Switzerland has a widely successful residency program.

According to the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration, acquiring a residence permit in Switzerland is possible by investing in the country’s economy.

If you’re familiarized with residency by investment programs, you’ll find the Swiss program easy to understand. You make a qualified type of investment, you comply with certain requirements, and you receive a permanent residency.

However, the Swiss residency program comes with a slight difference. These programs generally have real estate as their main option.

Also, you know Swiss products are exclusive and, thus, high cost. Residency is not an exception. All possibilities are costly but are also rewarding. Let’s walk you through the Swiss residency options.

Lump-sum tax

You can acquire Swiss residency in this way by proving you have a wealth of over CHF 10 million. Also, the lump-sum tax requires you to have yearly expenditures of at least CHF 400,000. You won’t need to disclose your wealth, but only pay a single tax based on your living expenses. Nevertheless, this is an option reserved for ultra-high net worth individuals.

Business investor program

If you intend to do high-level business in Switzerland, this is an interesting option. If you form a new Swiss company or invest in an existing one, you can receive the residency if it has a turnover of at least CHF 1 million as long as you comply with background checks and have a credible business plan.

Qualified worker

This is also a common option available in many different countries. For you to qualify under this residency scheme, the company where you work or the company that will hire you must have documentary evidence proving that they could not find a specialist of your level in the entire European market. Afterwards, they can sponsor you for the residency program.

The hidden option: Cyprus or Malta CBI

An indirect possibility is applying for one of these citizenship by investment programs and then moving to Switzerland. Among the world’s CBI programs, these two are the most expensive, but they come with an EU passport, meaning you can leave wherever you want in the EU and Switzerland.

Applying for the Malta CBI costs around €1m and for the Cyprus program costs around €2m, but in both cases you can sell the real estate properties you acquire after five years, or you can rent them whenever you want. Both countries have a booming real estate market. This means you can recover a significant part of your investment in a few years, which seems attractive in comparison to what you need to apply directly in Switzerland.

After you receive your Maltese or Cypriot passport , you can freely go to Switzerland and apply for permanent residency. All you will need is a job (opening a company also suffices) and an apartment contract. That’s it.

Switzerland offers unmatched life quality. It has one of the highest concentrations of high net worth individuals in the world due to its unparalleled financial services, its attractive tax regime, and its overall beauty.

High net worth individuals want the unique life that almost only Switzerland can give them. Indeed, it is not necessarily cheap to receive a residency, but have you ever heard of cheap Swiss watches? That’s impossible. Swiss is an exclusive destination, and its residency programs are designed for exclusive high net worth individuals.

We can help you apply for a Swiss residency. All you need to do is contact us right now, and we will put you in touch with our experts.