Visa to Switzerland

To travel to Switzerland, Russian citizens need to obtain a visa. A visa can be issued single, double or multiple entry, depending on the decision of the Consulate of Switzerland. At the moment most Schengen countries issue single entry visas to Russian citizens for the duration of the trip or for a period of up to 2-3 months, and only a small percentage of applicants receive multiple entry visas with a permitted stay in the Schengen area of ​​up to 90 days. According to our practice, the Swiss Consulate can issue either a single-entry visa for the dates of the trip or a multiple-entry visa for up to 1 year.

To apply for a visa to Switzerland, you need to decide on the purpose of your trip. Most often, Russian citizens travel to Switzerland for business or tourism purposes.

If your trip involves business purposes, such as visiting a Swiss company, you must contact the inviting organization to receive an invitation, a copy of which will be sufficient for you to apply for a visa. Based on the above invitation, you may be issued a short term visa to Switzerland.

If you are planning a tourist trip and the purpose of your visit to Switzerland is tourism, you will need to apply for a tourist visa. You will need to book a hotel and buy airline tickets. The procedure for obtaining a tourist visa will be described below.

Submission of documents is by appointment only, appointments are currently made approximately 3-4 weeks in advance. If fingerprints have not been submitted during the last 59 months (about 5 years) when submitting documents for Schengen visas, then submission of documents is possible only by the applicant personally. If fingerprints have been submitted, submission and receipt of a visa is possible without the personal presence of the applicant, by power of attorney. According to practice, the Consulate may call the applicant again to submit biometrics.

The Swiss Visa Application Centre is located at: 115114, Moscow, Letnikovskaya st., 2, bld. 1.

Visa application processing time, Consular and visa fees:

Below you can find a list of documents required to obtain a visa to Switzerland for Russian citizens.

In case of applying for a business visa:

1. A completed application form with the applicant's signature.
2. Printed sign-up sheet for submitting documents.
3. Original or copy of an invitation from the inviting party in Switzerland. The invitation must be on company letterhead with the company seal/stamp (if any) and the signature of an authorized person listed in the Swiss commercial register "Handelsregister" (clause 4 of the list of documents).
4. A copy of the extract from the commercial register (Swiss commercial register (“Handelsregister”)) of the company in Switzerland (only the title page and the page with the name(s) who sign an invitation are acceptable). The document must not be older than 6 months by the time of submission.
5. 2 color photos (35 x 45 matte on a white background, without ovals and corners, no older than 6 months at the time of submission, not appearing on other visas, the size of the face should be 70-80% of the photo). The distance from the chin to the top of the head, including hair, should be approximately 3 cm.
6. A certificate from work in English language on the company letterhead, addressed to the Consular Section of the Embassy of Switzerland in Moscow, with a signature and seal. The certificate must be no older than 1 month by the time of submission.
7. A copy of the insurance policy covering the entire period of stay in Switzerland and valid in the Schengen area. IMPORTANT! The transliteration of the full name must correspond to the foreign passport. ATTENTION: at the moment the Swiss Consulate accepts insurance policies issued by Russian insurance companies, however, due to the requirement of some other Schengen countries for insurance policies issued by EU insurance companies, we recommend providing a policy issued by a European insurance company. You can submit an application for an insurance policy issued by an insurance company in the EU on our website.
8. Bank statement with the movement of funds for the last 3 months (mandatory) and with information on the account balance. The recommended amount of funds is at least 90 euros/day of stay. The financial document must not be older than 1 month by the time of submission.
9. Reservation of round-trip tickets, which must be valid for the entire period of consideration of documents at the Consulate.
10. Hotel reservations for the entire period of stay in Switzerland, which must be valid for the entire period of the document consideration.
11. A foreign passport valid for at least 3 months after the visa expires + a copy of the first page with personal information.
12. Originals of old/previous foreign passports + copies of their first pages + copies of Schengen visas for the last 3 years in them, or the last two Schengen visas (if available). If the original of the second valid foreign passport is not submitted, it is necessary to provide a letter explaining the reasons, as well as copies of all pages of this passport.
13. Copies of all pages of the internal Russian passport. Have the original with you when submitting documents.
14. Consent to the processing of personal data.
15. Consent to resend documents.
16. Two power of attorneys for submitting and receiving documents if the submission is not in person.

