Swiss employers received welcome certainty last night after the Federal Council confirmed that national work-permit ceilings for non-EU/EFTA nationals will remain unchanged in 2026. Companies will again have access to 8,500 authorisations—4,500 B-residence permits for long-term assignments and 4,000 L-permits for assignments of up to 12 months. The decision also keeps in place 3,500 permits for EU/EFTA service-providers posted to Switzerland and preserves the post-Brexit carve-out of 3,500 permits for UK citizens.
Behind the scenes, cantonal migration offices and business federations had urged Bern not to cut quotas despite net immigration hitting a 17-year high in 2025. Industry groups argued that skills shortages in engineering, life-sciences and fintech would worsen if ceilings were lowered. The Council accepted this logic but instructed cantons to apply strict labour-market tests and salary benchmarks when issuing permits.
![Swiss Government Freezes 2026 Work-Permit Quotas for Third-Country Talent]()
For global mobility teams the ruling removes an annual year-end guessing game that often delays January start-dates. HR managers are nevertheless advised to act quickly: in 2025 the nationwide L-quota was exhausted by mid-October, forcing some assignees onto less flexible local-hire routes. Early filing—especially in high-demand cantons such as Zurich, Basel-Stadt and Vaud—will be critical to secure allocations.
The status-quo outcome also provides breathing space while Parliament debates a broader immigration reform that would introduce automatic indexation of quota levels to economic indicators from 2027. If adopted, that reform could eventually make today’s politically charged quota negotiations a technical exercise driven by labour-market data.
Practical takeaway: employers should update assignment budgets to reflect the unchanged permit mix, build at least six weeks into lead-times for B-permits, and brief UK assignees that their dedicated pool remains available until at least the end of 2026.
Behind the scenes, cantonal migration offices and business federations had urged Bern not to cut quotas despite net immigration hitting a 17-year high in 2025. Industry groups argued that skills shortages in engineering, life-sciences and fintech would worsen if ceilings were lowered. The Council accepted this logic but instructed cantons to apply strict labour-market tests and salary benchmarks when issuing permits.
For global mobility teams the ruling removes an annual year-end guessing game that often delays January start-dates. HR managers are nevertheless advised to act quickly: in 2025 the nationwide L-quota was exhausted by mid-October, forcing some assignees onto less flexible local-hire routes. Early filing—especially in high-demand cantons such as Zurich, Basel-Stadt and Vaud—will be critical to secure allocations.
The status-quo outcome also provides breathing space while Parliament debates a broader immigration reform that would introduce automatic indexation of quota levels to economic indicators from 2027. If adopted, that reform could eventually make today’s politically charged quota negotiations a technical exercise driven by labour-market data.
Practical takeaway: employers should update assignment budgets to reflect the unchanged permit mix, build at least six weeks into lead-times for B-permits, and brief UK assignees that their dedicated pool remains available until at least the end of 2026.
