Consular posts headed by a career consular officer and exequatur for career heads of consular posts
The regime for establishing consular relations and posts, consular functions and the appointment and admission of heads of consular posts is governed by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963.
Conditions for opening and maintaining consular posts headed by a career consular officer
In principle the Swiss authorities apply a fairly restrictive policy in this area. It must be demonstrated that there is a genuine need for a duly accredited official representative. Statistical data on the current and anticipated size of the foreign community as well as the commercial, tourist, cultural and scientific relations between the sending state and the new consular district must be provided. Prospective further developments resulting from the presence of an official representative should also be clarified. The FDFA reserves the right to review at any time whether there is a genuine need to retain the post, even after it has been established.
Furthermore, the limited size of Swiss territory justifies that, in addition to a consular section near to an embassy in Bern, only requests to establish a maximum of one additional consular post per language region (German, French or Italian-speaking Switzerland) will, in principle, be considered.
The seat of a consular post must be located in a cantonal capital (with the exception of Ticino where, on presentation of a reasoned request, the city of Lugano may also be accepted as the seat for a consular post). A cantonal administrative centre is determined by its city centre and the communes served by the urban public transport network of the cantonal capital, not including inter-city or regional transport systems.
Any subsequent change of address of the seat of a consular post is subject to the prior approval of FDFA Protocol.
Consular districts may not overlap one another and must coincide with cantonal borders.
The official residence of a head of post must be in the city where the post has its seat or in an adjacent commune (for the cities of Geneva and Basel: in the city where the post has its seat or in an adjacent Swiss commune).
A head of post’s class must correspond to the category of their consular representation, for example a consul general for a consulate general or a consul for a consulate.
The FDFA prefers the establishment of consular posts headed by career consular officers or honorary consular officers. Consequently, the authorities of sending states are requested to refrain from submitting requests to establish vice consulates or consular agencies to FDFA Protocol.
Procedure for opening or maintaining consular posts headed by a career consular officer
Requests to establish consular posts must be addressed to FDFA Protocol through diplomatic channels and contain the following information:
- specific reasons for the request (refer to the section on conditions for opening)
- name of the cantonal capital designated as the consular post’s seat
- which cantons are to be incorporated into the proposed consular district
Procedure for appointing career heads of consular posts
Once the FDFA has approved the opening of a consular post, FDFA Protocol will ask the embassy to send it, through diplomatic channels, the dossier on the prospective head of consular post, which must include the following documents:
- a complete and up-to-date CV with photograph (surname/first name, place/date of birth, civil status, nationality/nationalities, education/studies, professional history, current position)
- photocopy of passport (or passports if the person has dual or multiple nationality)
- address of proposed seat of consular post
Procedure for admitting career heads of consular post
If the FDFA agrees to the appointment of the candidate proposed by the sending state, FDFA Protocol will request the embassy to send it the original letter of commission. This must contain the surname and first name of the appointed head of post (as written in their passport), class (consul general or consul), category (career), consular district (list of cantons concerned) and seat (cantonal capital) of the consular post. The letter is to be addressed to the Federal Council (not the President of the Swiss Confederation). FDFA Protocol will then submit a request for exequatur to the Federal Council on the basis of this letter of commission.
Exequatur
FDFA Protocol will send the exequatur to the embassy for transmission to the head of post.
Arriving in Switzerland
Embassies are advised to consult the SEM's overview of passport and visa requirements by nationality (List 1, column listing visa requirement by nationality for stays of over 90 days) to find out whether their head of consular post needs to apply for a visa from the competent Swiss embassy or whether they are exempt.
List 1: Overview of ID and visa provisions according to nationality
Registering with FDFA Protocol, issue of legitimation card and inclusion in Directory of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps
Once the consular head of post has arrived in Switzerland, the embassy in question must send FDFA Protocol a request to register the new head including a photocopy of their passport and a recent photograph; the same requirements apply to any authorised accompanying persons (Art. 20, para. 1, Host State Ordinance, HSO).
Art. 20, para. 1, Host State Ordinance, HSO
