Croatian nationals coming to work in Switzerland will no longer be subject to quotas. At its meeting on January 14, 2026, the Federal Council was informed that the number of L and B permits issued to Croatians in 2025 remained below the thresholds which would have permitted an activation of the unilateral safeguard clause. Croatia now benefits from full free movement of persons.
In accordance with the transitional arrangements provided for in the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP), the Federal Council decided on November 26, 2025 that it would invoke the unilateral safeguard clause with regard to Croatia in 2026 if the number of workers from that country exceeded the relevant thresholds.
From January 1 to December 31, 2025, Switzerland granted Croatian workers 1,701 residence permits (B permits) and 792 short stay permits (L permits). The number of permits granted in 2025 thus remained below the thresholds calculated using the method defined in the AFMP (2,004 B permits and 1,116 L permits). The conditions for activating the unilateral safeguard clause in 2026 were therefore not met.
The AFMP was extended to Croatia by an additional protocol, which entered into force in 2017. The protocol provides for the gradual opening of the Swiss labor market to Croatian nationals over a period of ten years. Switzerland would have had the option to invoke the unilateral safeguard clause one last time before the end of the transitional arrangements on December 31, 2026. Croatian nationals now enjoy full free movement of persons as it applies to nationals of the other European Union (EU) member states.
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