Relocate to Switzerland, how to?

[EliasIT]

I want to figure out if Switzerland is for me. I'm setting up a company right now, should soon be registered, so I have a office there and a director.

Now I consider to relocate to either Zug or Lugano, but since I'm not sure I would rent something to get started and get all my furniture in some sort of Self-Storage from where it would be easy to move it to wherever my journey will end.

Any recommendation of a self-storage firm that is too expensive? Or alternatives to store the furnitures etc.? I calculated to need about 15 - 20 m2?

as a second question I would like to know. What would be the cheapest way to rent something in either Zug or Lugano, to get a feeling of the locations, say for 3 months?

How would you do it?

 

[RealDude]

I would recommend you to spend in Switzerland in winter from December to February, for example, because then there are sub-zero temperatures and snow. Then you get an idea of the heating costs and costs for a winterized car.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Swiss=adjective
Switzerland=country
You can’t relocate “to Swiss”.

… and you can’t form companies in “cypress”. A cypress is a tree. Cyprus is an island.

 

[Sols]

Unless you have very nice furniture or are very sentimental, it's not worth moving internationally with furniture. Just get new stuff in Switzerland. In addition to Ikea, you can find relatively affordable furniture at for example Micasa and Möbel Märki.

For the first three months, rent a temporary apartment through Airbnb, Ums, or some similar platforms. Use those months to get your residence permit and look for long-term rentals. Homegate.ch is the main portal but Immoscout24, Immobilier, and Immosky are also worth looking at.

If you have money to spend, there are relocation consultants in and around the major cities. They cost a few thousand CHF but they can save you a lot of time.

For day to day stuff about living in Switzerland, check out englishforum.ch. It's a very active community for expats.

 

[Marzio]

Homegate.ch is the main portal but Immoscout24, Immobilier, and Immosky are also worth looking at.

This is a very useful aggregator of prices of different categories, from various sources: https://en.comparis.ch/

 

[EliasIT]

Swiss=adjective
Switzerland=country
You can’t relocate “to Swiss”.

… and you can’t form companies in “cypress”. A cypress is a tree. Cyprus is an island.

another useless reply from you... welcome to my ignore list.

Unless you have very nice furniture or are very sentimental, it's not worth moving internationally with furniture.

That's the problem, they are very expensive 80K euro + in 5 items, I would like to get them with me. The rest I will trash and buy new stuff in Ikea, that's what I also thought.

If you have money to spend, there are relocation consultants in and around the major cities. They cost a few thousand CHF but they can save you a lot of time.

anyone you can recommend maybe?

I have been in touch with the guys here
https://www.packimpex.ch/but they ask tons of questions and I don't get much further it looks.

 

[troubled soul]

https://www.coworker.com/switzerlandhttps://coworking.ch/https://www.swissescape.co/

 

[EliasIT]

the no.2 link is going to be freezing cold. That cabins looks exactly what I would have been looking for, just far away from Lugano and Zug

thank you @James Spader editing the title

 

[Marzio]

Take a look at this Rent flat or serviced apartments in Lugano - City Pop

Prices starting from CHF 752 PER MONTH for CityPop Lugano.

There's a CityPop also in Zurich but it's more expensive per month but still a great bang for your buck compared to "normal" Swiss prices.

To see prices and availability you need to download the app.

Highly recommended.

 

[Sols]

That's the problem, they are very expensive 80K euro + in 5 items, I would like to get them with me. The rest I will trash and buy new stuff in Ikea, that's what I also thought.

Understood. Can you store the furniture where you live now and move later once you have a permanent place in Switzerland? Might be both cheaper and easier than moving it to Switzerland just to put in storage somewhere.

I'm sure there are a lot of options for storage, but the only one that come to mind is Self Storage Lagerraum zwischen 1m³ - 50m³ | placeB You might have more luck on English Forum, though.

anyone you can recommend maybe?

No personal experience but these names came up when asking around:

https://www.executive-relocation.ch/enhttps://the-relocation-company.ch/https://www.touchdown-reloc.ch/

 

[EliasIT]

Thank you very much for your help and insights, I can't store them where I live now since I will have to hand over the house in a few weeks. That's why I look for something like the self storage.

 

[backpacker]

That's the problem, they are very expensive 80K euro + in 5 items, I would like to get them with me.

-> Customs/Douane:
As long as you do not have legal residency this will be a costly adventure!
Did you already apply for any type of residence permit (depends largely on where you come from)?

Aside from the above:
You just want to find out if Switzerland is for you. Your company is (almost) established. So, rent an apartment as suggested in post #9 and stay there for a month.
During that single month, travel the country by train to learn how "normal" (i.e. down-to-earth) Swiss live and behave.
Tip: Buy a 2. class GA/AG (abonnement général) with a validity of one month. It gives you unlimited access to all public transportation (train, bus, tram, many cable cars and rack railways) in the country. Thereafter you know it.

