EU/EFTA, 90 days in Switzerland: the notification and its 8 days

If you are coming from the European Union or EFTA to work on your own account in Switzerland for a short period, the rule comes down to two points, and neither is intuitive. Sex work is one of the sectors where the federal notification is mandatory from the first day of work — the exemption most other trades enjoy does not apply. And that notification must be filed at least eight calendar days before you begin: this is not an administrative deadline you can catch up on, it is a waiting period that must have elapsed before your first client.

This article describes the federal procedure as the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) publishes it, in the March 2026 edition of its user guide. It is information, not legal advice: your personal situation may call for a different answer, and the cantonal labour-market authority is there to give it.

Two regimes, two deadlines — which one applies to you

The online notification procedure serves two different situations, and they do not share the same deadline. This is the most common source of error.

• Independent service provider — you work on your own account, from a business or activity established in an EU/EFTA state, and you come to provide a service in Switzerland. Notification is filed at least eight calendar days before the work starts.
• Short-term employment — you are hired by a company in Switzerland, on a contract of three months at most. Notification must be filed at the latest the day before the activity starts.

An escort, a masseuse or a sex worker coming to work on her own account falls in principle under the first case — but have it confirmed by the cantonal labour-market authority. The SEM guide names the sector; it does not qualify individual situations. And the line between self-employment and employment is not always sharp in this trade: someone working in a salon under the operator's organisation may fall under the second case, and therefore under the day-before deadline.

That qualification determines your deadline, and it is settled before you set a start date: between the two regimes, the calendar shifts by more than a week.

Sex work is named: notification from day one

In most sectors, a cross-border activity only has to be notified if it exceeds eight days in total per calendar year. Below that, there is nothing to file.

That exemption does not apply to sex work. The SEM guide lists the fields in which notification is mandatory from the first day, for independent service providers from the EU/EFTA as well as for posted workers: construction, civil engineering and finishing trades; landscaping; hospitality and catering; industrial or domestic cleaning; surveillance and security; itinerant trade; and the sex industry. The stated reason is explicit: in these sectors, experience has shown a risk of wage undercutting and of non-compliance with mandatory labour-law provisions.

In concrete terms: even for a single working day in Switzerland in the year, the notification is owed. And because it is owed, so is the eight-day period that precedes it.

Eight calendar days: how they are counted

The guide is precise on this point, because it is easy to be a week out.

The eight days are calendar days, Sundays and public holidays included — not working days. The SEM's own example: a notification sent on a Monday allows work to start at the earliest on the Tuesday of the following week. The period runs between the notification and the start of the assignment, and each gainful activity is notified separately.

The urgency derogation exists — and it does not cover this trade

This has to be said, because passing over a derogation in silence would be inaccurate: the eight-day period does have an exception. It is narrow.

The guide provides that in the case of an urgent intervention, the engagement may exceptionally start before the eight days have elapsed, but at the earliest on the day of notification, and only if the urgency is flagged and justified in the "Comment" field of the online form. The cantonal authorities recognise urgency only where conditions are met cumulatively, in particular: the work serves to repair damage that occurred unforeseeably and aims to avoid greater damage, and it takes place without delay — as a rule within three calendar days of the damage occurring.

In other words, this derogation targets the urgent repair of damage. A planned activity does not fall within it, however profitable it may be or however urgent the person's financial situation. For our subject, the eight-day period is to be treated as firm.

The 90 days: actual working days

The Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons liberalises cross-border services up to 90 actual working days per calendar year. Within that limit, the activity is subject only to the notification obligation — not to an authorisation.

Two useful clarifications:

• These are working days, not days of presence, and they are counted per calendar year: the counter restarts on 1 January.
• Beyond 90 days per calendar year, a work authorisation is required — and the guide adds a sentence better read before organising a long stay: "there is no right to obtain such an authorisation".

For employment with a Swiss employer, the corresponding limit is three months; beyond that, a residence permit application must be filed.

How the notification is made

Notification is electronic, through the federal online notification portal. The business or the independent service provider creates a single profile, then notifies each activity separately.

Two points the guide makes explicit, which spare an unpleasant surprise:

• Notification by e-mail is not admissible. A written notification by post or fax to the competent cantonal authority is accepted only exceptionally, where technical reasons prevent the use of the electronic system.
• Each notification is tied to a period and a place of work: it is not a general registration valid for the year.

The certificate, and the cantonal notification that still applies

The federal notification produces a certificate. Keep it: it is a document you will be asked for.

Ticino, for instance, requires at the counter the certificate of the notification of gainful activity for the self-employed — the "notifica 90 giorni" — at the time of cantonal registration. Zurich asks EU/EFTA nationals for a notification confirmation when issuing the street permit.

And this is the point to retain: the federal notification does not replace the cantonal one. They are two distinct steps at two different levels — one gives you the right to work in Switzerland, the other governs practice where you work. Our canton-by-canton registration guide describes the second: where it is mandatory, where it is not, with the published addresses, opening hours and costs.

And if you come from a third state?

The procedure described here is reserved for nationals of the EU and EFTA. For third-state nationals, access to self-employment in this sector is not open through the ordinary route of admission to the labour market — our guide to the Swiss legal framework explains why, and what the abolition of the cabaret dancer status changed in 2016. If you are in that situation, seek advice from a specialised association before taking any step.

Frequently asked questions

I am only coming to work for two days. Do I still have to notify? Yes. The exemption for the first eight days per calendar year, which applies in most sectors, does not apply to the sex industry: notification there is mandatory from the first day.

Can I start sooner if I notify today? No, except in an emergency in the guide's narrow sense — repair of unforeseeable damage, to be flagged and justified in the notification. Outside that case, the eight calendar days must elapse.

Are the eight days working days? No, calendar days, Sundays and public holidays included. A notification filed on a Monday allows a start at the earliest on the Tuesday of the following week.

Does the federal notification exempt me from the cantonal one? No. They are two distinct steps. Depending on the canton where you work, a cantonal registration may also be mandatory — see our canton-by-canton guide.

What happens if I exceed the 90 days? Beyond 90 actual working days per calendar year, a work authorisation is required, and the SEM states that there is no right to obtain one. Plan ahead before you reach the limit.

Who can help me free of charge? Specialised, free and confidential associations: ASPASIE in Geneva, Fleur de Pavé in the canton of Vaud, xenia in Bern, the FIZ in Zurich, and the national umbrella organisation ProCoRe for orientation elsewhere.

— The IntimX Editorial Team

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This article is informative and constitutes neither legal advice nor administrative assistance. It describes the federal notification procedure as the SEM publishes it in its user guide, March 2026 edition; modalities and deadlines can change. Before any step, check the procedure in force with the SEM or the cantonal labour-market authority, or seek support from one of the associations mentioned. Data verified on 3 August 2026.