No, you do not need a valid Swiss identity document if you do not travel with it. You do not lose your Swiss nationality if your identity document has expired.

10 years for adults, 5 years for minors.

For each person requiring an identity document, an online application must be requested as follows:

www.schweizerpass.ch

• passport and identity card for Swiss living abroad
• online application for Swiss living abroad
• by remarks in your online request please mention biometric data to be recorded in Helsinki

• Your valid or expired Swiss passport and your Swiss identity card, if you have both documents.

or:

• A police report of the loss/theft of your Swiss passport and/or ID card.

and:

• For Swiss citizens with dual citizenship: the valid foreign passport or National ID Card and a copy of it.

and:

• Your debit/credit card for payment of fees.

Please note: driver's licenses are not accepted as identity documents.

Minors have to be accompanied by their legal guardian. If the parents have joint custody, the presence of one parent only is sufficient, provided that the written authorization of the absent parent is on hand. The accompanying parent needs to show a valid passport or identity card and bring along a signed power of attorney (PDF, 1 Page, 616.0 kB, multilingual: German, French, Italian, English) with a passport copy of the absent parent. Other forms of identification (e.g. driving licences) will not be accepted.

The fees (including shipping cost) will be charged to your debit/credit card in SEK Swedish Crowns or converted to your debit/credit card currency at your appointment. Cash payment is not accepted and there may be changes to the fees listed below:

Fees

A picture, two fingerprints (from 12 years) and a signature (from 7 years)

At your appointment, your personal data will be checked again and the fees paid by card. Afterwards, the biometric data is recorded.

At the appointment, you will be offered to cancel the Swiss identity documents so that after production in Switzerland, the new document(s) can be sent directly to your home address by registered mail. Expect to receive the new documents approximately 10 - 15 days after your appointment. If you have not received the documents after 3 weeks, please contact the Regional consular centre in Stockholm by e-mail.

If you do not want the current Swiss identity documents to be cancelled at your appointment, the new documents will be sent to the Regional consular centre in Stockholm after production in Switzerland. You will then be asked to send the old documents by post mail for exchange with the new ones. You shall expect to receive the new documents within approximately 5 weeks.

The passport and ID card are produced at two different locations in Switzerland and sent directly to your home address by registered mail.

Combined offer

A passport and ID card ordered at the same time (combined offer) will be sent in two different envelopes to the same address. Please note that if one of the identity document is not cancelled at your appointment, the two documents will be sent to the Regional consular centre in Stockholm and you will be informed accordingly by e-mail. Again, expect a delivery time of about 5 weeks until you receive the new documents.

The identity documents are dispatched by registered mail using the service of Postnord. An e-mail is automatically generated with information about the status and possibility to track the parcel.

A registered item is usually kept at the post office up to 14 days. Items that are not collected are returned to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA. The documents are then forwarded to the Regional Consular Centre in Stockholm, which will send the identity documents by registered mail after having contacted you. If the documents are returned to Switzerland, the delivery time will be extended by approx. 5 weeks until you receive the new documents.

Yes, in principle the biometric station is deployed once a year. The dates will be announced on this page as soon as they have been finalized.

No, all civil status changes must be reported on an ongoing basis. An application for a new identity document can only be considered once all events have been entered in the civil status register in Switzerland. An entry in the civil status register takes at least 3 months.