Swiss market entry desk
Legal and administrative support for foreign companies entering the Swiss market. Whether you want to open a Swiss entity or simply work here from abroad, one desk tells you what you may do, what needs a procedure, and what stands in the way.
The question we answer
“Our company operates abroad. We want to work, sell or set up in Switzerland. What do we have to do?”
Most foreign companies do not need a Swiss lawyer by the hour. They need a clear answer: is this allowed, which procedures apply, in what order, and what will it cost. That is what this desk delivers.
Two routes into Switzerland
The same product serves two very different situations. The assessment tells you which route is right for you, and sometimes that the answer is neither.
A French SME wants to open an operation in Fribourg.
Choice of structure, incorporation, registrations, representation, staff, permits, social insurance, VAT, coordination with notary and fiduciary.
A French construction firm wins a site in Geneva. A German IT company serves Swiss clients.
Regulated or not, authorisations, notification procedure, posted workers, working conditions, VAT, and whether a Swiss presence becomes necessary.
The entry product
You answer a structured questionnaire: country, activity, headcount, project, canton, with or without establishment, planned services. We return a personalised roadmap in three colours.
CHF 490 flat fee, excl. VAT, delivered as a written roadmap
Activities open to you as things stand, with no further step.
Notifications, registrations, permits, with the order and the authority for each.
Regulated activities, quotas, residency requirements, and how they can be handled.
From roadmap to operations
Each product has a defined scope and a flat fee. You buy the step you need, when you need it.
Your personalised roadmap: green, orange, red, and the sequence of steps.
We carry the procedures identified in the roadmap: notifications, registrations, permits.
Incorporation of your Sàrl, SA or branch, with notary, bank and commercial register.
Registration as an employer: social insurance, occupational pension, accident insurance, contracts.
Ongoing legal and administrative support once you operate in Switzerland.
Four desks, one infrastructure
Swiss Market Desk is the fourth door of a group of specialised Swiss legal desks. Each answers one question. Your file moves between them without being explained twice.
Why a desk, not a law firm
You get a written roadmap before you commit to anything. It stands on its own even if you go no further with us.
Each product says what it covers and what it costs. No open-ended hourly engagement.
We translate Swiss federal and cantonal procedure into the vocabulary of your home country.
Permits, qualifications and contracts are handled by sister desks that share the same infrastructure.
Guides
Before you ask
Not necessarily. Many services and deliveries can be provided from abroad. The answer depends on your activity, the volume of work performed on Swiss soil and the sector. The assessment settles this point first, because it decides everything that follows.
Employees of EU/EFTA companies can be posted to Switzerland for up to 90 working days per calendar year under the notification procedure, subject to Swiss minimum working and pay conditions. Beyond that, or for non-EU companies, a permit procedure applies.
A foreign company that makes supplies in Switzerland becomes liable for Swiss VAT once its worldwide turnover reaches CHF 100,000, with exceptions for services covered by the acquisition tax. Registration requires a fiscal representative in Switzerland.
Once the capital is deposited and the documents signed, registration in the commercial register usually takes a few weeks. We give no guaranteed timeline: the register and the bank set the pace.
It is a practical roadmap based on the facts you provide, drawn up by Swiss legal practitioners. Where a point needs a formal opinion or a regulated professional, the roadmap says so.
Fifteen minutes of questionnaire. A written roadmap in three colours. Then you decide.