14 / 03 / 2025
9 Minute Read

Independent escorts in Switzerland: Status in jeopardy?

 

From March 17, 2025, a major change is about to take place throughout Switzerland for independent escorts who come to work in the country for a period of 90 days a year. Without giving those concerned much advance notice of the changes to come, the Swiss government is imposing new rules out of the blue, effective from March 17, 2025, which will have a major impact on hundreds of Swiss industries that, until now, have benefited from an easy way to register their employees or people working in their organization on a freelance basis. 

From now on, nothing will be the same, as the registration procedure is not only much more bureaucratic than before, but also requires those who come to work in Switzerland as self-employed persons to provide proof of their activity, as well as registration in their country of origin (or where they permanently live). For many self-employed professions (including sex workers), anyone wishing to work in Switzerland legally will no longer be able to do so unless their country of residence is aware of their activity. In the sex industry, it is mainly independent escorts in Switzerland who will be affected by these changes.

 

How were independent escorts registered before March 17, 2025?

Until March 17, 2025, independent escorts (or girls working in studios and erotic clubs but registered as independent and not as employees) could register simply and quickly on the following platform: https://meweb.admin.ch/meldeverfahren/ . They filled in basic information (surname, first name, date of birth, nationality, address, email address, place and time of work in Switzerland) and registration was confirmed by email within 24 hours. In some cantons, independent escorts were required to register at least 8 days in advance (e.g. Zug, Schwyz), while in others it was sufficient to register online one day before starting work (e.g. Zurich). The procedure was quick and simple, for anyone holding an EU passport and wishing to work in Switzerland for up to 90 days a year (without needing a work permit).

 

Agreement on the free movement of persons between the EU and Switzerland

Since June 1, 2002, the agreement on the free movement of persons between the European Union (EU) and Switzerland has been in force. This agreement is part of a group of seven bilateral agreements, and has brought a number of benefits, including the ability to work without authorization. Since June 1, 2004, self-employed service providers and seconded workers from EU and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries have been able to work in Switzerland for 90 working days per calendar year without requiring a residence permit. They are only required to make a declaration. However, for activities exceeding 90 working days, a work permit is required.

 

Rules on the obligation to register since March 17, 2025

As of March 17, 2025 (www.easygov.swiss), employers and/or self-employed persons must register with the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) via their new effective website, no later than 8 days before the start of their gainful activities in Switzerland. Independent escorts are therefore no longer exempt from this rule, regardless of the Canton in which they choose to work.

What's more, independent escorts who declare themselves to be self-employed in Switzerland must be able to prove this to the relevant supervisory authorities on request. They must therefore be able to provide certain documents justifying their self-employed status when providing services in Switzerland, such as:

 

✅  Social insurance registration as self-employed (this form is issued by the health insurance funds in their country of residence).

✅  Proof that they are registered in their country of residence as self-employed (full-time or part-time).

✅  A contract (mandate, contract of enterprise) with a client/company in Switzerland

 

More frequent checks

In recent months, the vice police have increased the number of checks on sex workers. It is safe to assume that after March 17, 2025, these checks will become even more frequent.

Cantonal tripartite commissions and parity commissions receive copies of declarations and can carry out on-site inspections. During inspections, independent foreign service providers (such as independent escorts) must be able to show the following documents on site, at the request of the inspection authorities:

 

* A copy of the confirmation of declaration or a copy of the authorization issued

* A certificate proving affiliation to a social insurance scheme in their country of residence (before issuing this certificate, the social insurance scheme will first obtain confirmation that the person is officially registered in their country as a self-employed worker, in the same activity declared to the social insurance scheme).

* A copy of the contract with the customer/company (if no written contract exists, a written attestation from the customer concerning the contract or the planned provision of services in Switzerland).

During a control, the police will certainly expect that all these conditions are met, in which case a severe fine will be issued against the sex worker, which may be followed by other restrictive measures. 

 

Why have the Swiss government made such changes?

While the old announcement system worked well (despite its flaws), the Swiss authorities have decided to update it to make it more efficient and better harmonized on a national scale. Although the reason for this choice has not been officially communicated, it is not difficult to guess what these reasons may be, which are multiple. Here are five of the most plausible:

 

1) The need to have better control over who is actually present on the territory for 90 days and to make the system more robust to fraud (indeed, in the system prior to March 17, 2025, it was easy for independent escorts to register several times, via different accounts, in different cantons and exceed the 90 days authorized for working in Switzerland, without reprisals).

