The typical immigrant to Switzerland is young, well-educated and from a neighbouring country, according to a new study. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox A research team from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Geneva wanted to draw a comprehensive portrait of international migration from 1966 to the present day with this study. + The changing face of Swiss immigration The researchers analysed data sets containing millions of entries from censuses, population registers and Switzerland's central migration information system. The study was published in the journal International Migration. + Meet the foreigners living in Switzerland The public perception of immigrants is characterised by the image of the 1990s, when numerous, predominantly Muslim asylum seekers came to Switzerland from the Balkans - with the intention of staying permanently. This image no longer corresponds to reality today. "Most immigrants come ...