The Swiss often came simultaneously with expatriates from Belgium and Germany during the first period of immigration in the 1840s, with many arriving as chartered settlers.

The majority of immigrants from this first wave originated from Geneva and settled primarily in Guatemala City, with some additional settlement in the surrounding highlands.

Switzerland and Guatemala have sustained a committed trade partnership that began during this time period.

[1] Guatemala drew a second wave of European immigrants to the city of Quetzaltenango, many of them Swiss, following the construction of the Ferrocarril de los Altos (Railway of the high lands) and the establishment of the coffee plantation system in the early 20th century.

[2] On July 24, 2014, the Swiss Ambassador to Guatemala, Jürg Benz, and the Swiss embassy in Guatemala, celebrated 123 years of diplomatic relations have as much as trade between the two countries, mentioned above the country opened its consul since 1891.