From France to Switzerland: recognition, G permit and settling in

At a glance

• Nursing: the Diplôme d'État d'infirmier·ère is listed in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC. In the EU-harmonised procedure, the SRK only checks that it complies with the Directive; it does not compare it with Swiss training.
• Doctors: MEBEKO decides on your medical diploma and, in a separate application, on your specialist title (DES). Once recognised, both have the same effect in Switzerland as the Swiss federal diploma and title.
• Aide-soignant·e: there is no EU-harmonised procedure, and the SRK does not match the qualification to any Swiss qualification. Whether you need the SRK equivalence for nursing assistants (Gleichwertigkeit Pflegehelfende SRK) for a nursing assistant job depends on the canton.
• Assistante médicale and secrétaire médicale: according to SERI (the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation), you only need recognition if you will take X-rays in Switzerland. Without X-rays, you apply for jobs directly.
• Permits: as a French citizen, you are covered by the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons. A passport or identity card is enough to enter Switzerland, and your residence permit also serves as your work permit.
• Cross-border commuting: with a G permit, you keep living in France. Where your salary is taxed depends on the canton where you work.
• TakeCare submits the application to the SRK for nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants (FaGe) and to MEBEKO for doctors, and covers the cost of recognition. For nursing assistants, TakeCare submits the application for the SRK equivalence for nursing assistants (Gleichwertigkeit Pflegehelfende SRK) and covers the costs. We clarify with you which procedure applies to a Diplôme d'État d'aide-soignant·e and what TakeCare takes on. TakeCare also supports you with finding housing, with insurance and with dealing with the authorities. All services are free of charge for jobseekers (Art. 9 AVG, the Swiss Recruitment Act).

Your French qualification and its Swiss counterpart

Which body is responsible depends on your profession, not on where you live. The table matches French qualifications in nursing, medicine and medical practices to their Swiss counterparts. It shows the route; the decision rests with the responsible body.

Infirmier·ère: recognition by the SRK

To work in a regulated health profession in Switzerland, you need your foreign diploma recognised; the SRK describes this as a legal requirement. For nursing, the Swiss Red Cross is responsible. It is not a federal authority but carries out this task on behalf of the Swiss Confederation.

For France, Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC lists the “Diplôme d'Etat d'infirmier(ère)” and the “Diplôme d'Etat d'infirmier(ère) délivré en vertu du décret no 99-1147 du 29 décembre 1999”, issued by the Ministry of Health, with the professional title Infirmier(ère) and the reference date 29 June 1979. The entry reads the same in the version the SRK refers to and in the current EU version. Switzerland applies the Directive through Annex III of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons with the EU.

This means the EU-harmonised procedure is open to you, provided you obtained the diploma after the reference date and completed your training in France. The SRK then only checks whether your qualification complies with the Directive. It does not compare it with a Swiss training programme, and it does not classify it as either HF or FH (HF: Höhere Fachschule, a Swiss college of higher education; FH: Fachhochschule, a university of applied sciences).

How the procedure works:

1. 1PreCheck: this mandatory, free first step takes place online with the SRK. Once all documents have been submitted, the SRK processes the PreCheck within four weeks at most and sends you the result by e-mail. In our experience, a positive PreCheck often comes through within ten days of applying.
2. 2Application: after a positive PreCheck, the SRK sends you the application documents by post. The complete file goes, together with the signed application form, to the SRK in Wabern. TakeCare submits this application, and TakeCare covers the cost of recognition.
3. 3Decision: the procedure starts as soon as the file is complete and the invoice has been paid. From then on, the SRK decides within four months at most. If documents are missing, it takes longer.
4. 4Register: after recognition, you are entered in the Register of Health Professions (GesReg) and automatically receive a GLN (Global Location Number). The entry is mandatory for nurses with a recognised foreign diploma.

In our experience, the whole recognition process takes around three months.

The SRK requires these documents in addition to the application form; the full list comes with the application documents:

• EU certificate: a confirmation from the competent authority in the country where you trained that your diploma complies with Directive 2005/36/EC. The SRK needs it as an original or a certified copy; the authority can also send it directly to the SRK by e-mail.
• Certificate of Current Professional Status or Letter of Good Standing: issued by the authority of the country where you last worked. You do not need it for the PreCheck; when you submit the application, it must be no more than three months old.
• Certificate of Non-Registration and criminal record extract: instead of the Letter of Good Standing, if your diploma was never registered, for example because you did not work in France after qualifying. The criminal record extract must also be no more than three months old.
• Copies: as a rule, copies or officially certified copies are sufficient. The SRK does not accept an apostille as certification. Certifications and translations must be in German, French, Italian or English, and translations must be done by a recognised translator.

