Hello,

So, as you might know... Finding rentals in Zürich is no walk in the park. I found a few companies that offer furnished apartments and they said I could use the invoice for a 2-month stay as proof of residential address to register at the local city office. So that's looking like a way to get myself registered, but I have found several AirBnbs that are better value... Does anyone know if i can use the invoice from AirBnb as proof of address? I was thinking of a 60-night stay. I have read several posts here of people saying that they even registered with hotel addresses?!

If you have hands on experience or know a thing or two about the issue please let me know!

It can be possible, but check with the Zurich cantonal migration office to be sure as not all cantons will accept AirBnB. No point in taking out a contract if it's not going to be accepted.

They didn't accept my AirBnb invoice in Altstetten, looked at me like I was an idiot.

AirBnb host made an official looking contract with a stamp, then all was good.

I have the same issue, but APPARENTLY you can, since they need an address and its not always possible to just get there and rent a flat or a house...

I had a good work contract from my company in Zurich, and I registered as living in a hotel for 10 weeks, in Canton Fribourg.

The company had paid a bond to cover any taxes I might avoid paying in Fribourg.

I don't see why AirBnB should be looked upon badly, you are renting as normal.

When I first moved to CH, I registered using a hotel address where I stayed for 3 months while looking for the right apartment, no problems at all in doing so.

When we first moved to Switzerland, we registered at Opfikon with a two week hotel booking, but they did phone the hotel to ask if they would accept post for us.

Right, so it might depend on the canton then... Or even the city office.

Migrationsamt told me that was done with the Kreisburo where I would register. Seeming like a better idea to just go with the housing company, at least there I know what I am dealing with...

in Lausanne they did accept me with an airbnb, but i also had a letter from the owner of the airbnb place confirming that i was living there.

Most AirBnB hosts seem to not want any hassle... Or maybe I'm just contacting the wrong ones.

It might also have to do with the legality of the whole airbnb rental experience as well, do they pay taxes on all this, are they actually allowed to rent without some sort of authorization, etc.

The good news is that in Zurich there are several options for 1-3 month stay with a variety of budgets. I'll leave the ones I've checked out as they might be useful to someone else

- Swiss Star
- Vision Apartments
- Prime Stay
- PABS
- City Appartments
- Glandon

I just arrived Zürich last week and I am staying in an AirBnb this month. Last week I got myself successfully registered in a district office. The host was so nice that she drove me to the office. I actually forgot to print the AirBnb invoice when I got there, but the host somehow explained to the officer (in Swiss German and I was like ) and signed some paper. So I guess it's important to find a nice host on AirBnb. Before booking, it would be a good idea to send the host a message asking about this kind of things.

@Evolvedlight, I'm currently looking for an AirBnB in Altstetten, would you recommend the one you stayed at? If so, which one was it?

It was https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3209659

Zug Kanton currently rejects Airbnb invoices as evidence of accommodation, asks for letter from owner confirming you have right to stay.

Hi Evolvedlight, your link doesn't seem to be active anymore. Can you remember the name of the property?

Reviving this thread with a related question:

I plan to move over to Zurich with my family later this year. One idea for finding a permanent apartment was to find an airbnb or some sort of short-term apartment rental. I assume that once I start living in the short-term place I can get all documents and go to the local authorities to register and start the process for a residence permit. If I understand correctly this could take 2-3 weeks to become ready but it's also a necessary document to have decent chances when looking for a permanent apartment. Basically I get the impression that applying for an apartment without a residence/work permit does not give you high chances.

So, if all above is correct, does this mean that the first 2-3 weeks of the short-term lease cannot be used for any serious searching of permanent apartments?

Depends on the Kanton and the term of the rental agreement.

You can rent without yet having your permit, but if a short term AirBnB is accepted in order to get a permit I doubt.

We applied for our permits with just a hotel booking. On the advice of the Gemeinde guy we completed the application forms with, we called the hotel and asked if they would also hold any post for us for a while after we had found an apartment, just enough time to cover any crossover in change of address. They agreed, and everything went ahead.

We'd been in our apartment for 4 weeks before my permit arrived, and about a further 6 weeks before my OH's permit arrived, even though he was the one with the work contract. The delay for im might also have been a matter fo quotas, seeing as he applied on 9 Nov and received his permit in mid Jan.

As for applying for apartments, we submitted copies of our permit applications and my OH's work contract.

When you have your name in post box you are save.
you can use whatever accomodation as long as you can provide proof that you live there (contract, or statement from the property owner).
If you dont have post box, go to post office and pay some fee, they will collect all letter under your name and you can pick it up there with id.

Thanks for the info. So, is it correct to assume that applying for permanent apartments can be done using the permit application papers, not necessarily the permit itself and the landlords would consider that enough and won't put in lower in the list of applicants?