Basel is one economic area but two separate cantons, Basel-Stadt (BS) and Basel-Landschaft (BL), each with its own migration office, courts and bar register. Your canton, and so your office, depends on where you are legally domiciled. The permit rules are federal and the same in both; what differs is local practice, voting rights, and some local services such as the Basel-Stadt return counselling.

In short

  • Two offices: the Migrationsamt Basel-Stadt (https://www.migrationsamt.bs.ch) and the Amt für Migration Basel-Landschaft in Liestal (via https://www.baselland.ch).
  • Processing time: Basel-Stadt gives around 6 weeks for common procedures. SEM approval, where needed, comes on top.
  • Language: German. The early C permit usually needs B1 spoken and A1 written.
  • Return counselling in Basel-Stadt helps anyone who wants to leave Switzerland in an orderly way, not only asylum seekers, free of charge.
  • Voting rights: foreign nationals cannot vote in Basel-Stadt, even with a C permit. Basel-Landschaft has no voting rights for foreign nationals either.

Two cantons, one region

The canton split in 1833 and has never been reunited. Daily life still crosses the border constantly: many commutes cross cantonal and national borders, the University of Basel is run jointly by BS and BL, and the pharmaceutical and life-sciences cluster (Roche, Novartis and others) spans both cantons, Germany and France.

Basel-Stadt is the city of Basel plus the municipalities of Riehen and Bettingen. It is one of the most densely populated cantons, and its share of residents without Swiss citizenship has for years been among the highest, similar to Geneva and above Zurich.

Basel-Landschaft has five districts: Arlesheim, Liestal, Sissach, Waldenburg and Laufen. Its share of foreign nationals is lower, closer to the Swiss average. It mixes commuters near the city, suburban municipalities (Allschwil, Binningen, Münchenstein, Pratteln, Muttenz, Reinach) and a rural population in the upper valleys.

Many cross-border commuters also work in the region, mainly in BS: from Germany (district of Lörrach, Weil am Rhein, Rheinfelden, Bad Säckingen, Waldshut) and from France (Saint-Louis, Huningue, the Mulhouse area). For current population and commuter figures, see the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) and the two cantonal statistics offices.

What makes Basel different

  • Highly qualified staff in life sciences. The headquarters of Roche and Novartis and other firms (such as Lonza, Bayer sites and Syngenta) mean many third-country permits for managers and specialists under Art. 23 of the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (FNIA, SR 142.20), and also under Art. 21 para. 3 FNIA. SEM approval (Art. 99 FNIA) is the rule in these cases. The Migrationsamt BS works routinely with company HR and mobility teams; these cases are usually handled by in-house mobility departments or specialised law firms.
  • The University of Basel attracts students and researchers from Germany (especially Baden-Württemberg), Italy, Austria, France and third countries. Students get a B permit for study (Art. 27 FNIA). Third-country students must meet Art. 23 of the Ordinance on Admission, Residence and Gainful Employment (OASA, SR 142.201): enough money, a realistic prospect of finishing, and leaving afterwards. After graduating, you can stay six months to look for work (Art. 21 para. 3 FNIA with Art. 21 OASA). See the B residence permit for study.
  • Cross-border commuters. The G permit is very common here. For EU/EFTA nationals it rests on the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP, SR 0.142.112.681). Third-country nationals fall under Art. 35 FNIA and also need a permanent right of residence in the neighbouring country and at least six months' residence in the border zone.
  • EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse is on French soil but run jointly by Switzerland and France, which creates its own cases for aviation staff working across borders.
  • Asylum. Both cantons receive asylum seekers under the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) population key (Asylum Ordinance 1 and the Asylum Act, AsylA, SR 142.31). The federal asylum centre for Northwestern Switzerland is in the region.

The migration offices

Addresses, opening hours, fees and processing times change. Always check the official websites.

Migrationsamt Basel-Stadt: https://www.migrationsamt.bs.ch, and the topic portal https://www.bs.ch (Topics, then Foreign nationals). It has areas for EU/EFTA residence (B, C, L and G permits under the AFMP), third-country residence (family reunification, work, study), asylum (F, N and S permits), naturalisation (with the municipalities of Basel, Riehen and Bettingen), and hardship cases and removals.

Amt für Migration Basel-Landschaft: part of the Sicherheitsdirektion BL in Liestal, reached via https://www.baselland.ch (Politics and authorities, then Sicherheitsdirektion, then Migrationsamt). It has similar areas. The cantonal administration is spread over several sites in Liestal, so check the address before you go.

Moving between BS and BL. The two offices cooperate and share data through the Central Migration Information System (ZEMIS). If you move, for example from Basel to Allschwil, you must register with your new municipality within the legal time limit, usually 14 days, and your permit is reissued there. Ask the residents' office for the exact deadline.

