Travel to and within the Schengen Area
The Schengen agreements between Switzerland and the European Union resulted in the lifting of border controls on 12 December 2008.
Henceforth, Switzerland no longer carries out systematic checks on people at land borders, nor at airports, except in the case of those flying to or from countries that are not part of the Schengen Area1).
This has the following main implications for members of the CERN personnel:
a) In the case of people subject to visa requirements, the Schengen visa replaces the Swiss visa for short stays and entitles its holder to enter and remain on the territory of the whole Schengen Area for up to 3 months within a 6-month period (a single short-stay or "C"-type visa is thus required2)). The visa application must be submitted to the competent Swiss or French representation, depending on the main place of residence during the stay.
b) All members of the personnel who are citizens of non-Schengen countries and hold a residence permit issued by a state belonging to the Schengen Agreement (for Switzerland, a carte de légitimation or attestation de fonctions issued by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs; for France, a special residence permit [titre de séjour] issued by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ) may travel within the Schengen Area without a visa provided that:
- they are carrying their residence permit and a valid travel document (ID card or passport),
- their stay outside their country of residence does not exceed 3 months within a 6-month period.
Additional information can be found at the following addresses:
- http://www.europa.admin.ch/themen/00500/00506/00510/index.html?lang=en
- http://www.consulfrance-geneve.org/00_PRESENTATION/00_ACCUEIL/communiquefinalvisassch.pdf
Relations with the Host States Service
Tel.: 72848
mailto:relations.secretariat@cern.ch
1) However, customs checks will continue to be performed on goods, and checks on people will be reinforced at the borders with countries that are not Schengen members (airports operating flights to and from non-Schengen countries).
2) Visas for stays of more than 3 months ("D"-type visas, which are required in order to obtain a carte de légitimation) continue to be issued in accordance with Swiss legislation.
3) The error concerning special FI/M residence permits in Official Journal No. C 247 dated 13.10.2006 is in the process of being corrected by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
by DG Unit
