I am Russian citizen that frequently travels to Europe. I was last in Switzerland for Art Basel 2 years ago. Currently I am in the London studying on a UK Tier 4 visa.

I've been trying trying to apply for a 1-day visa to Switzerland in London to come to a day of Art Basel on the 15th of June, but first the website of VFSGlobal total failed me, then it was down, and now it only gives me appointment dates after I already missed Art Basel. Is there any way in London to pay for an expedited visa?

Also, I used to get Schengen visas for 1-2 years. Now when I request to travel, they give me visas that last 3-4 days each. Have the Schengen policies changed towards Russian citizens? Why are the visas so short now compared with before? I've had to travel from UK to Europe twice in the last 6 months, and each time I would be given a visa that only would barely cover my trip. In fact, on one of my trips, I asked for a visa that would cover both trips and they gave me one that only covered the first trip.

I wondered what VFSGlobal was?

When I looked up, appeared to be for Russian Visa, so am totally confused.

Understood you are Russian looking for Swiss Visa. I would expect you to apply via Swiss Embassy in London.
They are located London W1 & only opened Monday to Friday 0900 to 1200hrs. They would have been closed Monday/Tuesday this week.

Embassy of Switzerland 16-18 Montagu Place London W1H 2BQ
Tel 020 7616 6000

Suggest you phone them in the morning and ask your questions i.e.

What are you required to produce for Visa?
Do they have Express Service for extra charge(s)?

Or as you based in London perhaps visit them in person

It's the folks the Swiss have outsourced the handling of visa applications to
ch.vfsglobal.co.uk

You can't just go to the embassy and apply. That would mean no-one could make an extra buck and pay kickbacks. Allegedly.

Tom, thanks without the exact full site, I had got a couple of odd sights come up.

By the way I was not suggesting kick-backs, some Embassies do operate a 2-tier system with extra charges for express.

It is almost 20 years since I had to visit the Swiss Embassy in London for visas as part of my PA duties. The person I saw did not want to give the visas, I asked him what/who had to be contacted. We got them, had to pay considerable extra for faxes to be sent for that was given a receipt. The man I saw was not a 'happy bunny' told me not to come again - tee-hee

Anna, have applied for numerous visas over the years as part of my PA duties for various countries. Sometimes it is frustrating to get only a short one trip visa. Suggest you speak to these people and make it clear you want multi-visa for a longer time, what do you need?
I would guess you would need to show print-outs of hotel bookings for more than one date (if you had letters of invitation as well, that is also good).
Big difference if the application is being done by a company or individual.
As when done by a company who an individual works for, then that company can give letter to guarantee payments for sustenance and repatriation.
Good luck