2) The desire to provide a response to unpaid medical bills in Switzerland by EU citizens who come to work in Switzerland, and who are then difficult to trace once they have left the country without having paid their bills.

3) The need (certainly at the initiative of the European Union) to share with EU member countries the days worked by people coming to Switzerland on a temporary basis. The aim is to enable their country of residence to calculate the taxes due to them, which are often not declared by these people. It's also conceivable that people who receive welfare benefits in their country of origin and come to work in Switzerland without declaring it, could be quickly tracked down by the authorities in their country of residence...

4) Switzerland's initiative to reduce the number of workers coming to Switzerland to register as self-employed (dissuasive strategy), by making the administrative process more complex and far more financially penalizing, should the people in question decide not to comply with the new regulations.

5) Oblige Swiss companies (who will no longer be able to systematically register the people who work for them as “independent workers”) to register these people as employees and pay the income at source (in general, the equivalent of 25 CHF per day for people working for 90 days). In fact, a very large number of people, including independent escorts, come to Switzerland, work here and pay no taxes either in the Swiss Confederation or in their country of residence, where they do not declare this income either... This is also the case in many other professions, particularly in gastronomy or the construction industry.

 

What are the future implications for independent escorts in Switzerland?

The implementation of this new platform means three essential things for independent escorts:

 

1) They will now have to register themselves, which can no longer be done by a third party.

2) They will have to plan ahead, as they will have to register at least 8 days before starting work in Switzerland (regardless of the canton in which they operate).

3) It will now be difficult for them to conceal from their country of residence their gainful activity in Switzerland (which will have to be declared via their social insurance fund).

 

Clearly, these changes will have a significant impact on the number of independent escorts who choose to work in Switzerland. Because it will no longer be possible for them to come to Switzerland spontaneously and anonymously, it is likely that their numbers will drop significantly. At the same time, the businesses that are connected to the work of independent escorts (such as the people who rent them apartments to enable them to carry out their sex work) will also be impacted and will suffer in the coming months from the drop in the number of girls willing to work as independent escorts in Switzerland.

A limited number of girls will choose to comply with this new regulation, which implicitly also means that they will have to keep accounts and declare (in full or in part), in one way or another, their income earned in Switzerland. Others will decide to ignore it (because they're overwhelmed by the bureaucracy involved or lack the will to comply with the rules) and fall into illegality (which, in the event of a police control, will cost them dearly and have consequences for their ability to work in Switzerland within the 90-day period). Others will want to obtain a Swiss work permit (G, L or B), which will enable them to work in the country as much as they like, but at a high cost (as it is linked to expenses they don't have when they only work for 90 days). Finally, many girls will choose to turn to studios and erotic clubs, which are registered as companies in Switzerland and are responsible for the registration procedure (a much more flexible process than for self-employed workers), thus removing all responsibility from the escorts. Indeed, in this case, the conditions applying to the status of independent escort disappear, an option that some girls who wish to maintain anonymity and discretion around their escort activity in Switzerland will favor. In exchange, erotic clubs and studios will certainly levy a withholding tax equivalent to around CHF 25 per working day, as is already the case in some cantons (St. Gallen and Aargau, for example, while in others no withholding tax has yet been levied), which the employer will then be required to pay to the relevant authorities.

As for new girls who have never worked as an escort in Switzerland and don't feel they have the shoulders to bear the expenses associated with independent escort status, they'd much rather work in an erotic studio than put themselves at risk (both financially and administratively) and reject the independent escort status.

 

What are the implications for the escort market in Switzerland?

It goes without saying that these new regulations will gradually reduce the number of independent escorts in Switzerland working in hotels and private apartments. On the other hand, the number of sex workers is unlikely to fall. There will simply be a shift (whether voluntary or not) of independent escorts to erotic establishments, where they won't have to worry about registration, and will feel much less pressure to declare their activity in their country of residence.

Unless they are in possession of a Swiss work permit, the new registration provisions apply to all independent escorts in possession of an EU passport. The registration portal is the following: www.easygov.swiss.  

 

Janet - The Velvet Rooms

 

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