parts of the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact. This includes implementing new jurisdiction criteria and procedures from the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation, the revised Eurodac Regulation, and the new screening procedure according to the Screening Regulation. Specific ordinances have been adjusted to concretise these legal changes, such as AsylV 1, AsylV 3, VEV, and VZAE. The screening procedure enables rapid identification, registration, and assignment of individuals at Schengen external borders to the correct procedure (return, asylum procedure, or transfer to another Schengen state via the solidarity mechanism). A legally enshrined solidarity mechanism will relieve highly burdened states at the external borders. The goal is to reduce the number of asylum seekers without a prospect of protection and relieve the Swiss asylum system. Adjustments also include information requirements for screened persons, details on the screening form, information exchange regarding health status before Dublin transfers, audio recordings of Dublin interviews, roles of fingerprint and facial image experts, handling of unaccompanied minors, and data transmission to third countries under the Eurodac Regulation.

The Asylum Act (AsylG) now incorporates new security provisions and operational guidelines for federal asylum centres (BAZ). Key aspects of the BAZ house rules have been integrated into the AsylG. The tasks and competencies of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) regarding accommodation, care, and security in the centres, including airport accommodations, have been redefined and/or clarified.

Individuals arriving in Switzerland through family reunification who currently lack prospects of employment or education will be registered with the Vocational, Educational and Career Guidance Service by the relevant cantonal or communal authorities. This service will assist these individuals in finding employment. During a consultation session, they will receive detailed information about Swiss labour market opportunities and requirements, the significance of vocational training, and the process for recognising foreign professional qualifications.

Since 1 November 2025, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) differentiates between regions in Ukraine when processing applications for Protection Status S. Applicants from seven specific regions in Western Ukraine (Volyn, Rivne, Lviv, Ternopil, Transcarpathia, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Chernivtsi) generally no longer have a right to Protection Status S in Switzerland, as return to these regions is considered generally reasonable due to the security situation. This rule applies to new applications and those submitted before 1 November 2025, that had not yet been decided.

Holders of a Georgian diplomatic, official, or service passport will require a visa to enter Switzerland.

The existing legal foundations are sufficient, but there is a need for practical improvement, particularly in asylum and foreign law procedures, as well as in accommodation, care, and education. The Federal Council has instructed the Federal Department of Justice and Police (EJPD) to convene a working group to address specific issues concerning the best interests of the child in migration across all state levels.

Current rules for this policy, plus every recorded change.

Current rules for this policy, plus every recorded change.

Current rules for this policy, plus every recorded change.