France vs Switzerland

Companies in France (commonly a SARL or SAS) are registered through the single online business-formalities portal, which files with the national business register (RNE) and issues a SIREN number. Steps include drafting statutes, depositing capital and publishing a legal notice.

Companies register in the cantonal Commercial Register (indexed nationally on Zefix). A GmbH needs CHF 20,000 capital and an AG needs CHF 100,000 (partly paid in); both require a notarised deed.

France's banking includes large retail banks and growing online banks. Opening an account usually needs ID, proof of address and a residence status; a French account is often required for rent and utilities. The Banque de France oversees the system.

Switzerland is a global banking centre; accounts are straightforward for residents and available to non-residents with due diligence. FINMA supervises banks, and a residence permit plus proof of address ease account opening.

France courts foreign investment through Business France and the 'Choose France' initiative, with free movement of capital. Investments in sensitive sectors need prior authorization under the foreign-investment control regime (run by the Treasury); incentives include the research tax credit (CIR) and regional aid.

Switzerland is highly open to foreign investment, promoted by Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE), with no exchange controls and a liberal regime. A new investment-screening law is being introduced for certain acquisitions by state-linked investors in critical sectors; incentives are mainly cantonal (tax and location support).

France taxes personal income progressively with pay-as-you-earn withholding, adds social levies, and applies VAT (TVA) to most goods and services; corporate tax applies to companies. Tax residents are taxed on worldwide income.

Switzerland taxes at federal, cantonal and communal levels; the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) oversees federal tax and a low VAT. Rates vary sharply by canton, so where you live matters a lot.

Non-EU nationals generally need a work authorisation and a long-stay visa or residence permit to work in France; the 'Talent Passport' covers skilled workers, founders and researchers. EU/EEA citizens work freely. The process involves the employer, labour authorities and French consulates.

Non-EU/EFTA nationals need a work permit subject to national quotas; EU/EFTA citizens have facilitated access. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and cantonal authorities administer permits (L, B, C), usually employer-initiated.

Non-EU students staying longer than three months need a long-stay study visa, usually the VLS-TS "étudiant". Its defining feature: once you validate it online within three months of arrival, it doubles as your residence permit — no separate permit application. In many countries the process runs through Campus France's "Études en France" procedure before the consular step. It allows part-time work and Schengen travel.

Non-EU/EFTA students need a residence permit to study in Switzerland, applied for through the cantonal migration office — not a single federal authority — after admission to a recognised institution, with the State Secretariat for Migration involved. You must show admission, sufficient funds and health insurance, and register with your commune within 14 days of arrival. EU/EFTA students have simpler arrangements.

France is in the Schengen Area, so short tourist or business visits follow Schengen rules: up to 90 days within any 180-day period across the whole area. Visa-exempt nationals can visit without a visa; everyone else applies for a short-stay (type C) Schengen visa through the official France-Visas portal. A new ETIAS authorisation is being introduced for visa-exempt travellers — check the current requirement.

Switzerland is in the Schengen Area, so short tourist or business visits follow Schengen rules: up to 90 days within any 180-day period across the whole area. Visa-exempt nationals need no visa; everyone else applies for a short-stay (type C) Schengen visa via the Swiss representation. Note Switzerland is in Schengen but not the EU customs union, so customs allowances still apply at the border.

France's long-term residence is the carte de résident, typically a 10-year renewable card available after several years of legal residence (or immediately for some family of French citizens). The multi-year Talent Passport is a common step toward it.

Switzerland grants the C settlement permit (Niederlassungsbewilligung / permis d'établissement) after generally 10 years of residence — or 5 years for some nationalities and well-integrated permit-B holders. It gives near-unrestricted residence and work; Swiss citizenship needs around 10 years and cantonal/communal approval.

French citizenship by naturalization generally requires five years' residence (reduced in some cases), integration, French language ability and stable resources. France allows dual citizenship, and marriage to a French citizen is a separate route.

Ordinary naturalization in Switzerland requires 10 years of residence (years spent between ages 8 and 18 count double), holding a C settlement permit, plus successful integration and language skills (spoken about B1, written about A2). It is a three-level process — federal (SEM), cantonal and communal. Switzerland permits dual nationality.

French employment is highly regulated by the Code du travail: a 35-hour legal working week, the SMIC minimum wage, five weeks' paid leave, and structured dismissal rules. Most jobs are permanent (CDI); employee representatives (CSE) and collective agreements apply, and disputes go to the labour court (conseil de prud'hommes).

Swiss employment is comparatively liberal under the Code of Obligations: there is no national minimum wage (a few cantons set one), dismissal is allowed with notice, and the statutory minimum holiday is four weeks. Collective agreements (GAV/CCT) apply in some sectors; social insurance (AHV/AVS) is compulsory and disputes go to the labour courts.

French trade with non-EU countries goes through French customs (la Douane) with an EU EORI number. You classify goods in TARIC to find duty, and import VAT (20%) is now self-assessed on your VAT return. Declarations are electronic via DELTA; intra-EU flows need statistical (EMEBI/DEB) reporting and dual-use exports need a licence.

Swiss trade clears through the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG). Switzerland is outside the EU, so customs apply to all cross-border goods; duty is largely levied by gross weight, and import VAT is 8.1%. Declarations are electronic (Passar); EFTA/free-trade origin can reduce duty and rulings give certainty.

