Moving from France to Switzerland: formalities and customs, step by step

Two months before: home, permit and quotes

• Find your home in Geneva. The lease will also be one of your supporting documents at customs.
• Apply for your residence permit with the OCPM if you are an EU national coming to work: the application must be filed before you start working.
• Give notice on your lease in France, respecting your notice period (usually 3 months, 1 month in high-demand areas).
• Ask for quotes, and check that customs is included.

One month before: tell France

• Taxes: report your new address in your Finances publiques online account on impots.gouv.fr. The following year, you declare your income up to the departure date (form 2042), and your French-source income after departure on form 2042-NR.
• La Poste: international mail forwarding.
• Health insurance (CPAM), CAF, bank, employer, subscriptions: tell them you are leaving and when.

Two weeks before: the inventory for Swiss customs

• Form 18.44 (customs clearance of household effects), filled in online.
• The list of your household effects: every piece of furniture and every box. Number your boxes; the list follows their numbers.
• Anything bought less than 6 months ago goes at the end of the list, under “goods to be taxed”. Alcohol and restricted items must be listed one by one.
• Proof that you are settling: lease, employment contract, or a document showing you have registered your departure from France.
• At DL Company, we handle everything: we prepare the list and form 18.44 with you and present them at the border. All you do is sign.

The conditions for paying no duty

• 6 months of use of your belongings before the move, and you keep using them in Switzerland.
• Imported within 2 years of your change of residence, in one or several shipments.
• Your car can also come in as household effects: customs issues an inspection report (form 13.20 A), which you need to register it in Geneva.

On moving day

• Customs for goods is open Monday to Friday, usually 8:00 to 11:30 and 13:30 to 17:00. On Saturdays only a few large offices open, and only in the morning: plan the crossing on a weekday.
• From Haute-Savoie or the Pays de Gex, a move usually takes one day. From the rest of France, allow 1 to 3 days depending on the distance.
• Keep your documents on you: ID, lease, employment contract.

After you arrive

• Health insurance (LAMal) within 3 months. Cover is backdated to your arrival: you are insured, but premiums are due from that date.
• Car: register it in Geneva with form 13.20 A. As a rule, someone living in Switzerland may not drive on foreign plates.
• Driving licence: exchange it within 12 months. After that, you can no longer drive in Switzerland on your French licence.
• Every other formality in Geneva is in our guide Moving to Geneva: the checklist.

Are you a cross-border worker?

• Your G permit is no longer enough: if you settle in Geneva and keep your job, apply to the OCPM for a residence permit with gainful activity.
• Health insurance: if you were already under LAMal, give your insurer your new address; if you had opted for French insurance, join a Swiss insurer within 3 months.
• Your furniture follows the same customs rules: form 18.44 and 6 months of use.

The mistakes we see most often

1. Buying new furniture just before the move. Less than 6 months of use: it pays VAT and duty.
2. Planning the border crossing on a Saturday or late in the day. Customs for goods is closed: the truck waits.
3. Not having your documents on moving day. Without a lease or employment contract, customs can refuse the duty exemption.
4. Not declaring alcohol. A wine collection or bottles not itemised on the list cause problems at the border.

And the other way?

Leaving Geneva for France? See our guide Moving from Geneva to France. We move in both directions, as an international move with customs included.