Before you start

An employment contract, or for IO staff a letter of appointment from the organisation
For third-country nationals in the private sector: employer sponsorship, a quota place and a labour-market test
A Geneva address, or a French address for a G permit
Passport or national identity card

Step-by-step

1
Employer or organisation files first
Private-sector employers hiring a third-country national apply to the cantonal labour-market office and must show no suitable Swiss or EU/EFTA candidate was available, against a federal annual quota. International organisations instead notify the FDFA Protocol, which issues the legitimation card — no quota, no labour-market test.
Via employerWho: Your employer or organisation
2
Get an entry visa if you need one
Third-country nationals normally need a national D visa from the Swiss representation abroad once authorisation exists. EU/EFTA nationals do not.
In personWho: You
3
Register at the OCPM within 14 days of arrival
Bring passport, contract, tenancy agreement and passport photographs. This is the step that unlocks banking, health insurance and the licence exchange clock. IO staff do not do this — their card is filed through the organisation.
In personWho: YouWithin 14 days of arrival
4
Receive your permit card or legitimation card
A B or L permit card arrives by post after biometrics; the OCPM registration receipt covers you meanwhile. Legitimation cards are collected through your organisation's protocol office.
In personWho: OCPM or FDFA Protocol
5
Swap to a Ci permit if a family member wants to work outside the organisation
Spouses and children up to 25 of IO and mission staff can exchange their legitimation card for a Ci residence permit with the right to work or be self-employed in Switzerland. You apply to the OCPM with a contract or offer, and you may start work as soon as the application is filed. There is no quota and no labour-market test.
In personWho: Your spouse or adult child
6
Plan the exit from legitimation-card status deliberately
When your functions with the organisation end, the card lapses and does not convert automatically. A B or C permit has to be applied for separately and the canton exercises discretion. Retirees who have served the organisation in Switzerland for several years can request a permit under the free-movement agreement, with proof of pension income and a ten-year work history.
In personWho: YouBefore your contract ends

Documents you’ll need

Passport or EU/EFTA identity card
Employment contract or organisation letter of appointment
Tenancy agreement or proof of Geneva address
Passport photographs
Marriage and birth certificates for accompanying family

Things most newcomers don’t know

A carte de légitimation is a residence title but not a residence permit, and the distinction bites at naturalisation.

The two rules pull in opposite directions and both are real. Art. 33 of the Citizenship Act counts years spent on an FDFA legitimation card in full toward the ten-year residence requirement. But art. 9 requires you to hold a settlement permit C on the day you apply — and under the federal migration directives the years on a legitimation card are not counted toward obtaining that C permit, unless you already held a B or C before exchanging it for the card. So the residence clock runs while the permit ladder does not. The exceptions matter: someone who held a C at engagement and swapped it for a card may still apply, and cantons can grant a C on express request to an official who has served the organisation in Switzerland for the last five years.

Source: Swiss Citizenship Act art. 9 and art. 33; SEM directives on the settlement permit; cantonal practice on retiring international officials

The Ci permit is the only easy work route for a spouse in Geneva — and you can start before it is granted.

Family members of IO and mission staff can trade their legitimation card for a Ci permit and take any job or go self-employed, with no quota and no labour-market test. Crucially, work may begin the day the application is lodged with the OCPM. Spouses routinely turn down offers believing they need a permit in hand first.

Source: FDFA host-state manual — Ci permit and access to the Swiss labour market

Geneva centralises arrival registration at the OCPM rather than at the commune.

Guides written for Zurich or Bern tell you to go to your Gemeinde. In Geneva that will send you to the wrong counter and burn days off a 14-day deadline that gates your health insurance, your bank account and your licence exchange. Book the OCPM appointment before you land.

Source: Canton of Geneva — Office cantonal de la population et des migrations

Cross-border commuters need a G permit, and the border-zone residence rule no longer applies to EU/EFTA nationals.

A G permit requires you to return to your main residence abroad at least once a week, but since free movement was extended, EU/EFTA holders no longer have to live inside a defined border zone. That widens where you can live in France considerably — while leaving the weekly-return condition as the one you can actually breach without noticing.

Source: State Secretariat for Migration — cross-border commuter permits

Common mistakes to avoid

Missing the 14-day registration window, or going to your commune instead of the OCPM.
Assuming card years build toward a C permit — they count for the naturalisation residence clock but not for the C permit itself, and the C permit is the gate to naturalisation.
A spouse waiting for the Ci permit to be issued before accepting work, when filing the application is enough.
Letting a legitimation card lapse at the end of a contract without having applied for an ordinary permit first.
Treating a job offer as a guarantee of a third-country permit when federal quotas can be exhausted mid-year.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.