 

[EliasIT]

Take a look at this Rent flat or serviced apartments in Lugano - City Pop

Prices starting from CHF 752 PER MONTH for CityPop Lugano.

There's a CityPop also in Zurich but it's more expensive per month but still a great bang for your buck compared to "normal" Swiss prices.

To see prices and availability you need to download the app.

Highly recommended.

awesome, didn't saw it at first... will look into them.

Did you already apply for any type of residence permit (depends largely on where you come from)?

no but I'm from one of these countries where you just have a one page form to fill and deliver to the migration service. That's the only benefit of being a citizens of the worlds highest taxed countries.

Understood. Can you store the furniture where you live now and move later once you have a permanent place in Switzerland?

Not really, have only 14 days before I have to hand over the current house, but the few hundred CHF don't matter, I can pay that.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

another useless reply from you... welcome to my ignore list.

Said the guy who wants to relocate in the country he doesn’t know the name of and is unsure between Zug and Lugano. Few ideas and very confused
Ps. FYI, Switzerland is cold AND expensive.

 

[EliasIT]

Sad you think you are the wises person on this forum all the time. I have been in Zug and Lugano several times during Summer and Winter, but I didn't do any research about the questions I posted.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Sad you think you are the wises person on this forum all the time. I have been in Zug and Lugano several times during Summer and Winter, but I didn't do any research about the questions I posted.

I am not the wisest by any means. I just know Switzerland enough to say that it is not the right choice for those on a budget.
You should have noticed that Zugo and Lugano are two very different cities. You could as well try Sion and Zurich, or Geneve and Bern. Language, climate, taxes, costs, people… everything differs from canton to canton.

 

[backpacker]

no but I'm from one of these countries where you just have a one page form to fill and deliver to the migration service.

Please note that even though you might be entitled to an "autorisation de séjour" because of "l'accord sur la libre circulation des personnes" this does not mean it comes with out hiccups.
If you can not proof significant wealth or an employment contract you will have a hard time securing anything. A newly registered company, run by a director and not yourself, is not sufficient as proof.
For instance, permit B (= applicable for EU/EFTA as a 5-year permit) is still conditional on either work, joining spouse/family or study.

Regarding Zug and Lugano: It could not be any different (on such a short distance). Both places have nothing in common. Cuisine, climate, environment, mentality of people, attitude of local authorities ... all very different!

 

[EliasIT]

You should have noticed that Zugo and Lugano are two very different cities.

did I say they were not?`you take the entire thread into a s**t thread with your nonsense. You argue about totally irrelevant s**t here.

Stick to the topic, you waste my time and the people who are reading this thread. There is valuable information here already.

Regarding Zug and Lugano: It could not be any different (on such a short distance). Both places have nothing in common. Cuisine, climate, environment, mentality of people, attitude of local authorities ... all very different!

very true. I know that.

If you can not proof significant wealth or an employment contract you will have a hard time securing anything. A newly registered company, run by a director and not yourself, is not sufficient as proof.

well, I can get an employment contract, the company has a paid in share capital of 500,000 EURO so I believe it should be sufficient to convince the migration authorities in one of these cantons.

As I read it, my country among others in the same category have no issues what so ever to get a permission to stay there for at least 5 years.

 

[marioIT]

Switzerland gets really interesting, in my opinion, once you have at least 10 millions
back on topic, can add a few things:

if you're interested in Lugano prices, you should check tutti.ch (FR-DE-IT, there's no EN).

Also be sure to have AT VERY LEAST 3 months rent contract when you apply for the permit (depending on type).
Some cantons authorities are really picky (unless you show them a really fat bank account with many zeroes, that's can be enough).
Be careful when you show up with big money that they give you also a work permit, not a self sufficient one only, otherwise you couldn't work there...
So better attach the business plan, company registration, social security, etc
The authorities really work for you there. So when in doubt about something call them and they'll explain it.

Furniture depot for 20m3 is around 400chf/m in Lugano or thereabout. there's plenty of them, check "deposito mobili lugano" on google but you need to speak italian...
I hope you know that in lugano every tax is higher (road tax, individual etc) compared to Zug.

Also a plus of Ticino is that (since food is not that good in CH) you can go in Italy for dinner as you wish, and eat a good steak on a fine lake Como restaurant, for a fraction of what would cost in Switzerland.
Also you can buy groceries in italy (up to an amount) and reclaim back the VAT you paid
The Milan MXP airport is way closer than the Zurich one... and there's a direct train if you need it.
Many little tricks you'll have to learn with time.

 

[EliasIT]

thank you @marioIT very useful. I know they speak most likely only Italian, but I came far the last time I were in Lugano with both German and English, I don't see that as a problem.

Taxes are 7% higher in Lugano compared to Zug, but still 21% lower than what I pay right now!

That's also why I'm confused about Zug or Lugano, the latter has all I want beside taxes, Zug has the tax rate I want.