What does emigrating to Switzerland cost?
Answer four questions and you have an honest range for your situation. For every item it says whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The permit costs a few tens of francs here. The money is in the health premium per person and in the three-month rental deposit.
Looking for the whole route to Switzerland, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 5.600 – € 13.200
Where does that difference come from?
- Landing and getting started€ 4.000 – € 11.000
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 95 – € 300
- De verhuizing
- € 60 – € 350
- De eerste maanden
- € 5.400 – € 12.600
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Residence permit and card€ 65 – € 85
- Extracts, apostilles and translations(estimate)€ 30 – € 200
De verhuizing
- Travel(estimate)€ 60 – € 350
The spread in cost lies in how you travel: by car, with an overnight stop on the way, or by plane, renting something locally. From the Netherlands it is a day's drive or a short flight.
De eerste maanden
- Health insurance (first three months)€ 1.400 – € 1.600
- Landing and getting started(estimate)€ 4.000 – € 11.000
Swiss rents and prices sit well above the Dutch level, with large differences between cantons. The deposit is capped by law at three months' basic rent. It must be held in a blocked account in your name. You get it back, but you have to be able to do without those three months' rent up front. Budget further for temporary accommodation while you search, the Serafe broadcasting fee of CHF 335 per year, and working capital. You need the latter because in outpatient care (care without a hospital stay) you often pay the doctor first yourself and claim afterwards.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 2 to 5% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 5.000 to € 12.500.
The additional costs are low, but they differ per canton. Eight cantons (including Zürich, Zug and Aargau) levy no Handänderungssteuer, the transfer tax, at all. They charge only registration fees of a quarter of a per cent. Vaud and Neuchâtel sit at the other end, with 3.3%. Notary and Grundbuch (the land registry) together cost about 0.3%. In Switzerland the money is not in the buying costs but in the purchase price itself. And you have to contribute at least 20% of your own funds.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
The Lex Koller, the Swiss law on property ownership by foreigners, decides who may buy freely. As a Dutch citizen with a valid residence permit who actually lives in Switzerland, it does not apply to you: you buy just like a Swiss citizen. If you still live in the Netherlands, you need a permit from the canton. A holiday home is then only possible in a designated tourist zone, and for that there are only around 1,500 permits a year nationwide. So buy only once you are registered and live in Switzerland.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 15 August 2026.
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The whole journey in the right order, with your documents, your costs and all your cancellation letters. € 299 one-off, no subscription.
Also want to know whether your departure date is feasible, and where you start? Take the departure scan for Switzerland →
One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
In Vertrekklaar you get the complete picture of your own costs, with your route, your documents and your deadlines.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with four questions, but the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates with your real situation: how many family members, which household contents, whether the car comes along. It also watches the two deadlines that run from your arrival. A one-off € 299, no subscription.
Leaving with AOW or a pension? Compare how countries tax your pension
Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Switzerland: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Switzerland change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
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