Life and travel abroad

Approximately 780,000 Swiss citizens abroad currently benefit from the wide range of services provided by a global network of representations offering advice and support. The FDFA Helpline is also on hand to answer queries 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Now there's a new app that makes staying in touch even easier: SwissInTouch keeps Switzerland at your fingertips.

Are you a Swiss citizen abroad and you can't go back to Switzerland because you've contracted the coronavirus or had an accident? Dealing with the unforeseeable will be easier if you've prepared your stay well. You've got to take on personal responsibility if you want to have a great trip. What steps should you take before going abroad? Here are some tips to avoid nasty surprises.

At the end of 2021, more than one in ten Swiss nationals were living abroad – some 788,000 in total. The share of the Swiss population living abroad increased by 1.5% compared to 2020. Almost two-thirds were living in Europe. A few countries experienced significant increases. Below are the main findings of the Federal Statistical Office's statistics for 2021 on the Swiss abroad, published at the end of March.

You've got your hotel room with sea view sorted. But unwelcome surprises frequently crop up during a trip. To take the stress out of travel, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) recommends that you download the Travel Admin app, register, and enter your trips abroad before leaving for your holiday. The free app provides useful information, tips and checklists so that you may carefully plan your trip; what's more, it can prove to be an essential tool offering assistance in the event of an emergency.

Four official languages are spoken in Switzerland. This multilingualism is a major asset for Switzerland and its people. Yet linguistic and cultural diversity cannot be taken for granted – it must be nurtured. This year's edition of Plurilingualism Week will once again raise awareness of this fact.

En Svizra vegnan discurridas quatter linguas naziunalas. Questa plurilinguitad è in grond potenzial per il pajais e per ils umans. La diversitad linguistica e culturala n’è però betg simplamain dada, ella sto vegnir tgirada. A quai fan puspè attent quest’emna ils Dis da la plurilinguitad.