What foreign passengers should expect when landing at a Swiss airport

Among the main disadvantages of flying are all the hassles you have to deal with at airports, especially during peak travel times, when long queues and short tempers prevail.

Although those arriving at Swiss airports — Zurich, Geneva, or Basel — don’t need to go through check-in and security lines, like departing passengers do, they have to go through the passport control process instead, which can be more or less time-consuming depending on your nationality.

This is how it works

Based on the type of aircraft you arrive on, you will exit the plane either through a jet bridge directly into the terminal, or deplane through stairs, in which case you will most likely be bused to the terminal (unless the aircraft is parked close to the entrance and you will walk).

While Geneva and Basel’s EuroAirport are relatively small, Zurich is a major hub, with a train circulating between the three terminals.

Passport control

If you arrive from abroad, you will enter Switzerland through the immigration / passport control area. 

This is where it pays to have a Swiss or an EU passport, or be a citizen of Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein (EFTA), because the entry process is much simpler.

Both Zurich and Geneva airports have installed automated border gates (e-gates) to be used by Swiss and EU / EFTA nationals.

They use facial recognition technology to verify a traveller's identity by comparing the data stored in their biometric passport.

The passenger places the passport on the special “reader” and enters an area where a camera performs facial recognition. The automated system scans national and international database to ensure that the traveller has no criminal background. If an anomaly is detected, a border guard will intercept the passenger.

If everything is in order, the gate opens. The entire process takes between 10 and 12 seconds.

This video explains how this quick and easy process works. 

This system is in place for travellers from outside the Schengen zone. If you are arriving from another Schengen country and your passport or ID card are checked at the departure airport, you don't have to go through passport control again when entering Switzerland.

What about non-EU/EFTA nationals?

If you're from outside the EU or EFTA zone, you can’t use e-gates and must go through the conventional passport control. This can often (and especially during peak travel times) involve standing in a line designated for travellers from other countries.

You'll have to wait your turn and show your passport to border agents sitting in a booth.

This is nothing unusual or specifically Swiss about this process — most countries have such a system in place.

Where do British citizens fit in?
 
Before Brexit, when the United Kingdom was part of the European Union, UK citizens could use e-gates, like their EU/EFTA counterparts.

However, “the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EU no longer applies [to British travellers] from January 1, 2021,” according to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). "From this date, UK nationals are no longer EU/EFTA nationals, but are considered third country nationals." 

This means they must queue up in a designated lane with other non-EU / EFTA passengers.

Curiously, the same (stricter) entry rules don’t apply to Swiss citizens entering the UK.

According to the official government site, Swiss passport holders can continue to use automated gates at British airports. 

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