Before you start

An employment contract, or a letter of admission for students and researchers
For third-country nationals: employer sponsorship, a quota place and a labour-market test
An address in the commune you are registering with
Passport or national identity card

Step-by-step

1
Employer secures authorisation for third-country nationals
The 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 and can run out before the year does.
Via employerWho: Your employer
2
Obtain an entry visa if required
Third-country nationals normally need a national D visa from a Swiss representation abroad once authorisation exists. EU/EFTA nationals do not.
In personWho: You
3
Register at your commune's Contrôle des habitants within 14 days
Bring passport, employment or admission letter, and your lease. The commune forwards the file to the Service de la population, which issues the permit. Renens, Prilly, Pully, Écublens and Lausanne are all separate communes with separate counters.
In personWho: YouWithin 14 days of arrival
4
Collect the 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 as proof of address.
In personWho: You
5
Students: use the graduate window deliberately
A third-country national who completes a degree at a Swiss university may stay for a limited period — six months in the ordinary case — to look for work, and can be admitted to a job of high scientific or economic interest on a facilitated basis. It is not automatic and it is not indefinite. Start the search before you submit the thesis, not after the viva.
In personWho: YouFrom the date your studies end
6
Re-register whenever you move commune
Moving from Lausanne to Renens means deregistering in one commune and registering in the other, within 14 days. Vaud tracks residents at commune level and the communal tax coefficient follows you.
In personWho: YouWithin 14 days of moving

Documents you’ll need

Passport or EU/EFTA identity card
Employment contract or university admission letter
Lease or proof of address
Passport photographs
Marriage and birth certificates for accompanying family

Things most newcomers don’t know

Vaud registers you at the commune; Geneva registers you at a cantonal office. Guides confuse the two constantly.

Forty minutes apart, two different procedures. In Vaud you go to the Contrôle des habitants of the commune you actually live in, and the canton's Service de la population never sees you across a counter. Turning up at a cantonal office in Lausanne expecting to register wastes days off a 14-day deadline that gates everything else.

Source: Canton of Vaud — Service de la population

Graduating from a Swiss university is a legal status, not just a qualification.

Third-country graduates of Swiss institutions get a defined post-study period to find work — six months in the ordinary case — and can be admitted to jobs of high scientific or economic interest under an easier test than an ordinary hire. With EPFL and UNIL next door this is the single most relevant immigration provision in the city, and the clock starts at the end of studies whether or not you noticed.

Source: Federal Foreign Nationals and Integration Act, admission of Swiss university graduates

Third-country hiring runs against a federal quota that is genuinely finite.

A willing employer and an excellent candidate are not sufficient. The canton's annual allocation of permits for non-EU nationals can be used up, and an offer that lands late in the quota year is materially more likely to stall. Ask your employer where the canton stands before resigning from anything.

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

The commune you register in is a tax decision as well as an address.

Vaud applies a uniform cantonal coefficient and lets each commune add its own on top. Lausanne's is 78.5%; neighbouring communes differ. The registration you complete in your first fortnight determines which communal rate applies to you for the year, which is worth checking before signing a lease rather than after.

Source: Ville de Lausanne — arrêté d'imposition 2025–2029

Common mistakes to avoid

Missing the 14-day window, or going to a cantonal office instead of your commune's Contrôle des habitants.
Students letting the post-graduation job-search window run down before starting to look.
Assuming a job offer guarantees a third-country permit when quotas can be exhausted mid-year.
Moving between Lausanne and a neighbouring commune without deregistering and re-registering.
Choosing a commune without checking its tax coefficient against Lausanne's.

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