I don't think "extremely restrictive" is the right word. If you're an EU citizen you have the right to live there no questions asked. If you're not EU, you ca

I don't think "extremely restrictive" is the right word. If you're an EU citizen you have the right to live there no questions asked. If you're not EU, you can live there to pursue gainful employment so long as your employer can show that you have skills they can't obtain from within Switzerland or the EU. If you can get a job, you'll be given either an L permit, which is "temporary" but can be exchanged for a B permit after 2 years, which can then be renewed indefinitely. After 5 years, if you can demonstrate integration (criteria vary by canton), you can get a C permit, which is permanent (essentially a green card). As a skilled worker, I actually found Switzerland to be substantially more friendly than the US, though a lot of the hard work was handled by my employer.