Register Your Address in Switzerland
When you arrive, you must register with the residents' registration office of your town (the office where people who live in a town sign up) within 14 days. This is also where you start your residence permit for study (B permit).
Address registration in Switzerland
Every resident of Switzerland is registered with their town. As a student from India or Pakistan, you register and apply for your B permit at the same time.
Five Swiss states (cantons) are covered here: Zurich, Vaud, Geneva, Bern and Basel. All of them ask you to register within 14 days of arrival.
Zurich city: Personenmeldeamt (residents' registration office)
The registration office in the city hall (Stadthaus), by appointment only.
Vaud: Contrôle des habitants (residents' registration office)
The registration office of your town in Vaud, the Swiss state around Lausanne. In Lausanne, you register online.
Geneva: the state office for people and migration (OCPM)
The Geneva state office for people and migration (OCPM) takes your arrival notice, online or by post.
- Your health insurer: Insurance fees differ by canton and region, so give them your address.
- Your bank: Vaud: the registration paper helps you open a bank account before the card comes.
- Your university: Update your address in your student account.
- The post office: So your permit card and letters reach you.
How to register, step by step
The steps are similar in every canton (Swiss state). The office names differ.
Find a place to live
You register in the town where you live. A temporary room is fine for the first registration.
Get your enrolment paper
Your university gives a paper that proves you are enrolled. Zurich wants the long version (called the extended confirmation of matriculation) from ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich).
Book or apply online
Zurich city: book an appointment. Lausanne: online form only. Geneva: online or by post. Bern: send the form and papers. Basel-Stadt: online form, then an appointment.
Go to your appointment
Bring your passport and papers. In Zurich city, students from outside Europe, such as India and Pakistan, must show a valid passport.
Pay the fees
Zurich city: Swiss franc (CHF) 40 to register, plus the permit fee. Basel-Stadt: CHF 25. Vaud (the area around Lausanne): take about CHF 200 in cash.
Give your fingerprints and photo
These go on your permit card. In Basel-Stadt this happens at the registration appointment.
| Institution | Deadline | Method | Consequences of Missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residents' registration office of your town | Within 14 days of arrival | In person by appointment, or the town's online form | Your residence permit cannot start until you register. |
| Your town (new address) | Within 14 days of a move | Online on eUmzugCH or at the office | Your permit card and letters go to the wrong place. |
| Health insurer and your town (Zurich) | Within 3 months of arrival | Send your town a copy of your insurance papers | If you are late, your insurance starts only on the day you sign, and you must pay more. |
| Your town and the migration office (the office for foreign people) | Before you leave Switzerland | In person or in writing | In Basel you must tell the town you are leaving. |
Qogent tip
Papers to bring
Each town has its own list. These come up in Zurich, Vaud, Bern and Basel.
- Valid passport with your type D visa (the visa you use to travel to Switzerland to study).
- A letter from the state office saying your visa is approved, if you got one (Zurich city, Bern).
- Rental contract or sublet contract.
- Bern: if you sublet, the landlord's agreement.
- Landlord's confirmation if your name is not on the contract.
- Enrolment paper from your university.
- Vaud: the enrolment paper must be less than 3 months old.
- Zurich city: CHF 40 per adult, plus permit fees; cards preferred.
- Basel-Stadt: CHF 25 to register.
- Vaud: about CHF 200 in cash.
Example:
Your full name
Stadthausquai 17
8001 Zürich
Important Notes:
- The house number comes after the street name.
- The postcode comes before the town.
Good to know
Rules that often surprise new students.
If you move between student rooms, report each new address.
Register at your temporary address within 14 days, then report the move later.
If you move to another canton (Swiss state), ask the new canton for permission before you move.
Do not miss the 14 days
Health insurance proof
Address registration questions
Short answers for students from India and Pakistan moving to Switzerland.
Frequently Asked Questions
Myth: I can register once I find a permanent flat.
Reality: No. Register within 14 days, even at a temporary address.
Myth: My university registers me.
Reality: No. You register yourself with your town. The university only gives you the enrolment paper.
Myth: I can register before I move in.
Reality: No. Zurich city registers you only once you really live there.
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