My parents-in-law are going through the visa process in India for their planned visit to Switzerland from 9th of May to 8th of August inclusive. We hade to send all the invitation letter etc. to the travel agent and my in-laws finally got the visa but apparently it says that it is valid between the 2nd of May and the 2nd of August.

When they pointed this out to the travel agent, he said that he would contact the embassy to change it. However, he has now come back saying that the dates in the visa are only for the first entry into Switzerland, i.e. they can enter Switzerland at any date between the 2nd of May and the 2nd of August and at the border of entry, they will be issued a 90 day tourist visa from that date.

Is this true? Is this the way the Swiss visa system works? I am not sure whether I want to believe the travel agent.

Any help is much appreciated.

Normally you have to enter between the dates the visa has been issued for; from that point onwards you can stay for the maximum number of days specified on the visa (i.e. not necessarily 90).

It is however incorrect to say that another visa is issued at the port of entry.

Thanks Shorrick. Ddoes it mean then that if the visa had been issued until the 2nd of August, they should leave by that date. So all this rubbish from the travel agent about 90 day visa issued at the point of entry is a load of b******s then.

Anybody out there with first hand experience of inviting relatives on a tourist visa, please can you let me know the process.

Not necessarily. They can stay until "day of entry"+"maximum stay duration". There is a maximum stay duration field on the visa if I am not mistaken.

There's nothing other than a stamp at the point of entry.

Hi private_banker,

Let them enter as that is most important and you can then ask the Kanton Polizei for such cases for any better clarifications.

To my knowledge, the visa starts at the Port of Entry, the date which will be stamped in their passport.

Good Luck!

Hmmmm , in-laws ... Would this not be a good excuse to cancel the trip , then

Seriously , the visas are valid through the dates given and the date of entry just activates the whole thing . So no new visa given on-site .... However , the maximum period of stay allowed is 90 days from the date of entry , assuming the visa is still valid ( So in your in-laws case , they would be allowed to stay from the 9th of May until the 2nd of August )

The Visa is valid from 2nd of May to 2nd of August, that means its a 90 days visa.
That means your parent-in-laws can enter anytime between 2nd may and 2nd august and can stay for the 90 days thereafter.

Atleast thats what our corporate lawyer told us who deals in visa work permit cases for us.

On arrival the swiss authorities would stamp the actual arrival date and then onwards it will be valid for 90 days

Ah! There is a bit of a contradiction between Marcashvin and Mangi1974. Any real life experiences on this front would be much appreciated.

If nothing works, I will ring the Swiss Embassy in Mumbai on Monday.

Nevertheless, many thanks to you folks for all your replies.

I think your best bet is to call the embassy ..... I think we are both ( Mangi1974 and myself ) are saying the same thing :

The visa is a 90 day visa ( 2/5/2008 until 2/8/2008 ) , IF your in-laws come into to Switzerland on the 2nd of May . Since they are coming in on the 9th of May , the visa will be endorsed on this day but still until the end of the validity window ( this window is static 2/5 until 2/8 and does not change according to the date of entry ) . Hope this makes sense and clears things up .

I'm not sure that's quite right. The official position discriminates quite clearly between entrance and residence.

See here .

I had an Indian friend whose parents-in-law visited her here, they came on 90 days visa and the date was valid from the date stamped on the visa (so in your in-laws case it should be 2nd May) and not what the travel agent has informed them. My friend's in-laws requested the Swiss autorities if they can extend their stay for one more month and they got a positive reply. I don't know if you want them to extend their stay from 3 months to 4 but in some cases Swiss autorities do extend the visa after coming here.

My point:your parents-in-law's visa is valid from 2nd May to 2nd Aug. They can enter Switzerland anytime starting from 2nd May and can stay here till their visa expires (2nd Aug).

OK , in my weird way , this is what I was getting at ... Anyway , I would suggest a call to the embassy for a confirmation either way .

And by the way , if my explanation contradicts Shorrick , I would go with him as he is quite good in these matters ( as far as I have seen in this forum to-date )

Ho-hum. I might have to correct myself. With the new Ordinance on Entry and visas, which came into force January 1st of this year, the position seems now to be that the residence must now take place within the duration of validity of the visa. The actual phrasing is quite confusing, both in German and French.

Private_Banker, I went through the same crap while inviting my wife a couple of years ago. The travel agents are a bunch of s**t-heads (especially in Mumbai) and invariably end up ****ing-off the consulate staff and we end up with a tourist permit that is valid for only 30 days because the agent missed providing some detail here or there. When I talked to the consulate and they told me that its best if you apply personally with all details if you wish to get a 3 month visa.

Finally managed to speak to the Swiss embassy in India. The said that the period mentioned in the visa, i.e. 2nd of May and 2nd August is only for the entry. My in-laws can stay for 90 days from that point onwards. There is a separate section called 'validity' that says 90 days. So their 90 days starts from the day they enter Switzerland.

Thanks for all your contributions.