As the official representation of Switzerland, the embassy covers all matters concerning diplomatic relations between the two countries. It represents Swiss interests in the areas of political, economic and financial affairs, legal arrangements, science, education and culture.
Entry into Switzerland
Switzerland is now open again for travellers from non-Schengen states that meet certain requirements. Please click here to find out more about who can enter Switzerland. To see what rules apply to your own particular situation when entering Switzerland, consult the online Travelcheck.
Important: please do not forget to fill in the following entry form before travelling to Switzerland. Once you’ve filled out the form you’ll be emailed a QR code as confirmation. If you are controlled you can show the QR code on your smartphone or produce a printed confirmation. If you have not filled out the entry form, the airline can refuse your check-in and the controlling authority in Switzerland may impose a penalty.
As a further precaution, travelers are kindly requested to respect the local directions for international travels to and from South Africa and to contact their airline directly in order to establish of any special travel regulations they may require additionally - such as proof of a negative Covid-19 test.
If you are not travelling directly to Switzerland, you must contact the authority of the country of transit to find out what are the current transit regulations in place.
Please also be informed that it is not the FDFA’s responsibility to issue confirmations for medical certificates or translations of Covid-19 test results, medical or vaccination certificates .
Recommendations to Swiss citizens
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the current coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic. There is risk of infection in all regions of the world.
If you are a Swiss citizen and currently travelling abroad, please make sure you download the EDA Travel Admin App and register or update your travel plans and contact details. By doing so, you ensure that you can be contacted by the relevant Swiss representation if necessary. More information can be found on the following website of the FDFA.
Recommended links are:
Recommended links are:
National Institute of Communicable Disease
COVID-19 General Hotline for the public: +27 800 029 999 / National Health and Laboratory service COVID-19 Hotline: +27 82 883 9920
WhatsApp Coronavirus Support Line from the National Department of Health: +27 60 012 3456
All consular services for the South African provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West and Free State, as well as for the states of Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, have been provided by the Regional Consular Centre Southern Africa in Pretoria, which is attached to the local Embassy of Switzerland.
The Consulate General in Cape Town continues to be responsible for the South African provinces of the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape.
All Visa applications are handled by the Regional Consular Center Southern Africa in Pretoria.
Information can be found on the websites concerned:
Services – South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mauritius
Visa – South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mauritius
Visa applicants, which have to submit their visa application at the Regional Consular Centre (RCC) in Pretoria, are required to prior schedule an appointment. Therefore please call the Visa Section from Monday to Thursday from 14:00 to 15:30. No walk in clients.
Swiss citizens living in South Africa have lately become victims of banking frauds. The perpetrators get access to details from Swiss or Liechtenstein banking accounts (names, addresses, signatures, credit balance, etc.) and use this information to forge orders to transfer money to bank accounts in Asia. To prevent such cases, the Embassy of Switzerland recommends Swiss or Liechtenstein bank account holders to be vigilant with their banking identity details and to request their bank not to send correspondence via postal service and not to process any written money transfer order without prior consultation of the bank account owner via the telephone number that is lodged with the bank (not the one on the instructions).
The Embassy of Switzerland in Pretoria has become aware of a scam including a fraudulent contract of the company Fibre Ring and Youth Empowerment Project, based in South Africa making reference to the official Swiss Representation in South Africa. Neither the Swiss Embassy in Pretoria nor the office of the Swiss Development Cooperation based in Harare do host any connection with this contractor.
