Dear Members,
Greetings! I am new to the forum and would be glad if the community can provide advice on the topic below.

I am a passport holder issued by the republic of India but have a valid work/residence permit in Germany stamped on the passport. I stay in Munich with my family and had planned a short 4 day trip to Switzerland for next week. As per rules, we are allowed to visit Switzerland without a visa.

However, our passports are stuck with the UK embassy in Düsseldorf for UK visas and the UK embassy does not guarantee that I will get back the passports in time. I have a stamped letter (along with photocopies of our relevant passport pages incl. German work permit - Aufenthalserlaubnis) from Worldbridge services handling UK visa applications stating that our passports are in their possession for UK visa processing.

Can I enter by rail into Switzerland from Germany with only the above stamped letter and photocopies of our passports? Any experience whether the border police would allow us in or not?

The local Swiss consulate in Munich only stated that I may proceed at my own risk .

Thanks in advance for any hints/recommendation!

I would listen to what the consulate told you.

What rule? I suspect you need a visa:

http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/...nf/visind.html

You can not enter Switzerland without your original passport!!! I would NOT proceed at your own risk!! I would plain & simple not do it. If someone at the embassy told you that they should be fired!

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Mentalists of the world congregate .....

Nathu, if you read the link that you posted it says that with a valid residence/work permit issued by an EU or EFTA country the OP doesn't actually need a visa.

However, I would not try something like that without the original passport either. Sounds like trouble waiting to happen....

The people at the consulate that said the OP should try "at their own risk" obviously has the IQ of an amoeba. I wonder whether they would be prepared to put that in writing?

With a residence permit in DE, one does not require a visa to enter CH, at least that was my experience.

However, your problem is not whether you can enter CH, as much as whether you can prove that you have a residence permit. plus, one always requires a passport (or valid ID) to enter another country. again, that was my experience. having forgotten my passport on a business trip to DE, i re-entered CH only with my Auslanderausweis, and was sternly warned by immigration officers on the train.

that letter states only that: that your passports are held there. it cannot be used in lieu of a real passport. only a letter from your embassy will do.

Rather surprising that a bureaucrat would be so flexible to say "at your own risk".

My interpretation is that the trip to Switzerland would not be illegal. But try explaining that to a border guard! First they will arrest you and then try to clarify the situation. That may take days till all pertinent documents are located and verified. Not sure that a holiday in custody is much fun.

I am a coward. I would not try such daring maneuvers.

I noticed that the link mentioned that the person in question needs to have permanent residence in an EU or EFTA country.

Bureaucrats can be remarkably flexible if it means less work. Noncommittal answers have the double advantage that they require little effort while guaranteeing one is never wrong. I have asked immigration-related questions to various officials in different Kreisbüros and the responses ranged from supremely evasive to detailed explanation about the procedure I was inquiring about.

Not sure that erring on the side of caution is cowardly in a case like this. More like "sensible" I would have thought....