Swiss citizens are entitled to a passport and an identity card. The current biometric passports contain a chip on which your fingerprints and an image of your face are stored electronically. All Swiss travel documents are produced in Switzerland.
Passport and identity card
You can apply online for your passport and identity card. Once your application is reviewed, you receive an invitation to record your biometric data at the competent Swiss representation. Be sure to check the expiry date on your current passport and identity card and leave enough time to order new ones.
Applying for an identity document
Do you require a passport and/or an identity card?
Loss or theft
Have you lost your passport or identity card, or have either of them been stolen?
Temporary passport
Do you need to travel at short notice, or do you require an emergency passport?
Fees
How much does an identity document cost?
Travelling with a Swiss passport
What do you need to know?
Passport application
You have to apply for a passport online at the Swiss representation where you are registered. Please note that registration is mandatory for all Swiss citizens who stay in the consular district and are deregistered in Switzerland.
Please register your online application via the Internet using our convenient online service by clicking on the following link:
In exceptional cases, you may also apply for your passport by phone to the representation where you are registered. When you apply for a new passport 10, you have the opportunity to order an identity card at a reduced price, as you could in the past.
Once the application is completed and approved, applicants will have to appear in person to have their biometric data taken: facial photograph, signature and fingerprints. For organizational purposes, it will be necessary to make an appointment with the competent Swiss representation. This should be done electronically through the link which will be sent to you by e-mail after approval of the application or exceptioanlly by phone.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Your biometric data can be collected at any Swiss representation abroad which are equipped to do so and at any Swiss processing center. Your passport doesn’t have to be near its expiration date for you to have your biometric data collected.
You just have to make sure you initiate the registration through the representation where you are currently registered and indicate in step 9 under the remarks where and when you want to have your biometric data collected.
List of Swiss representations abroad
Applications for minors or persons under guardianship
In case one of the legal representatives is unable to appear in person at the Swiss representation to apply for the issuance of a Swiss travel document to a minor or a person under guardianship, a written consent should be signed. Therefore it is recommended that the absent legal representative complete the form “declaration of consent” which is available on the right side of this page.
The data in the passport is based on the information recorded in the Swiss civil registers. Before submitting an application for a biometric passport, it is of the utmost importance to ensure that the information recorded in the Swiss civil registers is up-to-date in order to avoid unpleasant delays in the issuance of a new passport. If the applicant is in doubt, the competent representation should be contacted as soon as possible.
Recording of biometric data
All applicants must attend in person for this procedure and present a valid ID document to confirm their identity.
For organizational reasons, it is essential to make an appointment. This can be done online via the link which will be sent to you by E-mail after your passport application has been checked and approved or by telephone.
You may choose another Swiss representation abroad, or in exceptional cases, a passport office in Switzerland to perform this formality. In this case, you must inform your representation, which will authorize the representation or passport office you have chosen.
Minors and applicants in the care of a guardian must be accompanied by their parents or guardian, who will be required to give their consent by signing the application form.
Divorced or unmarried parents must provide proof of custody of the child, and in the case of joint custody, both parents must give their consent.
Processing Time and Delivery
Applications should be submitted in good time.
Travel documents are produced in Switzerland and it usually takes between 3 and 4 weeks to obtain the new document.
When the quality of your new passport has been checked, it will be sent to you as in the past.
Cancellation of Previous Swiss Passport or Identity Card
To have your new passport or identity card sent directly to your home address from the processing office in Switzerland, you must submit your old Swiss passport and/or identity card to be cancelled at the time of your application. Otherwise, your new passport and/or identity card will be sent to the responsible Swiss embassy or consulate and then kept there until you submit your document for cancellation. In the latter case, higher postage fees apply.
Passport Offices in the U.S.
- Consulate General of Switzerland in Atlanta
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Cayman Islands - Consulate General of Switzerland in New York
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, Bermuda, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands - Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco
California, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming - Embassy of Switzerland in Washington
District of Columbia (DC), Delaware (DE), Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Iowa (IA), Kansas (KS), Kentucky (KY), Maryland (MD), Missouri (MO), Nebraska (NE), Virginia (VA), West Virginia (WV), Northern Mariana Islands (MP) and Guam (GU)
Links
Mobile biometric passport station USA
Since the introduction of the biometric passport, applicants must appear in person to record their biometric data: a photograph of the applicant and the fingerprints. A mobile biometric passport station is travelling around the United States and provides Swiss citizens with an opportunity to appear locally or at least closer than the next representation for the issuance of a new Swiss passport.
The schedule of the mobile biometric passport station will be directly communicated by each representation to their Swiss community.
Information of the Consulate General in San Francisco: We will travel with the mobile biometric passport station to Las Vegas at the end of October / beginning of November 2023. It is also planned to travel to Los Angeles in spring 2024.
