When someone has been living in Switzerland for years and decides to move to a different city or canton, they usually focus on finding a flat, signing the tenancy agreement and organising the move. The administrative formalities are left until later. And that is exactly where the problems begin, because in Switzerland, deadlines are not just guidelines.
When you move away from your current municipality, you must deregister at the residents’ registration office – known as ‘Abmeldung’ in German or ‘désinscription’ in French. You must do this before you leave or in the days immediately following your departure. In your new municipality, you generally have 14 days from your arrival to register. If you fail to do so within this period, you risk fines which, in some cantons, can run into several hundred francs. This is not something that is applied sparingly.
Beyond the registration itself, there are practical consequences that many people underestimate. The most obvious is tax-related: cantonal tax rates vary enormously from canton to canton, and your place of residence on 31 December determines which canton will tax you for that year. A move between Geneva and Vaud, or between the cantons of Bern and Solothurn, can result in significant differences in your tax bill for that year. The second consequence relates to health insurance: LAMal premiums depend on the canton and the region where you live, so when you move you must notify your health insurance provider and the premiums will be adjusted from the following month. If you delay in completing this procedure, the adjustment will not be backdated in your favour.
For those with a B licence, the licence is issued at federal level but is linked to your canton of residence. Changing cantons means you must notify the Population Service in your new canton, which may request additional documentation. It is not a complicated process, but it does need to be done. A common mistake is to assume that, because you already have a B permit, the rest will sort itself out. That is not the case.