French trademarks are registered with the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). You search the register, file an application classifying goods/services under Nice, and it publishes in the BOPI for a two-month opposition period before registration. A French trademark lasts 10 years and is renewable; an EU-wide alternative is the EU trademark via EUIPO.

Swiss trademarks are registered with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI). You search the register, file under Nice classes, and — as Switzerland examines only absolute grounds — the mark registers, after which third parties have three months to oppose. A Swiss trademark lasts 10 years and is renewable; Switzerland is outside the EU, so a separate filing is needed there.

France Travail is the public employment service and official job board — it was formerly Pôle emploi, so guidance still using the old name is dated. Non-EU workers generally need a work authorisation tied to a residence permit, such as salarié or passeport talent, which means the permit and the job are linked rather than separate matters. Certain shortage occupations, the métiers en tension, can have streamlined hiring, and Service-Public sets out the rules.

Switzerland's public employment service works through the regional employment centres, the RAV, alongside the official platform arbeit.swiss. EU and EFTA citizens have free movement, but for everyone else the constraint is unusually hard: non-EU/EFTA permits are subject to annual quotas as well as a labour-market and qualification test. That means an application can fail for reasons that have nothing to do with you or the employer — the quota for the year can simply be exhausted.

France has a single national minimum wage, the SMIC, which applies across the country. Its distinguishing feature is the revaluation rule: it is revalued at least once a year and can rise mid-year if inflation triggers it — so unlike floors that move on a fixed annual date, a French figure can go out of date between scheduled updates. INSEE is authoritative for SMIC and average-wage statistics, while Service-Public explains the rules. Pay is quoted brut, with social contributions and income tax reducing net.

Switzerland has no national statutory minimum wage at all — pay is set by individual contract and by sector collective agreements, and only a few cantons have introduced their own cantonal minimums, among them Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura, Ticino and Basel-Stadt. So whether any legal floor applies to you depends on your canton and your sector rather than on national law. Swiss wages are among the highest in the world, and the Federal Statistical Office is authoritative for wage data.

France's flagship scholarship for international students is the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship (France Excellence Eiffel), funded by the Foreign Ministry for master's and PhD, alongside university and regional awards. Campus France is the official portal to explore funding and apply to study in France. Apply by each scheme's deadline, which is often well before the course starts.

Switzerland's flagship award is the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship (run by the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students), for postgraduate researchers and artists, alongside ETH/EPFL excellence scholarships and university awards. Applications usually go through the Swiss embassy in your country. Explore options and apply by the (early) deadline.

To study in France, students from many countries apply through the 'Études en France' procedure (via Campus France), then, once admitted, apply for a VLS-TS long-stay student visa, which you validate online within three months of arrival. Public university fees are low, though some are higher for non-EU students. Explore options on Campus France and apply by the deadline.

To study in Switzerland you apply to the university, then, once admitted, apply for a student visa (a national D visa) through the cantonal migration office and the Swiss consulate; after arrival you obtain a residence permit for study. Explore the university sites and apply by the (often early) deadline.

France places no restriction on foreigners buying property. Renting is tenant-protective (the 1989 law): the deposit (dépôt de garantie) is capped at one month's rent for unfurnished homes (two for furnished), and agency fees are regulated. Buying goes through a notaire, is registered at the land registry (publicité foncière), and carries 'frais de notaire' of roughly 7–8% (mostly transfer duties).

Switzerland restricts foreign purchase of residential property under the 'Lex Koller' law: non-resident foreigners generally need an authorization and face cantonal quotas, especially for holiday homes. Renting is the norm and tightly regulated: deposits are capped at three months' rent and held in a blocked bank account. Buying (mostly for residents/permit holders) uses a notary, the land register (Grundbuch) and cantonal transfer taxes.

France's Assurance Maladie covers anyone working or residing in France on a stable, regular basis through the Protection Universelle Maladie (PUMa). The model is reimbursement rather than free-at-point-of-use: the scheme repays a large share of costs and most people take a complementary "mutuelle" to cover the remainder. You manage cover, reimbursements and your carte Vitale through an Ameli account.

Health insurance is mandatory for everyone resident in Switzerland, and the deadline is concrete: you must take out basic compulsory insurance under the KVG/LAMal with a private insurer within three months of arrival. Insurers must accept you for the basic package. The budgeting difference that surprises people is that premiums are paid by the individual rather than deducted as a payroll tax, with subsidies for lower-income residents.

France's Sécurité sociale provides social insurance covering health, family, pensions and work accidents, with contributions collected largely through URSSAF. The detail that catches renters out is that France has two compulsory private insurances, not one: motor third-party liability, and home insurance for tenants. A complementary health mutuelle is widely held to top up Assurance Maladie, and insurers are supervised by the ACPR, part of the Banque de France.

Switzerland's social insurance rests on three named parts: old-age and survivors' insurance (AHV/AVS), disability insurance, and occupational pensions — with contributions shared with your employer. That occupational-pension layer is the piece newcomers most often overlook, since it sits alongside the state scheme rather than inside it. Motor third-party liability insurance is mandatory for vehicles, and basic health insurance is separately compulsory. Insurers and financial markets are supervised by FINMA.