If the authorized stay is for less than 90 days within 6 months (also applies to work authorizations for 120 days within 12 months), the entry visa is issued in the form of a Schengen C visa. You must submit your application in person at the Swiss representation responsible for your province, unless your fingerprints were collected within the last 59 month for a previous visa (*).
Where to apply for a Schengen C visa?
Required documents:
- Original valid passport or travel document (must be valid for at least 3 months past the arrival date, been issued within the past 10 years and have at least 2 blank visa pages)
- Copy of passport or travel document (photo, data and signature pages only)
- One loose European size passport color photo according to requirements.
- One copy of the ZEMIS/SYMIC authorization form
- Visa fee
- A prepaid, self-addressed return envelope with a tracking number (XpressPost or Courier). Keep the customer receipt for tracking the envelope. There is no in-person pick up of this type of visa. All passports are returned by post only.
(*) the application can be submitted by mail. However, it cannot be determined whether the quality of the biometric data allows copying of the
fingerprints from a previous visa until the application is processed. For that
reason a personal appearance might still be required.
