On June 14th 2026, the Swiss population is required to vote on the latest UDC right party initiative: “No Switzerland with 10 million inhabitants”, aiming to limit immigration levels.
This initiative is the continuation of the 2014 motion to limit mass immigration, which was accepted by the Swiss population and resulted in modifications to the Federal Act on foreign nationals and integration. The direct impact of the UDC party initiative resulted in the tightening of conditions for non-EU citizens applying for work permits with the priority rule for local and EU candidates rule and the requirements to speak the language spoken at the place of domicile for all dependents coming under family reunification.
Naturalisation conditions were also revised with stronger requirements concerning the degree of integration of the applicant.
In 2019, the law regulating immigration became the federal act on foreign nationals and integration (FNIA), where cantonal authorities were required to play a stronger role in ruling on C permit and naturalisation applications as well as work permit processes.
The UDC party is requesting that the Swiss population draw a line this year once the threshold of 9.5 million residents is reached, arguing that traffic, housing opportunities, rising health costs and increasing competition for job positions are creating increasingly chaotic life conditions. They argue that too many people are settling in Switzerland under asylum rights and family reunification, impacting the quality of life of current residents.
However, asylum seekers represent a relatively minor percentage of new residents as Switzerland primarily grants the F permit, which is a temporary status reviewed every year by the SEM in Bern and does not grant long-term residency rights to the person. F permit holders usually have to leave Switzerland once their country of origin is considered as safe again to return.
Preventing members of a Swiss resident’s family from receiving a B permit under family reunification would actually go against constitutional rights and international law, violating the rights granted to any Swiss resident to benefit from the protection of their family life. The motion could be difficult to implement in practice.
The impact of the initiative on the FNIA could result in integration requirements becoming even more strict, or in the reduction of the annual quota of work permits granted to skilled non-EU migrants or directly impact naturalisation conditions knowing that today a minimum of 10 years of residency and a C permit are mandatory to submit an application. Swiss citizenship is already known to be one of the most difficult to obtain.
The Federal Council recommends voting against the initiative.
It is not exactly known how the initiative could impact future work and residency permit applications in Switzerland but the effect of the first initiative “Against a mass immigration in Switzerland” affected quite strongly immigration law and cantonal proceedings, significantly impacting the lives of many residents and their families as well as the Swiss labour market requiring international experts.
05/05/26 – Alexa Mossaz, immigration specialist
