Who needs a visa for Switzerland?
Western Europe · Bern
Photo: Christian David / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Of 198 nationalities, 93 enter Switzerland with no paperwork at all. The rest: 105 must be approved before they travel.
- Visa free 93
- Visa required 105
- Government fee
- €90
- Typical decision
- 15 days
- Stay permitted
- Up to 90 days in any 180-day period, across the whole Schengen area
This is the government's own portal. We are not paid to send you there.
Checked 19 September 2026 — read the fees and rules on home-affairs.ec.europa.eu
What Switzerland asks for
- Passport valid for at least three months beyond your intended departure, issued within the last 10 years, with two blank pages
- Completed and signed Schengen visa application form
- One recent photograph to the published specification
- Medical insurance covering emergency medical care, hospitalisation and repatriation
- Evidence of where you will stay for the whole trip
- Return or onward ticket, or evidence of your travel plans
- Proof of funds for the length of the stay
- Evidence of your employment, studies or business
Worth knowing
- One Schengen visa covers all 29 member states. You do not need, and cannot buy, a separate visa for each country.
- Medical insurance is a legal condition of the visa, not an optional extra. It must cover emergency care, hospitalisation and repatriation.
- Consulates charge the same €90 wherever you apply. Where a consulate uses an external centre such as VFS or TLS, that centre's service charge is separate and is not the visa fee.
- Ireland is not in the Schengen area, and neither is the United Kingdom. A Schengen visa does not cover either.
Photo requirements
Schengen visa photos follow the common EU rule: 35–40 mm wide (no height stated), face takes up 70–80% of the photo. home-affairs.ec.europa.eu · read Schengen photo rules
Resize a photo in your browser. It is never uploaded.
How long your passport must be valid for Switzerland: see passport validity by country.
What do you need?
Who needs what
No nationality matches that.
Visa free 93
Nothing to apply for and nothing to pay before you travel.
- Albania 90d
- Andorra 90d
- Antigua and Barbuda 90d
- Argentina 90d
- Australia 90d
- Austria
- Bahamas 90d
- Barbados 90d
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina 90d
- Brazil 90d
- Brunei 90d
- Bulgaria
- Canada 90d
- Chile 90d
- Colombia 90d
- Costa Rica 90d
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Dominica 90d
- El Salvador 90d
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia 90d
- Germany
- Greece
- Grenada 90d
- Guatemala 90d
- Honduras 90d
- Hong Kong 90d
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israel 90d
- Italy
- Japan 90d
- Kiribati 90d
- Kosovo 90d
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macao 90d
- Malaysia 90d
- Malta
- Marshall Islands 90d
- Mauritius 90d
- Mexico 90d
- Micronesia 90d
- Moldova 90d
- Monaco 90d
- Montenegro 90d
- Netherlands
- New Zealand 90d
- Nicaragua 90d
- North Macedonia 90d
- Norway
- Palau 90d
- Panama 90d
- Paraguay 90d
- Peru 90d
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Saint Kitts and Nevis 90d
- Saint Lucia 90d
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 90d
- Samoa 90d
- San Marino 90d
- Serbia 90d
- Seychelles 90d
- Singapore 90d
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands 90d
- South Korea 90d
- Spain
- Sweden
- Taiwan 90d
- Timor-Leste 90d
- Tonga 90d
- Trinidad and Tobago 90d
- Tuvalu 90d
- Ukraine 90d
- United Arab Emirates 90d
- United Kingdom 90d
- United States 90d
- Uruguay 90d
- Vatican City 90d
- Venezuela 90d
Visa required 105
You must apply and be approved before you travel. Airlines will refuse to board you without it.
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Angola
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Comoros
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Cuba
- Djibouti
- Dominican Republic
- DR Congo
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Maldives
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Republic of the Congo
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Syria
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Türkiye
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Guides for Switzerland
About Switzerland
- Region
- Western Europe
- Capital
- Bern
- Population
- 9,092,436 2025 · 98th of 197
- Size
- 41,284 km² 132nd largest of 199
- Density
- 220 per km²
- Languages
- French, Swiss German, Italian, Romansh
- Currency
- Swiss franc CHF
- Borders
- Austria France Germany Italy Liechtenstein
Capital, area, languages and currency from the open country dataset, pulled 21 September 2026. Population from the World Bank, series updated 13 July 2026. Density is calculated from the two figures above.