A deadline that will not wait
The resumption of the league season, the closing of the transfer window or an injury to cover set the
date. The file has to be planned backwards from that date, not filed and then endured.
Professional sports clubs
The signing is complete. Our job: having the player in the line-up on time.
Ice hockey, football and elite sport: we take on, turnkey, the administrative side for players and coaches from third countries. Work permit, residence permit, entry visa, compliance over time.
The administrative team sheet
- Work permit brought before the canton, then the SEM
- Residence permit for the player and for his family if he arrives accompanied
- Entry visa and foreign documents: translations, legalisations
- Ongoing compliance: extensions, transfers, departures
A single point of contact for the club, from the end of negotiations to the first official appearance.
The reality
The transfer window and the administrative calendar do not speak the same language
A transfer is concluded in days. A third-country admission is built in weeks. Our whole job is to make the second fit the rhythm of the first.
Two decisions, not one
The cantonal labour market authority rules first; its decision is then subject to the approval of the
SEM, as for all professional sportspeople. Two examinations, one file: it has to convince both.
Documents from far away
Contracts, sporting credentials, extracts and civil status documents arrive from abroad, in other languages and other formats. Having them translated and legalised takes time; we take that
time early.
The service
Turnkey, from the end of negotiations to the first official appearance
The club hands us the contract and the player; we deliver a signing whose papers are in order, family included, with a file that stays clean season after season.
Work permit
Preparation and filing of the permit application, sporting and salary case included, and
representation of the club before the canton, then the SEM.
Residence permit
The steps that follow the decision, up to the handover of the permit: the player shows up, everything
else is prepared.
Visa and entry
Entry visa where the nationality requires one, arrival date coordinated with the permit, and foreign
documents brought up to Swiss standards.
Ongoing compliance
End-of-season extensions, transfer to another canton, family reunification, end of contract and
departure: follow-up for as long as the player wears your colours.
Hockey
The season sets its own pace, the procedure keeps its own
A hockey signing from a third country follows precise machinery. Knowing it means being able to fit it into the sporting calendar.
The legal basis
Art. 23 para. 3 FNIA allows recognised figures from the world of sport to be admitted by way of derogation from the ordinary qualification requirements. In return, Art. 85 ASEO places the files of professional sportspeople among those the canton submits to the SEM for approval: two examinations, one file, which has to convince both authorities.
The sporting calendar
The season resuming, an injury to cover, an eligibility window: the target date is known and the reverse schedule is laid out backwards from it. Documents to translate or legalise, a visa where the nationality requires one, residence for the family when the player arrives accompanied: everything is prepared as soon as negotiations turn serious, not after the signature.
Football
The transfer window closes on a fixed date, the procedure does not
Two windows per season, often shorter than the time a third-country admission takes. On football transfers, our work therefore starts before yours: when the name starts circulating, not once the contract is signed.
The first question: the passport
Some players hold dual nationality, including that of an EU or EFTA state. Such a passport changes everything: the player comes under free movement, not the third-country regime, and the file is a different matter altogether. We check this point before any other step.
A signing from outside the EU and EFTA
Civil status documents to apostille or legalise, a visa requirement that depends on the passport, and consular round trips the reverse schedule has to absorb. Add football's own rhythm: an international call-up in the middle of the process can be managed, provided it was seen coming.
The winter transfer is the textbook case: a brief window, a squad to strengthen quickly, an administration that knows nothing of the transfer window. Clubs that instruct us in the autumn, as the shortlist takes shape, go into January with files already roughed out; the others discover that the procedure cannot be compressed. The international transfer certificate and the player's eligibility remain your federation's business: we align our deadlines with its own.
The division of roles
The league has its rules, the state has its own
Licences, sporting eligibility and limits on foreign players are matters for your federation and your league. We carry the other half of the file and align its calendar with yours.
What we carry
- The work permit and residence permit of the player or the coach
- The entry visa and the coordination of the arrival date
- Residence for the spouse and children, when the family comes along
- Extensions, changes of canton and contract endings
What remains with the club and its advisers
- The player's licence and eligibility with the league and the federation
- The negotiation of the contract: it belongs to the club and the agent
- The choice of the player: we do neither recruitment nor placement; our engagement begins once the signing has been chosen
The sequence
Five stages, planned backwards from the first targeted match
- 1
The club
The deal is agreed
The player is chosen, the terms of the contract are settled. That is the kick-off of the file, ideally before the final signature. - 2
The firm
Assessment and reverse schedule
We check the applicable requirements, list the documents to gather according to nationality and lay out the calendar backwards from the targeted line-up date. - 3
The club and the firm
The file takes shape
A contract in line with customary salary conditions, a documented sporting career, documents translated and legalised: the file goes out complete, it does not come back for further information. - 4
The authorities
Canton, then SEM
The cantonal labour market authority issues its decision, subject to the approval of the SEM for professional sportspeople. We track its progress and answer their questions. - 5
The player
Entry, residence permit, kick-off
Visa in hand, registration with the commune of residence, residence permit issued. The player focuses on the game.
Chronicles
Sport, from the case side
What transfers teach us about the procedure, told case by case. Hockey and football, in equal measure.
Ice hockey
Recruiting from across the Atlantic: the real timeline of a signing from a third country
Between the handshake and the first face-off, there is a file. What plays out week by week, and what can be prepared before the contract is even signed.
Read the chronicle
Ice hockey
Player subject to a visa: documents, entry and family, what changes in practice
The same legal regime for all third countries, but a different path of entry: legalisations, a visa and family reunification that needs preparing early.
Read the chronicle
Football
The transfer window and permits: why the file is won before the signature
The transfer window has a closing date, the permit procedure does not. How clubs that plan ahead turn this mismatch into an advantage.
Read the chronicle
The first step
A signing under discussion for next season?
The earlier the assessment starts, the more the reverse schedule can breathe. Send us the position and the profile, and you will know where you stand before signing.
The decision to grant a permit rests with the cantonal and federal authorities. We prepare the file and make its case, we do not guarantee its outcome.