For the EU-harmonised procedure, the SRK's process sheet lists CHF 550, plus a one-off CHF 130 for the register entry. Elsewhere on its website, it gives CHF 680 for the same procedure. That is the sum of both amounts, but the SRK does not say whether the register fee is included. TakeCare covers the cost of recognition.

A recognised foreign qualification has the same effect for professional practice in Switzerland as the corresponding Swiss qualification, and the decision is valid for your entire working life. You may not use the Swiss titles HF and FH. You use the professional title Pflegefachfrau or Pflegefachmann (nurse), or your French title stating the country. The SRK recommends that employers hire recognised professionals on the same terms, including pay, as those trained in Switzerland; this is not a legal rule on pay.

Automatic recognition applies to general nursing. Nursing specialisations and specialist fields without training in general nursing are not covered; they fall under the Directive's general system of recognition.

Under the Health Professions Act, you need a cantonal licence to practise if you work on your own professional responsibility: self-employed, in a management role or without supervision by a person of the same profession, even as an employee. For work under the supervision of a nurse, the law does not require a licence; cantonal rules may add to this. The requirements for the licence include a recognised qualification and knowledge of an official language of the canton.

Working before recognition comes through: according to the SRK, whether and for how long you may work without recognition while the procedure is under way is decided by the canton, more precisely by the health department or the cantonal medical service. There is no nationwide rule.

Aide-soignant·e: what applies

For the Diplôme d'État d'aide-soignant·e, there is no EU-harmonised procedure, and the SRK does not match it to any Swiss qualification. For qualifications below registered nursing, the SRK names these procedures:

• Fachfrau/Fachmann Gesundheit EFZ (FaGe, the Swiss federal vocational certificate for healthcare assistants): the SRK compares foreign qualifications at this level with the Swiss EFZ. There is no EU-harmonised procedure for this.
• SRK equivalence for nursing assistants (Gleichwertigkeit Pflegehelfende SRK): open to, among others, people with basic nursing training abroad of at least 120 hours of theory and practical experience. The SRK decides within two months of receiving the complete online application. The fee is CHF 250, or CHF 500 with a work placement; if the decision is negative, the SRK does not send an invoice.

The SRK does not require B1 language certification for the nursing assistant equivalence if you completed your training in German, French or Italian. Whether you need the SRK equivalence for nursing assistants at all for a nursing assistant job depends on the canton. We clarify with you which procedure applies to your Diplôme d'État d'aide-soignant·e and what TakeCare takes on. If your route is the SRK equivalence for nursing assistants, TakeCare submits the application for you and covers the costs.

Doctors: recognition by MEBEKO

For doctors, the Federal Commission for the Medical Professions (MEBEKO) is responsible; its office is based at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH, BAG in German). The diploma is recognised by the Education section, the specialist title by the Postgraduate Training section. According to MEBEKO's annual report, around 87 percent of the specialist titles recognised in 2024 came from Germany, Austria, France and Italy.

A simplified procedure applies to medical diplomas from the EU: if the training meets the EU minimum requirements, the diploma is recognised automatically, and if it differs in length or scope from Swiss training, no additional conditions may be imposed. Direct recognition requires three things: you or your spouse hold the citizenship of Switzerland or an EU/EFTA state, your diploma matches the title given in Directive 2005/36/EC, and it was issued by the authority named there. A recognised diploma has the same effect in Switzerland as the Swiss federal diploma.

Which French document MEBEKO requires:

• For the medical diploma: the “Diplôme de fin de deuxième cycle d'Etudes médicales” or the “Diplôme de formation approfondie en sciences médicales”.
• Only if neither of these exists does it accept the “Diplôme d'Etat de docteur en médecine”. If you submit this one, you fill in the additional form and, for the recognition of your DES, enclose a certificate of conformity with the Directive.
• If you only have a provisional certificate for your diploma, you also need a certificate of conformity with Directive 2005/36/EC, in certified form.

The diploma and the specialist title are two separate applications, each with its own forms and its own decision; the documents may be submitted together. For the specialist title, you need a Swiss federal diploma or one recognised by MEBEKO, but you can apply for the title before the diploma is recognised, provided the diploma application is enclosed. Only the human medicine titles listed in supplementary form 1.1 can be recognised; MEBEKO describes this list as exhaustive. Several titles can be recognised, and the fee is charged per application. A recognised title has the same effect as the Swiss federal title, but it does not guarantee you the same options for billing compulsory health insurance in Switzerland as in France, where it was issued.

