Border-commuting employees and the companies that hire them face a brand-new procedure in Switzerland’s southern canton of Ticino from today. As of Monday, 3 August 2026, every application, renewal or amendment for G-(cross-border), B-(residence) and C-(settlement) permits must be filed exclusively through the canton’s eGovernment portal. The change, announced in mid-July but taking legal effect today, eliminates the last remnants of the so-called “hybrid” system introduced in 2017, in which applicants completed an online form only to print, sign and post the physical dossier to Bellinzona. The Population and Migration Section processes about 700 files per day, two-thirds of which concern Italian ‘frontalieri’ who live in Lombardy or Piedmont but work in Ticino. Officials say full digitalisation will reduce average processing times by 30 percent because clerks no longer need to scan paper documents back into the workflow. Each step—submission, cantonal review, labour-market test and federal approval—will now be time-stamped and visible to employers, providing a level of traceability that multinationals have long requested. HR departments must adapt quickly. Power of attorney forms and copies of employment contracts, for example, must now be uploaded as PDFs under 10 MB, and only qualified electronic signatures are accepted. Large manufacturers in Mendrisio and banks in Lugano have already set up internal ‘permit desks’ to coach managers on the new templates. SMEs that handle only a handful of permits a year can delegate the task to accredited fiduciaries, but late adopters risk rejected applications and costly delays for new hires. For the roughly 78,000 cross-border workers who enter Ticino daily—many of whom used to queue at municipal counters in Chiasso or Locarno—the shift means fewer in-person trips and faster renewals. Giovanni Bianchi, an Italian software engineer employed by a Swiss fintech start-up, welcomed the move: “Last year I lost an entire morning just to hand in my papers; now I can do it during my lunch break on my phone.” Trade-union representatives cautiously endorse the reform but warn that digital exclusion could become an issue for older workers without reliable internet access. Ticino is the first Swiss canton to make work-permit e-filing compulsory, but neighbouring Graubünden and Valais are watching closely and may follow in 2027. At the federal level, SEM says the canton’s experience will feed into nationwide plans for a single digital immigration front-end, part of Switzerland’s broader ‘Digital Administration 2030’ strategy.
Source: FrontaliereTicino