The law that applies

Both cantons apply federal law first: the FNIA, the OASA, the AFMP and its ordinances, the AsylA and SEM directives. See the FNIA and OASA terminology glossary, the AFMP glossary and the Asylum Act glossary.

Each canton also has its own implementing provisions on the FNIA, a constitution, a citizenship law and a law on lawyers: in BS the Advokaturgesetz (AdvokG, SG 291.100), in BL the Anwaltsgesetz (AnwG BL). Find current texts at gesetzessammlung.bs.ch and bl.clex.ch.

How long it takes

Neither canton publishes binding processing times. The Migrationsamt BS gives around 6 weeks for common procedures as a guide. For other procedures and for BL, ask the office. It depends on how complete your file is, the workload and your case. If the SEM must approve (Art. 99 FNIA), add its time.

Practice in Basel-Stadt

Language. For a B permit through family reunification from a third country, and for some renewals, BS asks for German at least at the federal minimum level. The early C permit after five instead of ten years (Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA with Art. 62 para. 1bis OASA) usually needs B1 spoken and A1 written in German. The fide certificate in German and the diplomas listed in Art. 77d OASA are accepted. Ask the Migrationsamt about details, as cantonal practice can go beyond the federal minimum.

Integration agreement. Under Art. 58b FNIA the canton can make an integration agreement with a third-country national who has integration gaps. BS uses it sparingly, usually when a renewal reveals problems with language, work or public order.

Hardship cases (Art. 30 para. 1 let. b FNIA). The office weighs your integration, family situation, finances, length of stay, health and chances of reintegrating in your home country (Art. 31 OASA). The outcome depends entirely on your case.

Early C permit. It needs successful integration and is at the canton's discretion: better language skills (usually B1 spoken, A1 written), financial independence, orderly finances and no significant criminal record. No approval rates are published.

Family reunification from third countries (Art. 43 to 47 FNIA). The office checks sufficient income, suitable housing, no dependence on social assistance and language. It follows the federal standard, taking into account Basel's tight housing market.

Separation and divorce. If you separate from a Swiss citizen or a C permit holder, Art. 50 FNIA applies: you can keep your permit after a three-year marriage with successful integration (Art. 50 para. 1 let. a FNIA), or for important personal reasons such as domestic violence (Art. 50 para. 1 let. b FNIA). See separation and divorce.

Naturalisation. There are three levels: federal, cantonal and communal. Federal requirements come from the Swiss Citizenship Act (SCA, SR 141.0), including the residence period under Art. 9 para. 1 let. b SCA with the rule in Art. 9 para. 2 SCA that some years count double, and the integration criteria in Art. 12 SCA. The language level, usually B1 spoken and A2 written, comes from Art. 6 of the Swiss Citizenship Ordinance (SCO, SR 141.01); fide and the diplomas in Art. 6 para. 2 SCO are accepted. The three BS municipalities have modernised their procedures, and applications are not normally put to a municipal assembly vote. Ask your municipality.

Practice in Basel-Landschaft

  • Language: German at the federal minimum for third-country family reunification; usually B1 spoken and A1 written for the early C permit. Ask the Amt für Migration BL.
  • Integration agreement: used case by case, not systematically.
  • Hardship cases: follow the federal standard.
  • Early C permit: follows the federal standard (Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA). No quota is published.
  • Naturalisation: three levels. The cantonal citizenship law applies the SCA, and each municipality has its own rules, some with hearings and assessments. Check with baselland.ch or your municipality.

Return counselling in Basel-Stadt

The Rückkehrberatung Basel-Stadt, run by the canton, is unusual. In other cantons such as Zurich, Bern or Geneva, return counselling mostly serves people in the asylum system. In Basel-Stadt it is also open to any foreign national who wants to leave Switzerland or end their stay in an orderly way:

  • people with a B, C, L or Ci permit who want to leave voluntarily, for example on retirement, to rejoin family at home or for a job abroad;
  • people with a Schengen overstay or other residence problems, such as an expired visa, a missed registration or illegal stay;
  • asylum seekers, whether or not their application was rejected;
  • people with health, social or family reasons for returning.

Counselling is free and available in several languages; see https://www.rueckkehrberatung-bs.ch/. It helps with information and practical support such as travel documents, tickets and contact with return-aid organisations, but it does not represent you before authorities or courts. For that, you need a lawyer. See also Schengen overstay.

Asylum in both Basel

Federal asylum centre for Northwestern Switzerland. It includes a procedure centre and other sites. Asylum applications go through the accelerated procedure (Art. 26b AsylA and following) inside the federal centre, with legal representation provided by the organisation the SEM has mandated there.