For recognition, MEBEKO needs:

• the dated and signed application form
• a certified copy of your passport or identity card (a Swiss permit card for foreign nationals is not sufficient); if recognition is based on marriage, also your spouse's ID document and the marriage certificate
• an up-to-date, signed CV
• a certified copy of the diploma in the original language; an official translation is only needed for documents that are not in German, French, Italian or English
• for the specialist title, also its own application form, a certified copy of the postgraduate diploma and supplementary form 1.1

Certification may be done by notaries, diplomatic missions, municipal, city and district administrations, courts, and the issuing authority for its own documents. Certifications by translators, hospitals, banks, the post office, health insurers or by yourself are not accepted. Submit certified copies, not originals; MEBEKO does not return documents. It only accepts applications on paper, by post.

MEBEKO currently gives up to six months for diploma recognition and up to five months for the specialist title, in each case from the acknowledgement of receipt, and describes these figures as non-binding. Applications are processed in the order received and cannot be expedited. The Medical Professions Ordinance sets the fee at CHF 800 to 1,000 per recognition, depending on the work involved. TakeCare submits the application and covers the cost of recognition; in our experience, the whole process takes around three months.

MEBEKO sends its decision only on paper, by registered post. At the same time, you are entered in the Medical Professions Register (MedReg) and receive a GLN. Without a MedReg entry, you may not practise medicine in Switzerland, and before hiring you, your employer checks that you are registered and have the necessary language skills.

As a resident doctor (Assistenzärztin or Assistenzarzt), you work under supervision. If you work on your own professional responsibility, you need a licence from the canton, even as an employee in a practice. The requirements include a recognised diploma, a recognised specialist title and knowledge of an official language of the canton. The cantons regulate the details differently:

You can only bill compulsory health insurance yourself if you hold your own admission. For this, the Health Insurance Act requires, among other things, a language examination taken in Switzerland in the language of your region, but waives it if your recognised foreign diploma was obtained in that official language – so a French diploma in the Romandie (French-speaking Switzerland). The canton of Zurich requires German at level C1 for admission. Doctors employed in the outpatient department of a hospital do not need their own admission, because the hospital does the billing.

Assistante médicale: MPA in Switzerland

In Switzerland, the profession is called Medizinische Praxisassistentin or Medizinischer Praxisassistent (MPA, medical practice assistant), assistante médicale or assistant médical in French. The federal recognition portal also lists the search terms “secrétaire médicale” and “secrétaire médical” under this profession. The responsible body is the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI, SBFI in German), not the SRK and not MEBEKO.

According to SERI's recognition portal, whether you need recognition comes down to a single question: will you take X-rays in Switzerland? The country where you trained makes no difference to the answer.

• Without X-rays: the work is not regulated. You do not need recognition and can apply for jobs directly. You can still have your qualification recognised voluntarily.
• With X-rays: you need recognition from SERI. In the same procedure, you can, if needed, obtain the authorisation to take low-dose X-rays, i.e. chest and extremities, comparable with an MPA with a Swiss EFZ. Fluoroscopy, CT and mammography are excluded for MPAs.

In France, according to the Assurance Maladie (French national health insurance), assistant·e médical·e is not a health profession and may only operate fully automated equipment, so no X-rays. The role there can be filled by, among others, aides-soignant·e·s, nurses and secrétaires médicales; the CQP industry certificate is not a state diploma.

Recognition from SERI costs CHF 550, not including compensation measures; payment is in Swiss francs and in a single amount. SERI states a duration of up to four months after the file is complete, but currently reports a very high number of applications and considerable delays. If you have work experience, you can also obtain the Swiss MPA EFZ through a cantonal qualification procedure that takes your experience and prior education into account.

In the canton of Zurich, MPAs may be employed in a doctor's practice without a cantonal licence; the employer ensures that their training matches their tasks. We clarify with you whether you need recognition for your job.

