Arriving in Basel: the first weeks

Within 14 days: register at your place of residence

Basel-Stadt. Anyone moving to the city of Basel registers within 14 days with the Residents’ Office (Einwohneramt). What counts for the deadline is the date on which you book an appointment online. The online form shows whether you can do everything digitally via eUmzug. Anyone moving here from abroad must attend the appointment in person, because biometric data are recorded. Registration costs CHF 25 per person. Tenants submit a copy of the tenancy agreement. Riehen and Bettingen have their own municipal administrations.

The counter has moved. Since 2 November 2026 the Residents’ Office and the Migration Office (Migrationsamt) have been in temporary premises on Schwarzwaldallee, opposite the main entrance of the Badischer Bahnhof. Older information sheets still give Spiegelgasse. The return to the Spiegelhof building is planned for 2028. Opening hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:00 to 17:30, and Thursday from 13:00 to 17:30.

Basel-Landschaft. Here you register with the residents’ registration office (Einwohnerkontrolle) of your municipality of residence. The municipality of Augst, for example, requires registration within 14 days of arrival, in person at the counter. The canton has been connected to eUmzugCH since 2020. You will find your municipality in the canton’s directory of municipalities.

Residence permit. Citizens of EU and EFTA states who work in Switzerland register within 14 days of arrival and before starting work, with their passport or identity card and their employment contract. For a contract of up to 364 days you receive the L short-stay permit (Kurzaufenthaltsbewilligung L); for one year or more, or an open-ended contract, the B residence permit (Aufenthaltsbewilligung B) for five years. In Basel-Stadt it arrives by post from the Migration Office after registration. For third-country nationals, the employer submits the application.

• German course: Anyone who is living in Basel-Stadt long term and receives a B permit is given a voucher for 80 German lessons at the welcome interview at the Residents’ Office, valid in the first twelve months.
• Dog: In Basel-Stadt, register it within 10 days of arrival with the dog registration service (Hundekontrolle) of the Cantonal Veterinary Office, online or at the counter.
• Post: The mail forwarding order (Nachsendeauftrag) is voluntary. It is best to place it four working days before the move.

Within three months: health insurance

Anyone moving to Switzerland must take out cover with a health insurer (Krankenkasse) within three months of taking up residence. If you register in time, cover begins retroactively on the day you took up residence. The premiums are then also owed retroactively. Anyone who misses the deadline is insured only from the date of joining and, if the delay is not excusable, pays a premium surcharge (Federal Office of Public Health, Bundesamt für Gesundheit). What the premiums cost is set out under Taxes and premiums.

Liability. Personal liability insurance (Privathaftpflichtversicherung) is not required by law. Landlords and property managers often require it in the tenancy agreement, however.

Within twelve months: driving licence and car

Driving licence. With your foreign driving licence (Führerausweis) you may drive for twelve months from entering the country. After that it is no longer valid in Switzerland. In Basel-Stadt you submit the application for exchange in person at the Motor Vehicle Office (Motorfahrzeugkontrolle), Clarastrasse 38, at least one month before the twelve months expire. The fees are CHF 65 for opening the application and CHF 75 for the licence. You do not need a test drive (Kontrollfahrt) if your licence comes from an EU or EFTA state or from, among others, the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia or Singapore.

Car. A vehicle that you bring with you as household effects (Übersiedlungsgut) is declared to customs on entry using form 18.44. Customs issues the inspection report (Prüfungsbericht) 13.20 A, which you need for registration. After one year at the latest you must apply for Swiss number plates, in Basel-Stadt at the Motor Vehicle Office.

What comes by itself and what costs money on an ongoing basis

Serafe is not something you have to order. The collection agency receives the household data from the residents’ services and sends the bill of its own accord. The U-Abo is the personal season ticket of the Northwestern Switzerland fare network (Tarifverbund Nordwestschweiz, TNW). The resident parking permit requires registered residence and a light motor car that is registered in your name and at your address. It is valid in the Blue Zone (Blaue Zone) in your own postcode area and in one adjoining zone.

Waste and electricity

Basel-Stadt. Household waste belongs in the Bebbi-Sagg, the bag that carries the disposal charge. It is collected twice a week. The days depend on the collection zone, which you can find with your address on the canton’s page. Put the bag out from 19:00 on the evening before or by 7:00 on collection day. Waste put out incorrectly costs a fine of CHF 50.

