Working in Switzerland: what you need as a nurse, doctor or medical practice assistant (MPA)

The short answer

Three things determine whether you can work in your profession in Switzerland: recognition of your qualification, a permit to live and work, and knowledge of the official language where you work. Germany, Austria, Italy and France are EU member states; if you are a citizen of one of these countries, the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (FZA) between Switzerland and the EU applies to you.

• Recognition: nurses have their diploma recognised by the Swiss Red Cross (SRK); doctors have their diploma and specialist title recognised by the Federal Commission for the Medical Professions (MEBEKO). According to the SRK, recognition is required by law for regulated professions. As a medical practice assistant (MPA), you only need recognition from the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI, SBFI in German) if you take X-rays.
• Permit: as an EU citizen, you only need a residence permit; it also serves as your work permit. If you meet the requirements, you are entitled to it. Whether you receive an L, B or G permit depends on the length of your employment contract and on where you live.
• Language: for a licence to practise (Berufsausübungsbewilligung), what counts is an official language of the canton where you work – German, French or Italian. For recognition in nursing, the SRK requires level B2 in a national language; for doctors, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH, BAG in German) equates the legal requirement with B2.

One does not replace the other: according to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), a residence permit does not replace a licence to practise. And where recognition is required, you need it regardless of your residence permit.

Recognition by profession: SRK, MEBEKO or SERI

Which body examines your qualification depends on your profession. For qualifications from Germany, Austria, Italy and France, the basis in all three cases is EU Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications, which Switzerland applies through Annex III of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons.

Nursing. The SRK runs two procedures for nursing. In the EU-harmonised procedure, it only checks whether your qualification meets the directive: it must be listed in the directive's Annex V and have been obtained after the reference date stated there, and you must have obtained it in one of the countries listed – Germany, Austria, Italy and France are among them. Your diploma is neither compared with a Swiss programme nor assigned to the HF level (höhere Fachschule, college of higher education) or FH level (Fachhochschule, university of applied sciences); this also applies to bachelor's and master's degrees in general nursing. If these requirements are not met, the SRK compares your qualification in the standard procedure with the Swiss Pflegefachfrau or Pflegefachmann HF (registered nurse) or the Bachelor of Science in Nursing FH. If it differs substantially, the SRK requires compensation measures: an adaptation period, possibly with additional training, or an aptitude test. One case remains open: we have found no official statement from the SRK, SERI or the FOPH on whether the German Pflegefachfrau or Pflegefachmann under the Nursing Professions Act (Pflegeberufegesetz, training since 2020) falls under the EU-harmonised procedure. The EU has listed this qualification in Annex V since 1 January 2020, but the version published by SERI, to which the SRK refers, does not. The decision lies with the SRK.

Specialised qualifications without training in general nursing, for example only in paediatric or only in psychiatric nursing, are not covered by the directive's automatic recognition. After recognition, you are entered in the Register of Health Professions (GesReg) and automatically receive a GLN (Global Location Number); your qualification then has the same effect for professional practice as the corresponding Swiss qualification. You may not use the titles HF or FH, but you may use the Swiss professional title, for example Pflegefachfrau. According to the SRK, recognition is valid for your entire working life. Federal law only requires a licence to practise if you work on your own professional responsibility, that is, not under the supervision of a professional in the same profession; cantons may have additional rules.

Doctors. MEBEKO decides on the recognition of foreign diplomas and postgraduate titles. Diplomas from EU/EFTA states are recognised automatically if three conditions are met: you or your spouse hold Swiss or EU/EFTA nationality, the diploma bears the designation set out in Directive 2005/36/EC, and it was issued by the authority named there. No additional conditions may then be imposed, even if the duration or scope of your training differs from the Swiss training. A recognised diploma has the same effect in Switzerland as a federal Swiss diploma.

The diploma and the specialist title are two applications, each with its own forms and decision; the documents may be submitted together. Only postgraduate titles on MEBEKO's exhaustive list are recognised. MEBEKO defines for each country which document counts as the diploma – for Germany, for example, the certificate of the medical examination (Zeugnis über die Ärztliche Prüfung), not the licence to practise medicine (Approbationsurkunde). Applications are only accepted on paper by post, are processed in the order in which they are received and cannot be expedited.

