Before you start

An employment contract with a Swiss employer
For third-country nationals: employer sponsorship, a quota place and a labour-market test
An address in Basel-Stadt, or a German or French address for a G permit
Passport or national identity card

Step-by-step

1
Employer secures authorisation for third-country nationals
Your employer applies to the cantonal labour-market authority showing that no suitable Swiss or EU/EFTA candidate was available and that pay matches local norms. Federal quotas apply annually and can be exhausted before year end.
Via employerWho: Your employer
2
Obtain an entry visa if required
Third-country nationals generally need a national D visa from a Swiss representation abroad once authorisation is granted. EU/EFTA nationals do not.
In personWho: You
3
Register at the Einwohneramt within 14 days
Bring your passport, employment contract and tenancy agreement. If you have moved to Riehen or Bettingen you register with that commune; if you have moved to Allschwil or Binningen you are in Basel-Landschaft and register there.
In personWho: YouWithin 14 days of arrival
4
Collect your permit card
The B or L card follows registration and biometrics and arrives by post. The registration receipt covers you meanwhile and is what banks accept.
In personWho: Cantonal migration office
5
Apply for a G permit instead if you will live over the border
The cross-border commuter permit is applied for by your employer or by you at the migration office, on the strength of the employment contract and proof of foreign residence. Since free movement was extended, EU/EFTA nationals no longer need to live inside a defined border zone, but you must return to your main foreign residence at least weekly.
Via employerWho: Your employer, then you
6
Re-register every time you move, including across a canton line
Moving from Basel to Binningen is not an internal move — it is a deregistration in one canton and a registration in another, with a new tax authority, a possible change of health-insurance premium region and a different vehicle office.
In personWho: YouWithin 14 days of moving

Documents you’ll need

Passport or EU/EFTA identity card
Employment contract
Tenancy agreement or proof of address
Passport photographs
For a G permit: proof of residence in Germany or France

Things most newcomers don’t know

In Basel, the canton line is closer than the national border and matters just as much.

Basel-Stadt is three communes covering barely 37 square kilometres. Allschwil, Binningen, Münchenstein and Reinach are all a short tram ride away and all in Basel-Landschaft, with their own tax scale, their own school system and their own administration. People choose a flat on rent and commute and then discover they have changed cantons.

Source: Canton of Basel-Stadt — Einwohneramt

The G permit's real condition is weekly return, not distance from the border.

The old requirement that cross-border workers live inside a defined frontier zone no longer applies to EU/EFTA nationals. What remains is the obligation to return to your main foreign residence at least once a week. It is easy to breach quietly by staying in Basel during the week, and it interacts with the tax treaty rules on non-return days.

Source: State Secretariat for Migration — cross-border commuter permits

Staff of the Bank for International Settlements are on legitimation cards, not permits.

The BIS has a headquarters agreement with Switzerland, so its international staff hold FDFA legitimation cards with privileges and immunities — exempt from the ordinary permit regime, from Swiss tax on the institution's salary and from compulsory Swiss health insurance. It is a small population but it means Basel has the same two-track system Geneva has, just at a fraction of the scale.

Source: FDFA — privileges and immunities regime

Third-country hiring runs against a federal quota that can run out mid-year.

Even with a willing employer and a strong candidate, the canton's annual allocation of permits for non-EU nationals is finite. An offer landing late in the quota year is materially more likely to stall. Ask your employer where the canton stands before you resign from anything.

Source: State Secretariat for Migration — work permits for third-country nationals

Common mistakes to avoid

Missing the 14-day registration window and delaying health insurance, banking and the licence exchange behind it.
Registering with the wrong authority after choosing a flat in Basel-Landschaft without realising it is another canton.
Treating a G permit's weekly-return requirement as a formality.
Assuming a job offer guarantees a third-country permit when quotas and the labour-market test can still block it.
Moving flat without deregistering and re-registering, which surfaces at permit renewal.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.