The United Kingdom and Switzerland announced on 28 October 2025 that they have prolonged the Services Mobility Agreement (SMA) for another four years, ensuring continuity until 31 December 2029 while the two countries negotiate a broader free-trade accord.
First signed in 2020 to avert a post-Brexit mobility cliff-edge, the SMA allows UK-based professionals to deliver services in Switzerland visa-free for up to 90 days in any calendar year, waiving economic-interest tests and work-permit requirements. Swiss service suppliers enjoy a reciprocal route into the UK via the Swiss Service Supplier visa for periods of up to 12 months.
The extension provides much-needed certainty for Swiss banks, consultancies and engineering firms that send staff to the City of London, and for UK IT and legal partners supporting projects in Zurich and Geneva. According to the Swiss Business Federation economiesuisse, more than 6,000 short-term assignments used the SMA in 2024, saving employers weeks of permit processing.
The accord dovetails with Switzerland’s quota-based work-permit regime: stays beyond 90 days still require a B- or L-permit, but the SMA window lets companies handle project work and troubleshooting without consuming scarce quotas. HR teams should update policy handbooks to reflect the new end-date and remind travelling staff that the 90-day counter is per calendar year, not per trip.
Officials in Bern and London said the extension signals “business-as-usual” despite tougher global migration politics and is a template for future digital-services chapters in the upcoming UK-Switzerland free-trade negotiations.
First signed in 2020 to avert a post-Brexit mobility cliff-edge, the SMA allows UK-based professionals to deliver services in Switzerland visa-free for up to 90 days in any calendar year, waiving economic-interest tests and work-permit requirements. Swiss service suppliers enjoy a reciprocal route into the UK via the Swiss Service Supplier visa for periods of up to 12 months.
The extension provides much-needed certainty for Swiss banks, consultancies and engineering firms that send staff to the City of London, and for UK IT and legal partners supporting projects in Zurich and Geneva. According to the Swiss Business Federation economiesuisse, more than 6,000 short-term assignments used the SMA in 2024, saving employers weeks of permit processing.
The accord dovetails with Switzerland’s quota-based work-permit regime: stays beyond 90 days still require a B- or L-permit, but the SMA window lets companies handle project work and troubleshooting without consuming scarce quotas. HR teams should update policy handbooks to reflect the new end-date and remind travelling staff that the 90-day counter is per calendar year, not per trip.
Officials in Bern and London said the extension signals “business-as-usual” despite tougher global migration politics and is a template for future digital-services chapters in the upcoming UK-Switzerland free-trade negotiations.
