Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation

¹Switzer­land shall con­trol the im­mig­ra­tion of for­eign na­tion­als autonom­ously.

²The num­ber of res­id­ence per­mits for for­eign na­tion­als in Switzer­land shall be re­stric­ted by an­nu­al quant­it­at­ive lim­its and quotas. The quant­it­at­ive lim­its ap­ply to all per­mits is­sued un­der le­gis­la­tion on for­eign na­tion­als, in­clud­ing those re­lated to asylum mat­ters. The right to per­man­ent res­id­ence, fam­ily re­uni­fic­a­tion and so­cial be­ne­fits may be re­stric­ted.

³The an­nu­al quant­it­at­ive lim­its and quotas for for­eign na­tion­als in gain­ful em­ploy­ment must be de­term­ined ac­cord­ing to Switzer­land's gen­er­al eco­nom­ic in­terests, while giv­ing pri­or­ity to Swiss cit­izens; the lim­its and quotas must in­clude cross-bor­der com­muters. The de­cis­ive cri­ter­ia for grant­ing res­id­ence per­mits are primar­ily a ap­plic­a­tion from an em­ploy­er, abil­ity to in­teg­rate, and ad­equate, in­de­pend­ent means of sub­sist­ence.

⁴No in­ter­na­tion­al agree­ments may be con­cluded that breach this Art­icle.

⁵The law shall reg­u­late the de­tails.