In case of applying for a tourist visa:

1. A completed application form with the applicant's signature.
2. Printed sign-up sheet for submitting documents.
3. 2 color photos (35 x 45 matte on a white background, without ovals and corners, no older than 6 months at the time of submission, not appearing on other visas, the size of the face should be 70-80% of the photo). The distance from the chin to the top of the head, including hair, should be approximately 3 cm.
4. A certificate from work in English language on the company letterhead, addressed to the Consular Section of the Embassy of Switzerland in Moscow, with a signature and seal. The certificate must be no older than 1 month by the time of submission.
5. A copy of the insurance policy covering the entire period of stay in Switzerland and valid in the Schengen area. IMPORTANT! The transliteration of the full name must correspond to the foreign passport. ATTENTION: at the moment the Swiss Consulate accepts insurance policies issued by Russian insurance companies, however, due to the requirement of some other Schengen countries for insurance policies issued by EU insurance companies, we recommend providing a policy issued by a European insurance company. You can submit an application for an insurance policy issued by an insurance company in the EU on our website.
6. Bank statement with the movement of funds for the last 3 months (mandatory) and with information on the account balance. The recommended amount of funds is at least 90 euros/day of stay. The financial document must not be older than 1 month by the time of submission.
7. Reservation of round-trip tickets, which must be valid for the entire period of consideration of documents at the Consulate.
8. Hotel reservation for the entire period of stay in Switzerland, which must be valid for the entire period of consideration of documents. Hotel payment receipt and written confirmation from the hotel in Switzerland (full E-mail correspondence with recipients), which indicates the period of stay and payment are MANDATORY documents when applying for a visa. Confirmation of booking or payment from third-party platforms (booking.com, etc.) cannot be accepted at the moment.
9. A foreign passport valid for at least 3 months after the visa expires + a copy of the first page with personal information.
10. Originals of old/previous foreign passports + copies of their first pages + copies of Schengen visas for the last 3 years in them, or the last two Schengen visas (if available). If the original of the second valid foreign passport is not submitted, it is necessary to provide a letter explaining the reasons, as well as copies of all pages of this passport.
11. Copies of all pages of the internal Russian passport. Have the original with you when submitting documents.
12. Consent to the processing of personal data.
13. Consent to resend documents.
14. Two power of attorneys for submitting and receiving documents if the submission is not in person. 

The Consular Section of the Embassy has the right to:

• request the provision of additional documents/information;
• call the applicant for an interview/re-submit biometrics;
• send documents to Switzerland for consideration by the relevant authorities;
• refuse to issue a visa without giving a reason;
• reduce the requested visa validity period and visa multiplicity;
• extend the visa issuance period to 45 days without giving reasons. 

Confidence Group provides a service for obtaining a tourist visa to Switzerland with the provision of a minimum package of documents, including without the provision of hotel reservations by the applicant. Due to the fact that the Swiss side requires the provision of documents confirming hotel reservation with receipt and written confirmation from the hotel in Switzerland at the time of applying for a tourist visa, the option of applying for a visa through Confidence Group will significantly reduce the applicant's time to collect documents. The cost of this visa is indicated in the table above. For additional information, please contact Confidence Group consultants.

Additional services of Confidence Group when applying for a visa to Switzerland for Russian citizens:

* the cost of support includes 2 hours of courier work, the cost of each subsequent hour of courier work is 1500 rubles;

** the cost of a medical insurance policy for applicants over 60 years of age is negotiated individually. 

Confidence Group consultants will be happy to advise you on the specifics of obtaining visas to Switzerland, help you collect the necessary documents, fill out the application form and organize free delivery of documents from/to the Customer. 

The procedure for obtaining a visa to Switzerland through Confidence Group is as follows:

1)      filling out an application and agreeing on the required list of services;

2)      preparation of documents on applicant’s side;

3)      payment*;

4)      filling out an application and making an appointment to submit documents by Confidence Group consultant;

5)      receiving documents for applying for a visa via Confidence Group courier;

6)      accompanying to submitting documents for a visa if necessary, payment of consular and service fees;

7)      informing about the release date of the completed visa. 

* Payment can be made by the following:

• to the company's current account in one of the Russian banks, or in the People's Bank of Kazakhstan;
• cash;
• QR code;
• bank debit or credit card.

Please note if you need to obtain a multiple-entry Schengen visa, we recommend you to obtain such a visa through French Consulate, which continues to issue Russian citizens, in most cases, multiple-entry visas for up to six months. The cost of this visa varies significantly, the details and more information available on our website.

Please note if you need to obtain a multiple-entry Schengen visa, we recommend you to obtain such a visa through French Consulate, which continues to issue Russian citizens, in most cases, multiple-entry visas for up to six months. The cost of this visa varies significantly, the details and more information available on our website.

However, we remind you that it is necessary to enter the territory of the Schengen area through the state whose consulate issued the visa.

Please note that recently the trend towards tightening entry requirements for Russian citizens is obvious, we strongly recommend that when crossing the border you have with you the documents on the basis of which the visa for entry into the Schengen country was issued. If border guards request these documents and you not provide them, entry into the Schengen country may be denied, even if a visa has been issued.

Should you have any additional questions, please contact Confidence Group consultants.