On 28 November 2014, the Swiss parliament announced it would reduce quotas for citizens of non EU-/EFTA-countries. The number of residence permits ("B-permits") was reduced form 3'500 to 2'500, whereas the amount of short stay permits ("L-permits") was lowered from 5'000 to 4'000.
Furthermore, the number of permits for service providers from EU-/EFTA-countries with a period of use extending over more than 90/120 days was reduced as well. For 2015, only up to 2'000 short stay permits (down from 3'000) and 250 residence permits (previously 500) will be issued.
The decision came into force on 1 January 2015.
The list of affected trading partners is based on the Confederation's migration statistics for 2013 (no data available yet for 2014). Countries with at least 10'000 nationals residing in Switzerland were included.