Croatian citizens should benefit fully from the free movement of people in Switzerland from January 1, 2022. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) announced on Friday. The EU welcomed this decision.
The SEM justified the decision by stating that there was “no significant imbalance on the labor market”. Therefore, at its meeting on October 1, 2021, the Federal Council decided to introduce unrestricted freedom of movement for Croatia from January 1, 2022.
Full immigration possible
Up until now, there were quotas for immigration into the labor market. This year, 250 Croatians received a B permit for five years and 2,500 an L permit for short stays.
This will end in January and Croatian employees will be treated on an equal footing with those from other EU / EFTA nationals. However, should “the immigration of Croatian workers exceed a certain threshold, Switzerland can invoke a safeguard clause and limit the number of permits from January 1, 2023” again. However, this limit would then only be possible until the end of 2026, the SEM continues.
Almost 30,000 live in Switzerland
The Swiss delegation officially informed the EU of this decision at a video conference of the mixed committee on Friday. The EU welcomed the decision. Although Switzerland could have extended the quotas, it decided against it.
As of December 31, 2020, there were a total of 28,324 Croatian citizens in Switzerland – six more than in the previous year. They made up 1.9 percent of the EU / EFTA population living in Switzerland. (SDA / sf)