The quota, and the four conditions behind it
FreeSwitzerland hands the entire non-EU world 8,500 work permits a year, and more than two thirds of the residence permits in that pot are not given to the cantons at all.
That is the number the Federal Council fixed on 19 November 2025 for the 2026 quota period, and it is the same number it fixed for 2025. It covers software engineers, surgeons, plant managers, researchers and everyone else from outside the EU and EFTA who wants a Swiss job. For scale, it is the whole annual supply for a country of roughly 9 million people whose foreign-born share is already among the highest in Europe. SEM circular on the 2026 quota period, 19 Nov 2025
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Process, cantons, residence and the money
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