Language: Romandie, German-speaking Switzerland or Ticino

German, French and Italian are official languages of the Confederation; each canton determines which official language applies there. When the Medical Professions Act or the Health Professions Act requires knowledge of an official language of the canton, this means German, French or Italian, not a dialect. In the Romandie, your training in French helps you directly:

• Geneva: for the first licence to practise, the canton requires a French B2 certificate. If French is your native language or you completed your training in French, you do not have to submit one. This applies to all health professions that require a licence.
• Vaud: the licence requires French B2, and doctors' admission to bill basic health insurance requires C1. As proof, the canton accepts a professional diploma from a French-speaking training institution, including a recognised foreign one, such as a French nursing or medical diploma. Vaud does not accept the TCF.
• Bern: for health professions in the GesReg, including nursing, you only need proof of language skills if your main language is not German or French or you did not complete your training in German or French.

For recognition, the SRK requires knowledge of a national language at level B2. For French, it accepts TELC B2, DELF B2, TCF tout public B2 and two variants of the TEF B2. According to its process sheet, proof of language skills is required if the training was not completed in a Swiss official language or if there is no B2 diploma. We clarify during the application whether the SRK requires proof in your case. A certificate that the SRK accepts does not automatically count for the cantonal licence, as the example of the TCF in Vaud shows.

For doctors, federal law requires language skills that, according to the FOPH, correspond to level B2. You can prove them with a language diploma at B2 or above that is no more than six years old, with a degree or postgraduate training that you actually completed in that language, or with three years of medical work in that language within the last ten years. If French is your main language, you submit a self-declaration that you have written, dated and signed yourself. Each language entry in the MedReg costs CHF 50 to 100. Employers and cantons may require a higher level or more recent proof.

For a job in German-speaking Switzerland, you need German. For this, the SRK accepts the Goethe-Zertifikat B2, telc Deutsch B2, TestDaF levels 3 to 5 and the ÖSD Zertifikat B2. The canton of Zurich requires German B2 for the licence to practise, both for nurses and for doctors. In everyday life, you will mostly hear Swiss German: according to the Federal Statistical Office, in 2020, 83 percent of employed people in German-speaking Switzerland usually spoke Swiss German at work, and 43 percent standard German. The written language is standard German.

In Ticino, nurses prove their Italian for the licence, for example with a certificate at B2 or above or with three years of professional experience in Italian within the last ten years.

Living in France, working in Switzerland: the G permit

As a cross-border commuter, you keep living in France and work in Switzerland. The conditions are that you are a citizen of an EU/EFTA state, live in an EU/EFTA state and return to your main residence at least once a week. Border zones no longer apply to EU/EFTA citizens: you may live anywhere in the EU/EFTA and work anywhere in Switzerland.

• The G permit is issued by the canton where you work. Your employer is entered on the permit.
• It is valid for five years with a permanent contract or a contract of more than one year, and for the duration of the contract if it runs from three months to one year. For assignments of less than three months, the online notification procedure applies instead.
• Under federal law, you report a change of job to the authority at your place of work before you start the new job.
• If you stay overnight in Switzerland during the week, you register at the place where you stay. You do not need an additional permit for this.
• In the canton of Geneva, the application must be submitted before you start work; you may work as soon as the complete file has been sent. The canton sends the permit directly to the employer. Geneva does not issue a G permit for looking for work, because the permit is tied to an employer.
• MEBEKO recognition also applies to cross-border commuters, without any restriction in time or place.

Health insurance: as a cross-border commuter, you must be insured from your first working day and have three months to join a Swiss health insurer. Because you live in France, you have a right of option and can take out insurance in France instead. To do so, within three months of starting work, you fill in the form “Choix du système d'assurance-maladie”, have it stamped by the CPAM (your French local health insurance fund) and submit it to the canton where you work. If you only exercise the option tacitly, you are not legally exempt.

Taxes: where your salary is taxed depends on the canton where you work.

Social insurance: if you work in Switzerland, you are generally insured here under AHV/IV/EO (old-age and survivors' insurance, disability insurance and income compensation), even if you live abroad; under the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, you are insured in one country only. 5.3 percent of your salary goes to AHV/IV/EO, and your employer pays the same share. Unemployment insurance of 2.2 percent, up to an annual salary of CHF 148,200, is split equally between employer and employee. Your AHV number starts with 756; your employer can give it to you.

Moving to Switzerland: L, B and C permits

If you move to Switzerland for a job of three months or more, you register with your municipality of residence (Gemeinde, the local administration) within 14 days of arrival and before starting work, and apply for the residence permit. For this, you need a valid identity card or passport and your employer's written confirmation of employment, stating the duration and the workload (percentage of full time) of the job. You do not have to obtain the permit from France. You may start work as soon as the cantonal authority has received your application; you do not have to wait for the permit card.