Basel-Landschaft. Each municipality regulates charges and collection itself. Binningen sells prepaid bags (Gebührensäcke), 35 litres for CHF 2.00 (valid from 1 January 2026). Allschwil works with stickers (Vignetten): a 35-litre bag needs one sticker, a 60-litre bag two.

Electricity. In the canton of Basel-Stadt, IWB is primarily responsible for the energy supply. In Basel-Landschaft the supplier depends on the municipality.

Taxes when you move here

Tax at source (Quellensteuer). Foreign employees resident in Switzerland who do not hold a C settlement permit (Niederlassungsbewilligung C) pay tax at source. It is deducted directly from their salary. Anyone who is married to a person with a C permit or a Swiss passport is exempt (Basel-Stadt Tax Administration, Steuerverwaltung).

Moving from another canton. You are liable to tax for the whole year in the canton in which you live on 31 December. How the two Basel cantons differ in their tax burden is set out under Taxes and premiums.

Children

School enrolment, Kindergarten and childcare are described on the page School and childcare, and the international schools under Choosing where to live by the school run.

In the three-country region (Dreiland): shopping and travelling across the border

Tax-free allowance (Wertfreigrenze). You may bring in goods for private use or as gifts up to a value of CHF 150 per person per day without paying Swiss VAT. This also applies to children. If your shopping is worth more, VAT is owed on the whole value. The allowance does not apply to online orders. With QuickZoll, the federal government’s free app, you declare goods and pay the duties directly.

German VAT. Swiss customs does not refund foreign VAT. In Germany, VAT is refunded only if the total value of the purchase including VAT exceeds 50 euros. The goods must be exported within three months after the month of purchase, and German customs must confirm the export. This cannot be done afterwards.

Across the border with the U-Abo. Tram 8 runs as far as Weil am Rhein, tram 3 as far as Saint-Louis station. The U-Abo is valid on both as far as the terminus. According to the fare network’s current fare information, it is also valid in zones 1, 2 and 3 of the Regio Verkehrsverbund Lörrach and on the Distribus network in the Saint-Louis agglomeration. It is not valid on SNCF trains on French territory.

EuroAirport. Basel-Mulhouse airport is on French territory, has a Swiss sector and is linked to the Swiss border by its own customs-free road. Bus 50 runs from Basel SBB station (Bahnhof SBB) to the airport.

Basel peculiarities

Public holidays. Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft have the same nine statutory public holidays: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, 1 May, Ascension Day (Auffahrt), Whit Monday, 1 August, Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day (Stephanstag, Boxing Day). Corpus Christi is not a public holiday in either canton.

Quiet hours in Basel-Stadt. The night-time quiet period lasts from 23:00 to 7:00. Noisy household and garden work is prohibited on working days from 12:00 to 13:00 and from 19:00. The law does not provide for a general midday quiet period covering everything.

Quiet hours in Basel-Landschaft. They are set out in the municipality’s police regulations (Polizeireglement) and they differ. In Binningen the night-time quiet period runs from 23:00 to 7:00. In Allschwil it begins at 22:00, and on Fridays and Saturdays at 23:00.

Fasnacht. The Basel Fasnacht (carnival) 2027 lasts from Monday, 15 February, to Wednesday, 17 February. It begins with the Morgestraich, the procession in the dark, at 4:00 in the morning on the dot. It has been on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage since 2017. It is not a statutory public holiday.

What we do

Madiba has been managing properties in the Basel region since 1964. Dieter Ruf, our managing director, knows the municipalities and will tell you in conversation what a location means for your everyday life. We do not advise on taxes, insurance or permits. That is what the offices linked here are for. The page Municipalities compared gives an overview of the places to live.

Sources: Canton of Basel-Stadt, moving to the canton · Press release on the temporary premises on Schwarzwaldallee, 24 September 2026 · BAG, compulsory insurance · Introductory Act to the Health Insurance Act BL (EG KVG), SGS 362 · Canton of Basel-Stadt, exchanging a driving licence · Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG), relocation and vehicles · Serafe AG · Canton of Basel-Stadt, waste collection · Canton of Basel-Stadt, parking permits · TNW, fare information · BAZG, brochure “Gut durch den Zoll” · Minor Offences Act BS (Übertretungsstrafgesetz), SG 253.100 · As at November 2026