Once the procedure is completed, you are entered in the Register of Medical Professions (MedReg) and receive a GLN. Nobody may work as a doctor in Switzerland without a MedReg entry. If you work on your own professional responsibility, you also need a licence from the canton and a specialist title. Each canton decides for itself whether junior doctors in postgraduate training (Assistenzärztinnen and Assistenzärzte) need a licence: Bern exempts them, as does Zurich in hospitals; in Ticino, all medical work requires a licence.

Medical practice assistants (MPA). In SERI's recognition portal, a single question decides: will you take X-rays? If not, the activity is not regulated – you do not need recognition and can apply for jobs directly, regardless of the country where you trained. You can still apply for recognition voluntarily. If you take X-rays, you need recognition from SERI; according to the FOPH, the authorisation to take low-dose X-rays can be obtained in the same procedure. For the recognition you need in order to take X-rays, SERI charges CHF 550; according to SERI, any compensation measures are paid separately by the applicant, directly to the provider.

An MPA's X-ray authorisation covers low-dose images, mainly of the chest and extremities, under the direction of a doctor with expertise in radiation protection; fluoroscopy, CT and mammography are excluded, and the abdomen, trunk or skull require additional training. SERI's portal lists the German Medizinische Fachangestellte (MFA) under the MPA entry, and its French version also lists the search term secrétaire médicale; the Austrian Ordinationsassistenz, by contrast, is assigned to the nursing assistant entry (Krankenpflegeassistenz). We clarify with you whether you need recognition for your job.

Step by step

This is what the process looks like if you move to Switzerland for a job. Recognition and your job search can run in parallel.

1. 1Find out which recognition you need: SRK for nursing, MEBEKO for doctors, SERI for MPAs who take X-rays. As an MPA who does not take X-rays, you need none.
2. 2Gather your documents. The SRK requires confirmation of your right to practise (Certificate of Current Professional Status or Letter of Good Standing) from the authority in the country where you last worked – no more than three months old when you submit it – and, for the EU procedure, a certificate of conformity from the country where you trained. MEBEKO requires certified copies and does not return originals. Documents that are not in German, French, Italian or English need an official translation.
3. 3Submit the application. In nursing, the procedure starts with the SRK PreCheck, a mandatory, free online step; for doctors, with the application to MEBEKO by post. For the SRK and MEBEKO, TakeCare submits the application for you and covers the cost of recognition. If you need recognition as an MPA, the application is submitted online in SERI's portal.
4. 4Clarify your proof of language. Whether you need a certificate or whether the language of your training is sufficient depends on your profession and the canton – see the section on language for details.
5. 5Find a job and sign the contract. For the permit, the authorities may only ask for your identity document and your employer's declaration or confirmation of employment; it must state the duration and the workload (percentage of full time).
6. 6Register entry after recognition: nurses are entered in the GesReg, doctors in the MedReg, and both receive a GLN. If you work on your own professional responsibility, you also apply to the canton for a licence to practise.
7. 7Enter Switzerland and register with the municipality where you live (Gemeinde, the local administration) – within 14 days of arrival and before starting work, with your passport or identity card and your confirmation of employment. This is usually also where you apply for the permit. Under residence law, you may start work as soon as your application has been received by the cantonal authority; you do not have to wait for the permit card. This replaces neither recognition nor, where required, the licence to practise.
8. 8Take out health insurance – within three months of taking up residence – and complete the remaining items on the arrival checklist.

Timeline: deadlines and processing times at a glance

For the recognition bodies, we give the maximum time limit or the authority's current figure, and the point from which it runs. Where we give a duration based on our own experience, we say so.

The recognition bodies' time limits assume a complete file. According to the SRK, it takes longer if documents are missing, and compensation measures extend the procedure further.

Permits for EU citizens: L, B, G and C

The Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons applies to citizens of Germany, Austria, Italy and France. You only need a residence permit, which also serves as a work permit, and you are entitled to it if you meet the requirements. It is issued by the canton; a passport or identity card is enough to enter the country. You do not have to obtain the permit from abroad – you can take care of the steps after you arrive.

Who applies: according to the SEM's directives, it is in principle up to you to register with the municipality where you live and to take the steps for the permit. In the canton of Zurich, you register in person with the municipality, which forwards the application to the migration office; in Ticino, you submit the application to the migration office before starting work, because a late application can result in a fine. For the G permit, cantons handle submission differently.

