I was flying to London last week from ZRH and was asked at passport control in Switzerland (departures not arrivals) where I live in Switzerland.

I must have flown in and out of ZRH airport a hundred times and have never been asked this, or actually anything at all passport control. Is it normal? Why would they want to ask?

I could understand on entering the country they would take an interest in you, but leaving?

Maybe the passport control officer took a fancy to you

Very strange indeed to be asked on the way out, but it is possible they wanted to confirm that you are who you say you are or passport says you are. Sometimes they do as part of their checks.

Sometimes asking a general question is a way of checking if you're a bit dodgy.

shoulda asked where he/she lived and then given him/her your number.

when arriving back in CH once i was held up at passport control for about 5 mins with the guy checking all sorts of things and asking various questions, he wouldnt tell me why of course.

As i work at the airport i later went to 1 of my friends in passport control and he scanned my passport for any "markers", there were none..... we could only assume the original guy was trying to find something.

My husband was not just stopped but taken aside (a year or so ago) to a separate room whilst they went off with his passport and identity card. They came back a couple of times to ask further info, like where was he born, proof of where he now lives, then came back again to ask details about his family, where he went to school etc.

He was getting really hot under the collar by this stage.

Then they came back to say it was fine, he could go. He asked what had been the problem and they explained that there was an Interpol call out for a man with the same name, from the same country (France) with the same date of birth .. who had escaped from prison in France! Luckily, they used places of birth and general questioning regarding his background and where he grew up to distinguish him from this other man.

Close call that one!

I carry a US passport and when leaving or coming back to dear old CHeeseland I flash my passport as well as my Carte de légitimation... I find it speeds the whole process up.

or unbeknownst to you your hubby has been living a secret double life
does he have any unexplained scars or tattoo's?

When I didn't showed my ausweis on the way out (just my passport) they asked me as well... With just a foreign passport they wonder why you fly via Switzerland..

I'v heard that sometimes they recieve an intelligence tip or two about a potential threat and do indulge in a thorough check. Perhaps it was one of those days for you.

I know... I did think that, but then thought why would he be telling me about it when I wasn't even there, but maybe that was just a really complex double bluff?

Come to think about it, he does own a lot of striped t shirts ...¨

You're always supposed to show your green card, coming and going.
It also allows you to use the extra special "EU/EEA/EFTA" line that the other holders of blue passports aren't allowed in.

really?.. .I've never actually been asked for it .. if one a time or two I havent shown it they've always treated me as I suppose they suspected I am... just another ig-nerrant American tourista

For years, the passport guys were telling me (in German, not exactly like written though )): always give both Ausweis and Reisepass together...

Finally, these past two years, I've been good and with it, doing just that. Everyone is happy and I get through quickly.

Really? I had no idea. This might save some time in the future.

I fly through GVA at twice a week... often i just have to flash my passport (half the guys there know me by now - to the point that i was welcomed like a long lost stranger after 3 months travel break)... Oddly though the week after I got my B permit I flew and the on the way back in I was asked to show it... never have been before!

Why both? Why not just one or the other (to get back into CH). I think I generally have both with when flying from the airport, just in case (read some other horror stories on the subject here).

As for land crossings, depends, but on more than one occasion the most offcial bits of ID have been my ZVV Netzpass (= Zurich region travel card) and my Halbtax Visa card

Back when I wasn't Swiss, I NEVER carried my permit with me!

Tom

I get asked all the time. I got mad once and the dude gave me some spiel about how twenty questions and seeing my permit and passport somehow speeds up the process. I thought I was getting special treatment due to FWM (Flying While Muslim) but apparently not getting asked where you live is the exception.

I was going to Israel once, and was pulled out of line for FWBAM (Flying While Being Assumed Muslim).

I'm forever soured on Israel as a result.

That must be non-EU only?

I've never been asked for my Ausweiss on entering or leaving CH.