What is a Swiss cross-border worker?
A Swiss cross-border worker, also called a Franco-Swiss cross-border worker (frontalier), lives in France and works in Switzerland, returning home in principle every day or at least once a week. This is the wording of the Secrétariat d’État aux migrations (SEM), the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration, on its page on the G cross-border permit (in French). For a national of the European Union or EFTA, working in Switzerland requires the cross-border permit: the G permit (permis G). For less than three months of work a year, an online notification is enough. Then come the choice of health insurance, tax, and later unemployment and pension.
Where to start
- Before your first day: the G permit, and the steps in calendar order (in French).
- Within three months: the right to choose between the LAMal (Swiss health insurance) and the French Sécurité sociale.
- Before your first tax return: tax for cross-border workers.
- When your contract ends: unemployment and pension.
- Day to day, your phone: the cross-border mobile plan, calls between France and Switzerland and border crossings (in French).
Why these pages exist
Our customers often come to Flytel in the first month of a job in Switzerland, when the permit, health insurance and tax all arrive at the same time. That is when they ask us their questions. Is that where you are? The list of steps in order (in French) tells you where to start.
Flytel is a mobile operator. We do not give legal, tax or social security advice. This page reports what the official texts and bodies say, with their sources and the date on which we checked them. It replaces neither these bodies nor advice on your own situation. If in doubt, the competent body is named in each section: it is the reference.
The four topics
The G permit for Swiss cross-border workers
The G permit lets you work in Switzerland while living in France. According to the official texts, it is valid for five years with a contract of one year or more, and ends with the job.
Read the pageLAMal or Sécurité sociale: the cross-border worker’s right to choose
According to the bodies of both countries, you have three months to choose between the LAMal and the Sécurité sociale, and this choice is final.
Read the pageTax for Swiss cross-border workers
In Geneva, tax is deducted at source; in the eight cantons of the 1983 agreement, it is paid in France. Either way, your income is declared in France.
Read the pageUnemployment and pension for Swiss cross-border workers
If you are fully unemployed, France pays benefits based on your Swiss salary; at retirement, each country pays its share, according to the bodies of both countries.
Read the pageThe cross-border worker’s year, month by month
| When | What | Who for |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1 January | Give your employer the certificate of tax residence (form 2041-AS) for the following year | The eight cantons of the 1983 agreement |
| January 2027, then at the start of every year | Your employer declares your days of remote working for the past year | Employers in Geneva |
| Before 31 March | Request a correction, or the ordinary assessment for quasi-residents, for the past year | Cross-border workers taxed at source in Geneva |
| April to June | Declare your income in France with form 2047-SUISSE; in 2026, online until 21 May, 28 May or 4 June depending on the département | All cross-border workers who live in France |
| September, until mid-October | Declare your income to the Urssaf (the body that collects French social contributions); in 2026, until 14 October | Those who chose French health insurance |
| October and November | Receive the amount of your premiums for the following year; to change insurer, your cancellation must arrive before 30 November | People insured under the LAMal |
| December | Receive the 13th AVS pension, paid with the December pension, with no application needed (for the first time in December 2026) | Retirees who receive an AVS pension (the Swiss state old-age pension) |
How many cross-border workers live in France and work in Switzerland?
On 30 June 2026, Switzerland had 414,262 cross-border workers, up 1.3% on a year earlier. Of these, 242,083 lived in France. These are the figures of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in French), published on 6 August 2026; they only count cross-border workers of foreign nationality. The canton of Geneva employed 118,067 of them on the same date, according to its statistics office (in French). On the French side, at the end of 2024, 158,000 cross-border workers, working or retired, had chosen French health insurance, according to the Urssaf statistical report (in French).
How these pages are kept up to date
The rules change, often in January on the Swiss side, and on other dates on the French side: contribution rates, thresholds, reference ages. Each page therefore shows at the top the date it was last checked. Does a page say one thing and an official body another? The official body is right. Tell us about the difference through the contact page, and we will correct it.
