Arriving in Geneva, whether from abroad or from another canton, opens a sequence of formalities, several of which are subject to short deadlines. The difficulty lies not in any one of them but in their chaining: a late document blocks the next one, and you end up chasing appointments when all you wanted was to settle in. Here is the logical order in which to handle them, with the official source for each step. It is the logic of a discreet conductor: everyone knows when they come in, nothing overlaps.
1. Register your arrival with the OCPM
This is the first stone. Anyone coming to settle in the canton must notify the Cantonal Population and Migration Office (OCPM) of their change of residence within a short window after arrival. The procedure differs depending on whether you arrive from abroad or from another canton, and on your nationality; EU/EFTA nationals, for instance, have a specific window around the arrival date. Registration is free and can be done online. The exact terms and forms are on the Register your arrival with the OCPM page. Do not put this step off: it conditions the issue or confirmation of your residence permit, and many other steps depend on it.
2. The residence and work permit
If you come from abroad, your residence permit materialises following the OCPM registration. The categories (permit B, C, L, Ci, G for cross-border workers) each follow their own rules, and the status assigned has consequences for your taxation, notably withholding tax. Check that your professional and family situation truly matches the permit issued; an inconsistency is far easier to correct on arrival than several months later.
3. Health insurance: a deadline not to miss
Switzerland requires basic health insurance for anyone resident, to be taken out within three months of arrival. After that, the affiliation remains due retroactively, and a compulsory affiliation may be imposed on you. The choice of insurer and model deserves some thought, but the urgency is first to meet the deadline. The framework is set out on the federal portal, on the Compulsory health insurance page.
4. Tax and the change-of-address notification
Your tax domicile follows your actual domicile. If you change address within the canton or arrive from elsewhere, notifying the OCPM and, where relevant, your municipality, updates the registers that form the basis of your taxation. The Report a change of address page details how to proceed. Depending on your permit, you will be taxed at source or on an ordinary basis; anticipating this avoids unpleasant surprises at the first statement.
5. Subscriptions and connections
Electricity, water, telecommunications, the broadcasting levy, vehicle registration: these connections carry no legal deadline as strict, but forgetting them costs you in daily hassle. A simple tracking table, with the desired start date and the provider, is enough to stay on top of it.
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6. The family: school, allowances, household staff
If you arrive as a family, school enrolment follows its own calendar and benefits from being anticipated. Family allowances, for their part, pass through the compensation fund. And if you plan to employ home help, be aware that this in turn triggers a set of employer obligations — contract, affiliations, declarations — that are best prepared before the person arrives.
7. Opening an account and centralising your documents
Opening a Swiss bank account often requires proof of your domicile and, for people coming from abroad, your residence permit. We come back here to the first step: without a completed OCPM registration, several doors stay only half-open. Use this phase to assemble a single file — proof of domicile, permit, tenancy agreement, insurance policy, salary certificates — that you can present at every counter without reconstructing the papers each time. This folder, physical or digital, is the most cost-effective tool of the whole move.
The difference between an address and a domicile
A common confusion is worth clearing up: a correspondence address is not proof of domicile. Domicile is defined by the place where you reside with the intention of settling, and it is that which determines your administrative and tax attachment. Using a third-party address to receive mail does not establish a domicile and does not exempt you from any of the notifications described above. This distinction, seemingly trivial, sits at the heart of attachment disputes; it is better handled cleanly from the outset.
Ordering rather than enduring
The value of a successful move lies less in each isolated step than in their orchestration: identifying the binding deadlines, producing documents in the right order, appointing a single point of contact who oversees the whole. That is exactly the role we play for families arriving in Geneva, with the same rigour a family office applies, brought to the administrative foundations of your daily life. Let's discuss your situation.
The deadlines and rules cited point to official pages, which may change: the linked page prevails, and we verified them on 2026-09-20.