The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) released provisional year-end figures on 26 January 2026 showing that both asylum requests and overall immigration to Switzerland declined in 2025. Permanent foreign-resident numbers still grew by about 75 000 people, but that represents a 10 percent drop in net inflows compared with 2024 and the second consecutive annual decrease.
Asylum applications totalled 25 781—7 percent fewer than the previous year—driven largely by lower arrivals from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Türkiye. SEM also processed a backlog of pending claims, cutting the inventory by 2 600 cases. Protection requests under the special “S-status” for Ukrainians fell 22 percent to 12 897 as the conflict entered a protracted phase and secondary movements within Europe stabilised.
Labour mobility remains the chief pull-factor: some 70 percent of EU/EFTA nationals who moved to Switzerland cited employment, and their labour-force participation exceeds 85 percent. Yet outward migration accelerated, with 83 000 foreign residents leaving—up 5 percent year-on-year—reflecting a hot European job market and rising Swiss cost-of-living pressures. SEM forecasts a further slight decline to roughly 25 000 asylum claims in 2026 under its most-likely scenario.
![Switzerland’s Net Immigration and Asylum Applications Fell in 2025, SEM Reports]()
Amid these shifting migration patterns, travelers and HR departments can simplify the paperwork by using VisaHQ, which provides step-by-step support for Swiss visas, work permits and document legalisation; its online platform (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) keeps requirements updated in real time, reducing processing errors and helping applicants stay compliant.
For employers, the data suggest that competition for talent could tighten even as the overall foreign workforce continues to expand. HR teams may need to intensify retention efforts and track canton-level permit quotas, which remain capped at 8 500 for third-country specialists in 2026. Mobility advisers also note that faster asylum-case processing reduces uncertainty for humanitarian transfers and family-reunification cases.
The statistics arrive amid renewed political debate over Swiss–EU relations and free-movement rules. Although numbers are receding, net migration—now equivalent to the population of a mid-size city such as St. Gallen—continues to fuel housing-market and infrastructure concerns. Parliament will review SEM’s definitive report in February and consider tweaks to integration funding and labour-market monitoring mechanisms.
Asylum applications totalled 25 781—7 percent fewer than the previous year—driven largely by lower arrivals from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Türkiye. SEM also processed a backlog of pending claims, cutting the inventory by 2 600 cases. Protection requests under the special “S-status” for Ukrainians fell 22 percent to 12 897 as the conflict entered a protracted phase and secondary movements within Europe stabilised.
Labour mobility remains the chief pull-factor: some 70 percent of EU/EFTA nationals who moved to Switzerland cited employment, and their labour-force participation exceeds 85 percent. Yet outward migration accelerated, with 83 000 foreign residents leaving—up 5 percent year-on-year—reflecting a hot European job market and rising Swiss cost-of-living pressures. SEM forecasts a further slight decline to roughly 25 000 asylum claims in 2026 under its most-likely scenario.
Amid these shifting migration patterns, travelers and HR departments can simplify the paperwork by using VisaHQ, which provides step-by-step support for Swiss visas, work permits and document legalisation; its online platform (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) keeps requirements updated in real time, reducing processing errors and helping applicants stay compliant.
For employers, the data suggest that competition for talent could tighten even as the overall foreign workforce continues to expand. HR teams may need to intensify retention efforts and track canton-level permit quotas, which remain capped at 8 500 for third-country specialists in 2026. Mobility advisers also note that faster asylum-case processing reduces uncertainty for humanitarian transfers and family-reunification cases.
The statistics arrive amid renewed political debate over Swiss–EU relations and free-movement rules. Although numbers are receding, net migration—now equivalent to the population of a mid-size city such as St. Gallen—continues to fuel housing-market and infrastructure concerns. Parliament will review SEM’s definitive report in February and consider tweaks to integration funding and labour-market monitoring mechanisms.
