Croatian citizens to be granted freedom of movement

IMPACT – MEDIUM

The Swiss government has announced that it will grant freedom of movement to Croatian citizens on Jan. 1, 2022.

Key Points:

• Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, Croatian citizens will follow the same immigration process as other EU nationals.
• Croatian employees working in Switzerland will hold the same workers’ rights as other EU nationals.
• Swiss authorities will have the right to limit the number of work permits for Croatian nationals from Jan. 1, 2023 until the end of 2026 only if “serious disturbances” occur in the labor market due to a large amount of Croatian immigrants. No limits have been announced at this point.

Additional Information: Croatia has been a member of the EU since 2013; however, Switzerland had yet to extend freedom of movement to Croatia. More information regarding Switzerland’s permit quotas for 2021 can be found here.

BAL Analysis: The announcement to grant freedom of movement to Croatia will give Croatian nationals access to a simplified immigration process and reduce requirements to work in Switzerland. BAL will continue to monitor freedom of movement related developments and will proved more information as it becomes available.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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