L, B, G permits: who can work on a Swiss construction site?

What counts is your nationality: a Kosovar who also has an Italian passport follows the EU rules.

The permit depends on the length of the contract (Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, FZA/ALCP, annex I, art. 6 and 7):

• Up to three months per calendar year: no permit. The employer makes an online registration (Meldeverfahren / procédure d'annonce), at the latest the day before the first day of work (Ordinance on the Free Movement of Persons, VFP/OLCP art. 4 para. 4 and art. 9 para. 1bis). Agencies based in Switzerland also use this registration; an agency based abroad, however, is not allowed to hire out workers in Switzerland (SEM VFP/OLCP directives, no. II.3.3).
• More than three months and less than one year: EU/EFTA L permit (short-term). In temp work, it is issued for the length of the assignment with the client company (VFP/OLCP art. 4 para. 5).
• One year or more, or open-ended: EU/EFTA B permit (residence), valid five years.
• You live in an EU/EFTA country and go home at least once a week: EU/EFTA G permit (cross-border commuter), valid throughout Switzerland (VFP/OLCP art. 4 para. 3); who applies and how long it takes: see the G permit for temp work. You do not need to live near the border (FZA/ALCP, annex I, art. 7).

Croatians have the same rights: on 14 January 2026, the Federal Council found that the thresholds of the safeguard clause had not been reached, so there is no quota for them.

Fictional example. Rui, a Portuguese citizen, lives in Porto. A Swiss agency hires him for a formwork assignment from Monday 1 June to Monday 31 August 2026.

• The assignment does not exceed three months: the agency makes the online registration at the latest on Sunday 31 May 2026. Rui does not need a permit.
• In August, the site falls behind and the client company wants to keep Rui until 30 October. He then goes over three months of work in 2026: he needs an EU/EFTA L permit for the length of the assignment (VFP/OLCP art. 4 para. 5). According to the SEM directives, the agency must apply before the end of the registered period, so before 31 August (VFP/OLCP directives, no. II.3.2).
• If the agency forgets the June registration, it risks a fine of up to CHF 5'000.00 (VFP/OLCP art. 32a).

Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, but also the United Kingdom since it left the EU: these are third countries. For a first work permit, three conditions are added:

1. Quotas. In 2026, Switzerland can admit at most 8'500 qualified workers from third countries: 4'500 B permits and 4'000 L permits (Federal Council decision of 19 November 2025). The United Kingdom has a separate quota of 3'500 permits.
2. Priority. The employer must show that it found nobody in Switzerland or the EU/EFTA for the job (Foreign Nationals and Integration Act, AIG/LEI art. 21).
3. Qualification. Only managers, specialists and other qualified workers can get an L or B permit (AIG/LEI art. 23).

In practice, a construction worker from a third country who does not have a permit yet has very little chance of being admitted, and as a general rule the SEM grants no first permit to come and do temp work (AIG/LEI directives, no. 4.8.4.3.1). Someone who already lives in Switzerland with a B, C, F or S permit is in a different situation (see the table).

A third-country national can also be a cross-border commuter, under stricter conditions: a permanent right of residence in a neighbouring country, at least six months in the border zone, work in the Swiss border zone (AIG/LEI art. 25). During the first five years, every change of job needs an authorisation (AIG/LEI art. 39): before a temp assignment, check with the cantonal population office.

• F permit (provisional admission): you can work throughout Switzerland. The employer reports the start, the end and every change of job to the authority of the place of work, and you can start as soon as it is reported (AIG/LEI art. 85a; Ordinance on Admission, Residence and Employment, VZAE/OASA art. 65).
• S permit (temporary protection): you can work as soon as protection is granted; the start, the end and every change of job must be reported (VZAE/OASA art. 53, version of 1 December 2025).
• N permit (asylum seeker): no work while you are housed in a federal centre (Asylum Act, AsylG/LAsi art. 43). After that, the employer must apply for an authorisation and wait for the answer before the first day; it is only granted if the wage conditions are met and if nobody was found in Switzerland or the EU/EFTA (VZAE/OASA art. 52). In Geneva, the application is made 3 to 4 weeks before the start; in the canton of Vaud, to the DGEM (the cantonal employment and labour market directorate).

In temp work (staff leasing, "location de services"), your employer is the agency. The law gives it one more rule: it only hires foreign nationals who are allowed to work and allowed to change jobs (Recruitment Act, AVG/LSE, art. 21). This rule does not apply to EU/EFTA citizens.

Before hiring a foreign national, the employer must make sure they are allowed to work in Switzerland, by examining their residence permit or by checking with the authorities (AIG/LEI art. 91). In concrete terms, a serious agency looks at the original permit, keeps a copy, checks its validity and conditions, then makes the registration (EU/EFTA up to 3 months, F, S) or waits for the written authorisation (N, first third-country permit) before the first day.

Penalties: a worker without authorisation risks up to one year in prison or a monetary penalty (AIG/LEI art. 115). An employer who knowingly employs them risks the same penalty, up to three years in serious cases or for repeat offences, and a fine of up to CHF 20'000.00 if it acted through negligence (AIG/LEI art. 117). It may also have to pay the costs left to the public authorities (AIG/LEI art. 122).