You Don’t Have to be Wealthy to Live in Switzerland

If you are relocating to Switzerland, you will probably have heard some of the myths surrounding the country. One of these is that only the super rich can afford to live there, and while tax rates differ across the country which means that wealthy people can apply to different regions for their tax status, there are opportunities for us ‘ordinary’ people as well.

Having said that, many celebrities such as Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Lewis Hamilton, Shania Twain, Roger Moore, Yoko Ono and Michael Schumacher have all lived in the country at some point. The friendly tax system is perhaps the main reason which saw them moving to Switzerland, but there are other reasons for moving to this wonderful country, for example the relative lack of crime and the high standard of living.

Lets move away from the rarified atmosphere of the super rich celebrity and look at what Switzerland means for the rest of us. The good news for us mere mortals is that if your company is moving to Switzerland from the UK and you have been offered the chance to continue with your job, you can move to live and work in Switzerland relatively easily. Switzerland is not in the EU which means that it does not have the same rules relating to relocation, so you need to be aware of the process for moving to Switzerland well in advance of your starting date. But keep positive and remember that if you have a job offer, you should be able to get a visa which makes moving to Switzerland a lot easier.