Permit G Switzerland: The Complete Guide for Cross-Border Workers (Frontaliers)

A Permit G (officially: Ausweis G / Livret G) is the Swiss cross-border permit; for EU/EFTA nationals it is issued under the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP) between Switzerland and the EU/EFTA.

Key characteristics (source: SEM, Permit G EU/EFTA):

• It allows you to work in Switzerland while residing in an EU/EFTA state

• Valid 5 years if the contract is open-ended or longer than one year; renewable

• Valid for the length of the contract if it lasts more than 3 months and less than one year; work of under 3 months per calendar year only needs an online notification

• You return home in principle every day or at least once a week

• The permit is issued by the canton of employment, but lets you work anywhere in Switzerland

• It gives no right of residence in Switzerland: your home stays abroad

To obtain an EU/EFTA Permit G, the conditions are:

• Be a citizen of an EU/EFTA member state (or a family member with derivative rights)

• Have an employment contract with an employer in Switzerland

• Have your home in an EU/EFTA country — the border zones have been abolished: you may live anywhere in the EU/EFTA (SEM)

• Return home in principle every day or at least once a week

A third-country national falls under other rules: they must hold a lasting right of residence in a neighbouring state and have lived at least six months in its border zone; the permit, in principle valid for one year, is limited to the border zone of the issuing canton, and a change of job or profession needs authorisation (SEM).

UK nationals who held a Permit G before 31 December 2020 retain their rights under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.

Step 1 — Secure a Swiss job: the contract should state your job title, salary, working hours and place of work.

Step 2 — File the application: the Permit G application goes to the cantonal population or migration office, most often through the employer. Documents typically required:

• Completed application form (canton-specific)

• Copy of your valid EU/EFTA passport or ID card

• ID photo

• Signed employment contract

• Proof of residence in your home country

Step 3 — Receive your permit: processing time depends on the canton; the Permit G is issued as a card.

Step 4 — On the French side: there is no compulsory town-hall (mairie) registration for residents. Your health-insurance steps, however, go through the CPAM of your place of residence (choice form, within 3 months) and, if you work in a 1983-accord canton, your 2041-AS tax attestation goes through your tax office.

Taxation for Permit G holders depends on your canton of employment:

• Geneva and other non-1983-accord cantons: tax is withheld at source in Switzerland (Franco-Swiss tax convention of 1966, art. 17). You also declare the salary in France, on the 2047-SUISSE annex: it gives a tax credit equal to the French tax (lines 1AF to 1DF and 8TK of the 2042).

• Bern, Soleure, Bâle-Ville, Bâle-Campagne, Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, Jura (accord of 11 April 1983): you are taxed in France on your Swiss salary, with no Swiss withholding, if you hand your employer the 2041-AS attestation stamped by your tax office and return, as a general rule, every day (at most 45 nights in Switzerland a year full-time). You declare the net salary on the 2047-SUISSE (lines 1AG to 1DG). Note: a weekly return is enough for Permit G, not for this tax regime (impots.gouv.fr).

The distinction between "taxation at source" and "taxation in the country of residence" is crucial and affects your net income significantly.

The AdminLanding Cross-Border Pack (€29) brings AdminLanding's cross-border tools together. When it's time to file on impots.gouv.fr or register with CPAM, Guide: Démarches en France annotates every field on the official site — in English or French — available as a Chrome extension or Android app on Google Play.

As a Permit G holder residing in France, you are in principle covered by Swiss health insurance, with a droit d'option if you are a Swiss or EU national:

• LAMal: Swiss compulsory health insurance — premium per person (« residents of France » tariff), coverage in both countries

• French health insurance (PUMa, often called « CMU ») — income-based contribution; cover in France, and in Switzerland for medically necessary care during a stay (EHIC) or planned care with authorisation

The choice is made within 3 months of starting work in Switzerland; without a choice, LAMal enrolment is automatic. It is irrevocable. See our detailed LAMal vs CMU comparison guide.

For other social security benefits:

• Family allowances: only one country has priority (Regulation 883/2004, art. 68) — Switzerland if you alone work, France if the other parent works in France and the children live there; the other country only pays a differential supplement if its amount is higher

• Unemployment: if you become fully unemployed, you are paid by France (France Travail), not Switzerland. Your Swiss employer pays Swiss unemployment insurance, but benefits are paid by the country of residence (EU Regulation 883/2004, Article 65)

• Retirement: you build rights in the Swiss system (AVS/LPP) for your periods of work in Switzerland, coordinated with any French rights

• Renewal: Permit G is renewable; apply to the cantonal office before it expires

• Job change: the EU/EFTA Permit G allows occupational mobility; report the change to the cantonal migration office as it instructs

• Canton change: the EU/EFTA Permit G lets you work anywhere in Switzerland (SEM); ask the cantonal office how to report the new job. A third-country national's Permit G, by contrast, is limited to the border zone of the issuing canton

• Job loss: the SEM page does not say what happens to the permit; ask the cantonal migration office. Full unemployment itself is paid by France (France Travail)

• Telework limits: since 1 July 2023, the framework agreement on cross-border telework lets you telework from France less than 50% of working time without changing affiliation, on your employer's request (A1 certificate) (CLEISS). For tax, the ceiling is lower: 40% of annual working time. So keep a running count of your home-office days, for example with this free telework counter for frontaliers

• Not returning regularly: returning home at least once a week is a condition of Permit G; for the 1983-accord tax regime, a daily return (at most 45 nights a year) is required.

• Wrong health insurance choice: missing the 3-month droit d'option deadline means automatic LAMal enrolment. Run the numbers before deciding.

• Ignoring cantonal tax differences: the difference between Geneva (taxed in CH) and Vaud (taxed in FR) can change your net income markedly.

• Forgetting French tax declarations: even if taxed at source in Geneva, you must declare your Swiss income in France (2047-SUISSE annex), which gives a tax credit equal to the French tax.

• Telework without checking limits: above 40% of annual working time your tax position changes; from 25% of activity in France your social-security affiliation in principle shifts to France, unless your employer has obtained the derogation (framework agreement, telework below 50%, A1 certificate) — with significant cost implications for your employer.

• Not checking the differential: when Switzerland has priority, the CAF only pays a supplement if French benefits are higher — often nothing; when the other parent works in France, it is Switzerland that may owe a differential supplement.