Registering with your commune: deadlines, papers, fees
Registering at your new address is compulsory and time-limited. Miss it and you risk a fine, and you hold up everything that hangs off it: tax, health insurance, Serafe and your permit.
The deadline is set by each canton and in most of them is two weeks from the day you move in. When you leave, you also deregister with your previous commune. Many communes now handle both online through a portal, while others still want you at the counter. The exact deadline and the procedure are on the arrival commune’s website; do not go by your old canton’s deadline.
What to bring
- Identity card or passport; for foreign nationals, the residence permit
- Certificate of origin, for Swiss citizens
- The lease or proof of accommodation at the new address
- Family record book or civil-status documents, where the commune asks for them
- Proof of health insurance
Where you are domiciled on 31 December decides which canton and commune tax you for the whole year. For a move across a cantonal border in the last weeks of the year, look at the tax consequences before you fix the date.
These articles set out Swiss law in general terms and are not a substitute for legal advice on an individual case. Cantonal rules differ. In a dispute, contact the rent conciliation authority or a lawyer.