The exis­ting re­gu­la­ti­ons of the Lex Kol­ler and the for­mal pro­ce­du­res re­main in force for non-​residents. Non-​residents are con­side­red to be for­eign na­tio­nals re­si­dent ab­road and for­eign na­tio­nals re­si­dent in Swit­zer­land who are neither ci­ti­zens of an EU or EFTA Mem­ber State nor hold a valid re­si­dence per­mit (Alien's Iden­ti­ty Card Type C).
 
a) Main re­si­dence   
In the case of a main re­si­dence (pro­per­ty for own re­si­den­ti­al use), acqui­si­ti­on of land by non-​resident for­eign na­tio­nals with a re­si­dence per­mit (e.g. Alien's Iden­ti­ty Card Type B) need only be sub­mit­ted to the De­part­ment of Eco­no­mic Af­fairs if the par­cel of land ex­ceeds an area of 3,000 m2 (li­ving area ir­rele­vant). In this case no per­mit is re­qui­red to purcha­se, but so­le­ly a de­cree ascer­tai­ning that no per­mit is re­qui­red. Acqui­si­ti­on of land par­cels lar­ger than 3,000 m2 is per­mit­ted if the na­tu­re of the land par­cel makes its di­vi­si­on un­re­a­sona­ble or the need for a grea­ter area (e.g. for re­pre­sen­ta­tio­nal pur­po­ses or the in­stal­la­ti­on of se­cu­ri­ty sys­tems) ap­pears to be ju­sti­fied. In the case of acqui­si­ti­on of land by in­di­vi­du­al non-​residents, the per­son dra­wing up the title deeds must thus es­tab­lish which type of Alien's Iden­ti­ty Card is held by the purcha­ser and whe­ther he/she will use the land for his/her own re­si­den­ti­al pur­po­ses. In the case of buil­ding land, a cor­re­spon­ding de­cla­ra­ti­on in the deeds must prove that the land will be built on for re­si­den­ti­al pur­po­ses within a re­a­sona­ble pe­ri­od of time (ma­xi­mum two years).
 
b) Com­mer­cial pre­mi­ses   
Acqui­si­ti­on of land for com­mer­cial pur­po­ses (in­clu­ding land re­ser­ves) does not re­qui­re a per­mit. Title deeds for an acqui­si­ti­on of this kind must in­clu­de a clau­se sta­ting that the par­cel of land and any areas held in re­ser­ve are for com­mer­cial pur­po­ses. Le­gis­la­ti­on ex­tends to al­lo­wing com­mer­cial pre­mi­ses not being used by the purcha­ser, but ren­ted or lea­sed to third par­ties, to be acqui­red wit­hout legal au­tho­riza­ti­on. For un­de­ve­lo­ped land or parts the­reof (buil­ding land), a cor­re­spon­ding de­cla­ra­ti­on in the deeds must prove that the land will be built on for com­mer­cial pur­po­ses within a re­a­sona­ble pe­ri­od of time (ma­xi­mum three years). Land acqui­red for com­mer­cial pur­po­ses may also in­clu­de a cer­tain al­lo­ca­ti­on for re­si­den­ti­al pur­po­ses. Amounts of land of­fi­ci­al­ly al­lo­ca­ted for re­si­den­ti­al pur­po­ses within trade and in­dus­tri­al zones or mixed zones with a pre­do­mi­nan­ce of com­mer­cial use may be acqui­red toge­ther with the land for com­mer­cial pur­po­ses. In zones for which no re­si­den­ti­al use is sti­pu­la­ted, the re­si­den­ti­al por­ti­on may as a rule not ex­ceed 5% of the usable area. In ex­cep­tio­nal cases the au­tho­ri­ties may de­cla­re lar­ger por­ti­ons for re­si­den­ti­al pur­po­ses free from re­qui­ring a per­mit.
 
c) In­vest­ment in real es­ta­te com­pa­nies   
Non-​residents may make any amount of in­vest­ment in real es­ta­te com­pa­nies, pro­vi­ding that the com­pa­ny as­sets are ex­clu­si­ve­ly or pre­do­mi­nant­ly con­cer­ned with land for com­mer­cial pur­po­ses (gui­de­li­ne 66% of as­sets). The De­part­ment of Eco­no­mic Af­fairs will be plea­sed to pro­vi­de in­for­ma­ti­on in case of un­cer­tain­ty.
 
d) Pro­ce­du­re for es­tab­li­shing non-​requirement of a per­mit   
The pro­ce­du­re is kept to a mi­ni­mum. For purcha­se of re­si­den­ti­al pro­per­ty by legal en­ti­ties or busi­ness part­nerships, title deeds must in­clu­de a de­cla­ra­ti­on that the purcha­ser in­vol­ved is a real es­ta­te com­pa­ny in the true sense (i.e. a com­pa­ny whose sole or main pur­po­se is to purcha­se, ma­na­ge or act as agents for pro­per­ty). The pro­ce­du­re will con­ti­nue as be­fo­re. Com­pa­nies which have al­rea­dy un­der­go­ne re­view will be free of fur­ther re­view for a pe­ri­od of up to nine years in re­spect of purcha­se of more re­si­den­ti­al pro­per­ty, pro­vi­ding that no major chan­ges in com­pa­ny struc­tu­re have taken place. The en­clo­sed yel­low form must be com­ple­ted and sub­mit­ted to the Land Re­gis­try Of­fice toge­ther with the title deeds in all cases of acqui­si­ti­on of re­si­den­ti­al pro­per­ty by legal en­ti­ties or busi­ness part­nerships.
 
e) Per­mits for for­eign in­su­rers, pen­si­on funds and banks   
Foreign-​controlled banks and in­su­rance com­pa­nies li­cen­sed to do busi­ness in Swit­zer­land re­qui­re per­mits for the acqui­si­ti­on of real es­ta­te as a ca­pi­tal in­vest­ment by in­su­rance in­sti­tu­ti­ons, for do­me­stic com­pa­ny pen­si­on funds, as well as to cover se­cu­red claims (Lex Kol­ler Art. 8, par. 1 sub­par. b, c and d).