Switzerland entry requirements, by passport

How much money you need to show

About CHF 100 per day if you pay for your own stay, or about CHF 30 for students with a valid student card

Source: European Commission, Annex 25 to the Practical Handbook for Border Guards (reference amounts notified by each State), version of 8 June 2026, and State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). Checked on 1 November 2026.

What each Schengen country asks for →

Vaccinations

• No mandatory vaccines for entry. The international vaccination certificate is asked of nobody: not the yellow fever one, and not even of travellers arriving from a country with risk of transmission. That is what the country has declared in the International Health Regulations list.

Customs limits

Cash

There is no obligation to declare cash when entering Switzerland, unlike the EU. If you are carrying CHF 10,000 or more, or are suspected of doing so, the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG/FOCBS) will ask you during a check for your identity, the source of the cash, its intended use and its beneficial owner, and an amount of CHF 10,000 or more is recorded in its information system. Answers must be truthful: refusing or giving false information is a customs offence and can be penalised.

Alcohol

From the age of 17, duty-free per person per day: 5 litres of beverages under 18% alcohol and 1 litre over 18%. Drinks of up to 0.5% alcohol do not count as alcoholic beverages.

Tobacco

Duty-free per person per day: 250 units in total of cigarettes, cigars, heated tobacco products and nicotine cartridges for e-cigarettes, or alternatively 250 grams of other tobacco products, or a proportional mix of the two.

Overstay penalties

Article 115 of the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (FNIA, SR 142.20) makes unlawful stay an offence, in particular staying on after the visa-free or authorised stay has expired. It is punishable by a custodial sentence of up to one year or a monetary penalty; if committed through negligence, the penalty is a fine. The law sets no fixed amount: the criminal authority decides it case by case. A person convicted of this offence, or who fails to leave within the deadline set, is as a rule given an entry ban by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) under Art. 67, for a maximum of five years unless they pose a serious threat to public security and order. Where the conditions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 are met, these bans are entered in the Schengen Information System (Art. 68a), so they also block entry to the rest of the Schengen area.

Check whether you would go over the limit →

What happens if you stay past 90 days →

Grounds for refusal

Apply to: Visa-free

• Not presenting a valid travel document: valid for at least three months after the intended departure and issued within the previous ten years (Art. 6(1)(a)).
• Not justifying the purpose and conditions of the stay, or not showing sufficient means of subsistence for the stay and the return (Art. 6(1)(c)).
• Having already used up the 90 days within the current 180-day period (Art. 6(1)).
• Being the subject of a Schengen Information System (SIS) alert for the purpose of refusing entry (Art. 6(1)(d)).
• Being considered a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or the international relations of a Schengen State (Art. 6(1)(e)).

Source: Regulation (EU) 2016/399 (Schengen Borders Code) , Art. 6(1). A refusal is given in writing with its reasons and can be appealed (Art. 14).

Apply to: Visa required

• Producing a false or falsified travel document, or reasonable doubts arising about the authenticity of the supporting documents submitted or the truthfulness of their content (Regulation (EC) 810/2009, Art. 32(1)(a)(i) and 32(1)(b)).
• Failing to justify the purpose and conditions of the intended stay (Art. 32(1)(a)(ii); the same entry condition appears in Art. 6(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2016/399, so it is also checked at the border).
• Failing to provide proof of sufficient means of subsistence for the whole intended stay and for the return to the country of origin or residence, and not being in a position to acquire such means lawfully (Art. 32(1)(a)(iii)).
• Having already used up the 90 days of stay within the current 180-day period on the territory of the Member States (Art. 32(1)(a)(iv)).
• Being the subject of an alert in the Schengen Information System (SIS) for the purpose of refusing entry (Art. 32(1)(a)(v)).
• Being considered a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or the international relations of any Member State (Art. 32(1)(a)(vi)).
• Failing to provide proof of adequate and valid travel medical insurance, where applicable (Art. 32(1)(a)(vii)).
• Reasonable doubts arising about the reliability of the statements made or about the applicant’s intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the visa applied for expires (Art. 32(1)(b)).

What to do if you are refused entry →