Extended procedure. If your case moves to the extended procedure (Art. 26d AsylA), you are allocated to a canton under the SEM key; BS and BL each take a share according to their population. You then live and are registered in that canton, and legal advice passes to the cantonal legal advice service mandated under Art. 102f AsylA.

Legal advice in the asylum field:

  • HEKS Rechtsberatungsstelle für Asylsuchende beider Basel (BAS), run by the Swiss Protestant aid organisation HEKS: advice and legal representation in asylum and removal procedures in both cantons. https://www.heks.ch/was-wir-tun/rechtsberatung-asylsuchende-beider-basel
  • Freiplatzaktion Basel: social and legal advice for asylum seekers, sans-papiers and migrants living in poverty.
  • Beratungsstelle für Asylsuchende im Kanton Basel-Landschaft: legal advice for asylum seekers in BL during the extended procedure.

The Swiss Refugee Council (SRC) keeps the full current list of mandated services.

Domestic violence

The Frauenhaus beider Basel, run jointly by BS and BL, shelters women and children affected by domestic violence, whatever their residence status, nationality or insurance. Its locations are secret for safety; contact it via https://www.frauenhaus-basel.ch/.

This matters for your permit. If you hold a B or L permit through marriage and suffer domestic violence, Art. 50 para. 1 let. b and para. 2 FNIA allow you to keep a residence permit independently of the marriage. Victim support (Opferhilfe beider Basel, under the Victim Support Act, VSA, SR 312.5) coordinates your protection with the immigration assessment.

Voting rights for foreign nationals

Foreign nationals cannot vote in Basel-Stadt, even with a C permit, at cantonal or communal level. § 40 para. 2 of the Constitution of the Canton of Basel-Stadt lets the municipalities extend communal voting rights to foreign nationals, but the city of Basel has no communal bodies of its own (the canton runs its affairs), so there is no local solution, and Riehen and Bettingen have never used the option. Voters have rejected a cantonal vote for foreign nationals three times, most recently on 24.11.2024.

Basel-Landschaft has no voting rights for foreign nationals at cantonal or communal level. Elsewhere in Switzerland, only some cantons grant them, mainly Jura, Neuchâtel, Vaud, Geneva and Fribourg, and at communal level Graubünden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden.

Tax

  • Tax at source: if you work without a C permit, your employer usually deducts tax at source under cantonal tax law. Above a gross income of CHF 120,000 a year, a subsequent ordinary assessment is mandatory. Ask the cantonal tax administration about rates, corrections and refunds.
  • Cross-border commuters: German commuters fall under the double taxation agreement between Germany and Switzerland, with its special commuter rule; French commuters under the agreement with France. The BS and BL tax administrations apply these.
  • Tax levels differ between BS and BL. The Federal Tax Administration publishes tax burden statistics. For advice, contact the BS or BL tax administration via bs.ch or baselland.ch, or a tax adviser.

Appealing a decision

A refusal, revocation or removal decision can be appealed. In BS, you appeal to the competent cantonal instance (department or administrative court; the Court of Appeal acts as the administrative court). In BL, the appeal usually goes to the Cantonal Court as the administrative court. From the last cantonal instance, you can go to the Federal Supreme Court where the Federal Supreme Court Act allows it (FSCA, SR 173.110, Art. 82 and following). The deadline is usually 30 days from notification; the instructions on appeal in the decision are binding. See the appeal pathway.

Lawyers in Basel

BS and BL each keep their own bar register and supervisory commission. A lawyer registered in BS is not automatically registered in BL, but many Basel lawyers are in both. The Federal Act on the Free Movement of Lawyers (LLCA, SR 935.61) allows lawyers to work across cantons.

  • Basel-Stadt: the Anwaltsaufsichtskommission Basel-Stadt supervises lawyers under the AdvokG (SG 291.100) and the LLCA; contact via bs.ch or gerichte-bs.ch. In Basel-Stadt lawyers are traditionally called Advokatinnen und Advokaten, but they are ordinary lawyers. The private association is the Advokatenkammer Basel.
  • Basel-Landschaft: the Aufsichtskommission über die Rechtsanwältinnen und Rechtsanwälte BL supervises lawyers under the AnwG BL and the LLCA; contact via baselland.ch. The private association is the Anwaltsverband Basel-Landschaft.

Help in a crisis

  • 143: Die Dargebotene Hand, 24 hours, in German, French and Italian.
  • 147: Pro Juventute, for children and young people, 24 hours.
  • Opferhilfe beider Basel: victim support for people affected by violence.
  • Frauenhaus beider Basel: 24-hour emergency line via frauenhaus-basel.ch.
  • HEKS BAS and Freiplatzaktion Basel: legal and social advice (see above).
  • Rückkehrberatung Basel-Stadt: voluntary return, also outside asylum.

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