Moving and family: L, B and C permits are valid throughout Switzerland. If you move to another canton, you do not need a new permit, but you register at your new place within 14 days and have the address on your permit card changed. For citizens of Germany and Austria, a spouse and children under 18 living in the same household are also entitled to the C permit under the settlement agreements; the SEM applies this regardless of their nationality.

Take care with fixed-term contracts: if your employment ends involuntarily within the first twelve months, you may stay for another six months to look for a job and must be registered with the Regional Employment Centre (RAV). If you give up work voluntarily, the permit lapses immediately under the SEM's directives – and the directives also count it as voluntary when a fixed-term contract expires without a follow-on contract.

Arrival checklist

These items are due after you move, most of them with a fixed deadline.

• Municipality: within 14 days of arrival and before starting work, you register with the municipality where you live, bringing your passport or identity card and the written confirmation of employment. In the city of Zurich, for example, this requires an in-person appointment, plus the original rental agreement, employment contract and civil status documents; you can only register once you have moved in.
• Health insurance: within three months of taking up residence, you take out basic insurance. If you join in time, you are insured retroactively from the date you moved and pay premiums from then. If you join late, you are only insured from the date you join and, if the delay is not excusable, you pay a premium surcharge of 30 to 50 percent – for twice the length of the delay, for a maximum of five years. If you do not take out insurance in time, a cantonal office assigns you to an insurer, which you then cannot choose yourself.
• Choosing basic insurance: every insurer must accept you without reservations and without a waiting period, regardless of age and health; you are free to choose your insurer and can compare premiums on the FOPH's premium overview (Priminfo). Each family member is insured individually. For adults, the deductible (franchise) is between CHF 300 and CHF 2,500; after that, you pay a 10 percent co-payment, up to CHF 700 a year. For supplementary insurance, insurers may ask health questions and reject applications.
• Accidents: your employer insures you against occupational accidents; if you work at least eight hours a week for that employer, also against non-occupational accidents. You can then have the accident cover in your health insurance suspended on request and save on premiums – this does not happen automatically.
• Family in your home country: if you live in Switzerland with an L, B or C permit, family members who do not work and live in Germany, Austria, France or Italy can choose whether to take out insurance there or in Switzerland. The exemption from Swiss insurance is granted by the cantonal authority on application.
• AHV: anyone who works in Switzerland is in principle insured under AHV, IV and EO (old-age and survivors' insurance, disability insurance and income compensation) and receives an AHV number that starts with 756 and appears on the health insurance card; your employer can tell you what it is. The contributions, totalling 10.6 percent of your salary, are split equally between your employer and you; your employer deducts your 5.3 percent share directly from your salary. On top of this comes unemployment insurance at 2.2 percent up to an annual salary of CHF 148,200, also split equally.
• Withholding tax (Quellensteuer): with an L, B or G permit, your employer usually deducts tax directly from your salary and pays it to the canton; it covers federal, cantonal and municipal tax, and the canton sets the rates. If you live in Switzerland, a subsequent ordinary assessment – that is, a tax return – is mandatory from a gross earned income of CHF 120,000 a year. You can apply for one voluntarily by 31 March of the following year, for example to deduct payments into pillar 3a (private pension savings); this deadline cannot be extended. If you are married to a person with Swiss citizenship or a C permit and you both live in Switzerland, you are generally not subject to withholding tax.
• Cross-border commuters: from Germany, withholding tax is capped at 4.5 percent of your gross salary if you give your employer the certificate of residence (Gre-1) from your German tax office (Finanzamt). If you commute from France to work in Solothurn, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, Jura or Bern, you are taxed in France on presentation of a certificate of residence in France; Geneva and the other cantons levy withholding tax. From Italy and Austria, withholding tax is deducted in all cantons. For health insurance, you can take out insurance in your country of residence, but you must apply to the canton where you work for an exemption within three months of starting work; the choice does not take effect tacitly.
• Housing: landlords often ask for an extract from the debt collection register (Betreibungsregisterauszug). It shows debt collection proceedings from the last five years in the relevant debt collection district; you order it from the debt collection office in your canton of residence, online or at the counter, for CHF 17 (CHF 18 with delivery). Rental application forms usually ask about your profession, income, employer and residence permit. The rental deposit is a maximum of three months' rent and is held in a rental deposit account in your name. Fees for applying for a flat, for example for a reservation, are not permitted.
• Bank account: you open an account with a bank or with Swiss Post; this usually requires a place of residence in Switzerland and proof of identity. Banks decide for themselves which permits they accept.
• Driving licence: you may drive with your foreign licence for twelve months; after that, you exchange it. A licence from an EU/EEA state is exchanged without a driving test; you present the original and take an eye test. The fee is set by the canton.
• Household goods: household effects that you have used yourself for at least six months can be brought into Switzerland duty-free – within two years of moving your residence.

