In diesem Abschnitt finden sich Informationen wie Thais ein Visa für die Schweiz zu beantragen haben
 Wird ein Visa benötigt  Benötigt Dein thailändischer Freund ein Visa um in die Schweiz einzureisen?
 Duration of Stay  How long can your friend stay in Switzerland as a visitor or tourist?
 First Step  Preconditions before applying at the embassy for a visitor's visa
 Swiss Embassy  Official address and phone numbers of the Swiss Embassy in Bangkok
 Second Step  Applying in person for a tourist visa at the Swiss Embassy in Bangkok
 Visa Application Form  The form and guidelines for a visa application are found in this section


Needing a Visa

In general all Thai citizens do need a valid visa to enter Switzerland! However there are a few exeptions which are listed below. If you are in doubt whether your friend needs a visa, please contact the Swiss Embassy in Bangkok, or elsewhere contact the Swiss Embassy of the country where you and your Thai friend are living in. An address list of all Swiss Embassies and Swiss Consulates is being found on the official homepage of the SWISS FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (click here).

Since August 1st, 2000 Thai citizens who are in posession of a valid visa for the Schengen States (Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Greece, Spain and Portugal) do not need a Swiss visa anymore to visit Switzerland up to a period of three months within the validity of the Schengen Visa, if one of the following reasons apply: tourism, visit, business meetings, medical treatment, staying at a health resort for medical rehabilitation, participation at scientific, economic, cultural, religious or sports events as well as staying as a foreign correspondent. But make sure your Schengen Visa is a multiple entry visa, otherwise you will have difficulties to enter the Schengen States again after your trip to Switzerland!

Also all Thai citizens who are in posession of a valid residence permit (which has to be recognized by the SWISS FEDERAL ALIEN'S OFFICE) of the member states of the EUROPEAN UNION and EUROPEAN FREE TRADE ASSOCIATION (Efta) as well as of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Kanada or USA are allowed to enter Switzerland up to a period of three months without a Swiss visa, if one of the following reasons apply: tourism, visit, business meetings, medical treatment, staying at a health resort for medical rehabilitation, participation at scientific, economic, cultural, religious or sports events as well as staying as a foreign correspondent.

Holders of diplomatic passports, service passports (Passeport de service) and official passports (Passeport officiel) do not need a visa at all to enter Switzerland.

An overview of the Swiss visa regulations for every country can be found here (only in German and French available).

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Visa regulations Thailand (German only): V 13 16 17 19


Duration of Stay

As a visitor or tourist your friend is allowed to stay in Switzerland for a maximum period of three month. After three months your friend has to leave Switzerland for one month (30 days, no less) before a new stay of another three months will be possible.
Alltogether your friend is allowed to stay in Switzerland six months within twelve months (not per calendar year) interrupted by one month. But the length of one single stay may not exceed three months.

Usually your friend will have to return to Thailand to apply for a new visa. Although Swiss embassies or consulates in Europe may issue a Swiss visa for a Thai citizen, the embassies of the memberstates of the European Community will not issue a visa in Switzerland for their respective countries. As well as your friend usually will not be able to get a visa for a European Community Country at an embassy in Thailand which will not be within the validity of the Swiss visa, except a citizen of the respective country will act as a guarantor for your friend.

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First Step

At this stage the author assumes, that your friend will not come to Switzerland on a self financed basis. If anyone is travelling on a self financed basis the embassy will ask to present assets (bank account) of usually CHF 100.- per day staying in Switzerland. This would total about Baht 225'000.- for a stay of three months! Now you judge yourself on what basis your friend will travel to Switzerland. Further the author assumes your friend will come to Switzerland as a visitor.

Your friend needs to have a valid passport which has to remain valid at least six months after the intented return to Thailand.

Your friend should know how to apply for a Thai passport, if he does not already have got one. If he does not know how to do it, ask friends first how to get a passport. If ever possible do not go to a so called passport and visa service office. They will overcharge you massively!

If your friend needs to apply for a passport, allow at least three weeks (sometimes even more) until your friend's application is processed and the passport is issued.

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Swiss Embassy

The address, phone and fax numbers, email address and opening hours of the Swiss Embassy in Bangkok you find on the official information page of the SWISS FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (click here - unfortunately they did not bother to translate it fully into english).
The Swiss Embassy in Bangkok is responsible for the following countries: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

How you can reach the Swiss Embassy and a location map will be added soon on this page.

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Second Step

Now your friend has got his passport, he has to go to the Swiss Embassy in person, since visa applications by means of correspondence are not accepted. Your friend should not forget to bring his ID-Card along, since he will have to leave it with the security guard at the entrance to the embassy.

To apply for a visitor's visa on a non self financed basis your friend needs to fill in a visa apllication form at the embassy (which is given free at the visa counter). On the tables are examples of visa applications available on which is written in Thai how to fill in the form (or see the form below). Further one recent photograph in passport size, of course the passport (with one copy) as well as the full name and address of the garantor in Switzerland has to be given to the officer on duty (a Thai national) at the visa counter together with the signed visa application form. At this stage no flight ticket is necessary and no visa fee has to be paid!

The visa applicant will be asked to take a seat and to wait while his visa application is being processed/checked. This can take up to one hour or more, depending how many people are applying. If there are no objections on behalf of the embassy to issue a visa, the visa applicant then will get the form "Declaration of guarantee", which he has to send by mail to his local garantor in Switzerland. What the garantor in Switzerland has to do with the form is explained on the backside of the form.

Now the first stage of the procedure to obtain a tourist visa for Switzerland is completed and your friend can go back home and wait until he is notified by the embassy by a phone call that he can come back to the embassy to get the visa. If a visa is refused by the embassy the applicant has to go there as well (in this case the applicant can appeal to the "Swiss Federal Alien's Office").

However the embassy is free to ask for other documents and information as stated above, if it seems to be necessary from the point of view of the embassy (if there should be any objections on your friends behalf, there is nothing you can do, but to supply all the information which the embassy asks for).

There is a leaflet available on which is explained how to apply for a visa to visit a person living in Switzerland up to three months. You find this leaflet as PDF file (7KB) here (at present only in German available).

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Visa Application Form

The visa application form for Switzerland consists of four pages (the forth page for official use only) and an information sheet titled "Guidelines for visa application". It is issued by the SWISS FEDERAL ALIEN'S OFFICE and therefore looks everywhere the same. The application form and the guidlines are written in German, French, Italian and English (other languages are not available). You have to fill in the form in one of those four languages (other languages are not accepted). So if your friend is not able to communicate fluently in one of those languges, it is good advice that someone who does speak one of those languages fluently will accompany your friend to the embassy (the embassy staff will not help to fill in the visa application form).

Click on one of the following links to get the appropriate page of the visa application form: page 1, page 2, page 3 and Guidelines. (The forms are optimized for a screen resolution of 1024x768 pixels)

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