The Switzerland visa from Pakistan

The short answer. Switzerland is not in the European Union but it is in the Schengen Area, so the visa is the standard short stay type C and the document list is the Schengen one. What makes a Swiss file different is money: it is one of the most expensive countries in the world, and the financial part of the application is read against that. What every Schengen file needs

Switzerland confuses people for a reason that turns out not to matter, and catches them on one that does.

Not in the EU, but in Schengen

Switzerland never joined the European Union. It did join the Schengen Area, in 2008, and for a traveller that is the only membership that counts. The visa is the ordinary Schengen short stay visa, issued on the same rules and the same ninety euro fee as Germany or France, and a Swiss Schengen visa works across all twenty-nine countries like any other.

So the EU question, which is the one people ask first, is not the thing to worry about.

The cost of the country is in the file

This is the thing to worry about. Switzerland is among the most expensive countries on earth. A hotel night in Zermatt, a train up the Jungfrau, three meals a day in Lucerne: the daily cost of simply existing there is several times what the same day costs in Spain or Greece.

A consulate assessing whether you can support yourself is assessing it against Swiss prices, not against a general European average. Which means:

• The bank statements have to make sense for the length of the stay. Ten days

in Switzerland is not ten days in Portugal.

• A sponsor, if there is one, has to be able to carry it, and their statements

have to show that.

• The booked accommodation and the booked transport help, because what is

already paid for is money that no longer has to be proven.

This is not a higher standard than other Schengen countries apply. It is the same standard measured against a bigger number, and it is why a file that would pass easily for Italy sometimes does not for Switzerland.

What people actually come for

Honeymoons. Switzerland is the honeymoon this office is asked for most often after Turkey, and Interlaken, Lucerne and the Jungfrau are the shape of nearly all of them. A honeymoon file is usually two people with a recent nikah nama, which is worth including: it explains the trip better than any covering letter.

Families with older parents. The attraction is that Switzerland can be seen from a train. The mountain railways do the walking, which makes it one of the few genuinely spectacular destinations that works for somebody who cannot manage long days on foot. Say so in the covering letter if it is why the trip is happening; a reason that is true reads as true.

Summer and snow. Two seasons, two sets of prices, and two completely different trips. Winter is the expensive one.

When to apply

Six to eight weeks for most of the year. Three months for July and August and for the Christmas and New Year weeks, when the hotels go first and the appointments go second.

Swiss hotels in the high season sell out far earlier than the visa process needs, so the practical order is usually: decide the dates, hold the hotels, then build the file around what you have held.

Q: Switzerland is not in the EU. Do I need a different visa?

No. Switzerland is in the Schengen Area, which is what decides the visa, and EU membership is a separate thing that does not affect you as a visitor. It is the ordinary Schengen short stay visa, ninety euros, same documents.

Q: How much money should I show for a Swiss trip?

There is no figure anyone can honestly quote, because it depends on how long you are staying, what is already paid for, and whether somebody is sponsoring you. What is true is that the number should be credible for Switzerland specifically, which is an expensive place, and that six months of ordinary statements are worth more than a large balance that appeared last week.

Q: Can I visit France and Italy on a Swiss visa?

Yes. Once it is issued it works across the whole Schengen Area, and Switzerland sits in the middle of it, so the day trips are easy. Just make sure Switzerland is genuinely where most of your nights are before you apply there, because that is what the consulate checks.

Q: Is Switzerland good for elderly parents?

Better than most of Europe, and the mountain railways are why. You can reach genuinely spectacular places without walking far. Tell us about mobility and about any medical needs before we choose hotels and trains, because the right station and the right floor matter more than the hotel's rating.

Before you pay anything

Requirements change without announcement. We confirm the current position before every submission rather than trusting any list, including this one.

Send us the passports, the dates and how long you plan to stay. We will tell you what the file needs, and be honest with you about the financial side, before you spend anything.