Change of residence in Switzerland and Swiss "Attestation de Départ" (departure certificate)

CERN/IR-REL-RH/19885 - 17 October 2019
Published in the CERN Bulletin 44-45 of 30 October 2019, last modification on 20 February 2020

1. Change of address in Switzerland

Although the Permanent Mission of Switzerland in Geneva directly informs the services concerned via a monthly list, the Swiss authorities recommend that members of the personnel inform the relevant service below of their arrival in Switzerland and any change of address within 14 days: 

a) for people living in the Canton of Geneva, the Office cantonal de la population et des migrations (OCPM) should be informed (see https://www.ge.ch/annoncer-mon-arrivee-office-cantonal-population-migrations/annonce-arrivee-geneve-detenteurs-carte-legitimation and https://www.ge.ch/annoncer-changement-adresse-geneve). No tax is applied if the announcement is made within the prescribed time;

b) for people living in the Canton of Vaud, the Contrôle de l’habitant for the commune in which they live should be informed. Depending on the commune, a fee may be charged.

2. Swiss "Attestation de départ"

An attestation de départ (departure certificate) is an essential document for certain formalities that arise upon departure from Switzerland (customs, insurance companies, etc.). It is valid for two months and can be issued one month prior to departure at the earliest.

a) Procedure to follow for people living in the Canton of Geneva:

- you are strongly advised to apply by post by sending the form “Annonce de départ”, enclosing a photocopy of your carte de légitimation (Swiss card) issued by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, to Office cantonal de la population et des migrations, Case postale 2652, 1211 Genève 2 (see https://www.ge.ch/annoncer-mon-depart-office-cantonal-population-migrat…), or

- you can also go in person, bringing your carte de légitimation (Swiss card) issued by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs to OCPM, Route de Chancy 88, 1213 Onex (open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 7.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. non-stop, and Wednesday from 9.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., tel. 022 546 47 95, https://www.ge.ch/organisation/office-cantonal-population-migrations-ocpm).

a) Procedure to follow for people living in the Canton of Vaud:

go in person to the Contrôle de l’habitant for the commune where you live, bringing your carte de légitimation (Swiss card) issued by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.