As a French citizen, you receive the C settlement permit after five years of lawful and uninterrupted residence, on the basis of a settlement agreement or reciprocity. One of the requirements is that you are integrated, which includes oral language skills at level A2 and written skills at level A1 in the national language spoken where you live. Citizens of EU states without such an agreement generally receive the C permit only after ten years.

The permit is valid throughout Switzerland and allows you to change jobs and professions. However, it does not replace a licence to practise. If you move to another municipality, you register at the new place within 14 days and deregister at the old one.

To look for work, you may stay in Switzerland for up to three months without a permit; you do not need a job offer for this. You do not receive social assistance while you are looking for work.

With a B or L permit, you pay withholding tax, which your employer deducts from your salary; it covers federal, cantonal and municipal tax, and the canton sets the rates. From a gross annual income from employment of CHF 120,000, a subsequent ordinary assessment with a tax return is mandatory. If you are married to a person with a C permit or Swiss citizenship and you both live in Switzerland, withholding tax generally does not apply.

Settling in: health insurance, housing, everyday life

Health insurance: within three months of taking up residence, you take out Swiss basic health insurance. If you join in time, cover applies retroactively from the date you took up residence, and the premiums are also owed retroactively. If you join late, cover only starts when you join, and if the delay is inexcusable, a premium surcharge of 30 to 50 percent is added, for twice the length of the delay and for five years at most. If you do not take out insurance in time, a cantonal authority assigns you to an insurer.

In basic insurance, every insurer must accept you without reservations and without a waiting period; you choose the insurer freely. Every person is insured individually, including children. For adults, the deductible (franchise) is between CHF 300 and 2,500; after that, you pay a 10 percent co-payment, up to CHF 700 a year. You can switch insurer at the end of the year; your written notice must reach your insurer by 30 November.

If your family members who are not in employment stay in France, they have a choice: they can take out insurance in France or in Switzerland. Exemption from compulsory insurance in Switzerland is granted by the cantonal authority on application.

Accident insurance: your employer insures you against occupational accidents. If you work at least eight hours a week for the same employer, you are also insured against non-occupational accidents; the premium for this is deducted from your salary. In that case, you can ask your health insurer to suspend accident cover, which lowers your premium.

Housing: landlords often ask for an extract from the debt collection register (Betreibungsregisterauszug), which shows whether any debt collection proceedings were brought against you in the last five years. It costs CHF 17, or CHF 18 with delivery, and only covers the debt collection district where you order it. The rental deposit is no more than three months' rent and is held in a rental deposit account in your name. Nobody may charge you fees for finding a flat, such as a reservation fee. TakeCare supports you in your search for housing.

• Driving licence: you can drive with your French driving licence for twelve months after taking up residence. After that, you exchange it for a Swiss driving licence without a driving test; you present the original and take an eye test.
• Household goods: household effects that you have used yourself for at least six months can be imported duty-free within two years of moving your residence.
• Bank account: you can open one with a bank or with PostFinance, usually once you are resident in Switzerland. Each bank decides for itself which permit types it accepts.

What TakeCare takes on for you

• Recognition and equivalence: TakeCare handles the entire recognition process with the SRK for nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants (FaGe) and with MEBEKO for doctors, submits the application and covers the cost of recognition. For nursing assistants, TakeCare submits the application for the SRK equivalence for nursing assistants (Gleichwertigkeit Pflegehelfende SRK) for you and covers the costs; this is not recognition but a separate procedure. We clarify with you which procedure applies to a Diplôme d'État d'aide-soignant·e and what TakeCare takes on.
• Timeframe: for nurses and doctors, in our experience, the whole recognition process takes around three months. According to the SRK, the positive PreCheck comes within four weeks at most; in our experience, often within ten days of applying. The decisions are made by the SRK and MEBEKO.
• MPA: we clarify with you whether you need recognition from SERI.
• Settling in: we support you with finding housing, with insurance and with dealing with the authorities.
• Jobs: we place people in jobs in German-speaking Switzerland, the Romandie and Ticino.
• Free for you: all TakeCare services are free of charge for jobseekers (Art. 9 AVG).

What you do yourself: if you move to Switzerland, registering with the municipality and applying for the residence permit are, according to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), in principle your own steps. You choose your health insurer, and you decide which job you accept. TakeCare supports you with dealing with the authorities and with insurance.

With a power of attorney, TakeCare may submit the application to the SRK on your behalf. According to the SRK, it neither processes such applications faster nor gives them priority, and MEBEKO processes applications in the order received. What changes is who does the work and who bears the cost of recognition.