Lex Koller test in Geneva: is a permit required to buy
Choose your status and the type of property: the test shows the applicable regime and what it means.
Your situation
With a valid residence permit (B permit), buying the main residence you occupy yourself and do not sublet falls outside the permit requirement.
Indicative, based on the general regime in Geneva. Cantonal exceptions and conditions apply; only the competent authority decides.
What the Lex Koller targets
The federal act on the acquisition of real estate by persons abroad requires authorization to buy housing for buyers who are neither Swiss, nor holders of a C permit, nor EU or EFTA nationals resident in Switzerland. Commercial premises, on the other hand, escape the regime regardless of the buyer.
The primary residence occupied by the buyer themselves receives separate treatment: it is acquired without authorization by a person resident in Switzerland holding a valid residence permit, for as long as they live in it. The secondary residence and the income-producing building, by contrast, remain at the heart of the scheme.
The limits of the test
The result is indicative. It applies Geneva's default regime to two variables — the buyer's status and the nature of the property — where the law also takes into account: the cantonal quota, the surface area, the actual use, the ownership structure. Only the competent authority rules on a case.
The authorization procedure, the exceptions and the regime applicable to companies are covered in the guide to Lex Koller in Geneva.