Language by region

Legally, the requirement is always an official language, not dialect. The Federal Constitution sets German, French and Italian as the official languages of the Confederation, and each canton determines its own. For a licence to practise, what counts is an official language of the canton where you work. Which proof is accepted depends on who is checking: the recognition body, the canton or, for doctors working under supervision, the employer.

In everyday life in German-speaking Switzerland, dialect is the norm: according to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), Swiss German is spoken in all areas of life, while the written language is standard German. According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), in 2020, 83 percent of employed people in German-speaking Switzerland usually spoke Swiss German at work, and 43 percent standard German. In Italian-speaking Switzerland, according to the FSO, 29 percent of the population aged 15 and over regularly spoke Ticino or Graubünden Italian dialects in 2024.

Doctors: the Medical Professions Act requires the language skills needed for the work; the FOPH equates these with level B2. You can prove them in three ways: with an internationally recognised language diploma that is no more than six years old; with a medical degree or postgraduate training that you completed in that language; or with three years of medical work in that language within the last ten years. So if you studied in German, French or Italian, you can use your degree as proof. For your main language, you submit a declaration that you have written, dated and signed yourself; if in doubt, MEBEKO may request further proof. If you work under supervision, your employer checks your language skills; if you work on your own professional responsibility, the canton does; both may require a higher level.

If, as a doctor, you want to work at the expense of compulsory health insurance – with your own admission or in an outpatient medical facility – you must prove the language of the region with an examination taken in Switzerland; for this admission, Zurich and Vaud require C1. You are exempt if you obtained your recognised foreign diploma in the official language of the region, for example a German diploma for German-speaking Switzerland. According to the FOPH, doctors employed in a hospital's outpatient department do not need their own admission, because the hospital does the billing.

Nursing: according to the SRK, for recognition you must speak and understand a national language at level B2. As proof, the SRK lists for German the Goethe-Zertifikat B2, telc Deutsch B2, TestDaF at levels 3 to 5 and the ÖSD Zertifikat B2; for French, among others, DELF B2 and TCF tout public B2; for Italian, CELI 3. The SRK does not state explicitly on its website whether nurses trained in German, French or Italian must also submit a certificate; we clarify this with you during the recognition process. Not every canton accepts a certificate that the SRK accepts: Vaud does not accept the TCF for the licence.

MPAs: vocational education law requires the language skills needed to practise the profession in Switzerland, but does not specify a level. SERI only requires a language certificate in some cases in the recognition procedure. In the canton of Zurich, MPAs can be employed in a doctor's practice without a cantonal licence.

Settlement: for the C permit, you need knowledge of the national language where you live, at least A2 spoken and at least A1 written.

What TakeCare takes on and how we support you

The SRK, MEBEKO and SERI decide on your recognition. Here is what TakeCare takes on for you and how we support you.

• We handle the entire recognition process with the SRK (nursing) or MEBEKO (doctors), including the cost of recognition.
• We submit the application for recognition to the SRK or MEBEKO for you.
• If you are an MPA, we clarify with you whether you need recognition for your job.
• We place you in jobs in German-speaking Switzerland, the Romandie and Ticino.
• We support you with finding a flat, with insurance and with dealings with the authorities.
• For you as a jobseeker, all our services are free of charge (Art. 9 AVG, the Swiss Recruitment Act).

In our experience, the entire recognition process takes around three months. According to the SRK, the PreCheck result comes within four weeks at most once all documents have been submitted; in our experience, a positive PreCheck often comes within ten days of applying. The authorities' figures are what count, not our experience.

The SRK does not place people in jobs itself and, by its own account, does not process applications submitted through a representative any faster or with priority. What changes with TakeCare is who does the work: we submit the application, we manage the process, and we pay the cost of recognition.