Hi Guys,

I just live near the border of Austria.
We we do a lot of shopping over the border.

Unfortonatly a lot of times we try to get the stamp on our invoice in Austria, the border is closed (weekend, or after 17:00) and we cannot get the stamp so the invoice... so no cash back as it needs to be stamped on the same day (?).

I heard that there is also a "Decleration box" on the border??

Also someone told me there is a border 24H open?

How do you guys manage this??

Thanks a lot:-)

AFAIK none near you. Check here.

Thats for the reply, but this are the Zoll in Swiss.... Some of them i see are open on the weekends and at night...

But (if i understand correctly) i still need to stamp the invoice at the Austian border first... to be able to get TAX refund...

No idea why this would be different with Austria, on leaving Germany I get the stamp from the Swiss customs officer

Exactly.

Even if you need something from the Austrians:
Exporting from one country requires importing into the other, so opening times can be expected ot be the same.

He needs one from the Austrians, not the Swiss!

Also, the Swiss stamp it when you enter Switzerland, NOT when you leave Germany!

Tom

Open is one thing, manned is another.

He needs it manned as well as open.

And just because one side is manned is no reason to assume that the other side is as well.

Tom

Whilst we are at it

I am in the process of leaving Germany when I enter Switzerland

And yes. I know I am not a native speaker, been reminded already a couple of times.

Lol. You clearly had not crossed the border many times in the past nor recent past. Many Swiss border crossing are not manned, while the German sides are.

I think there were even times in the pre-Schengen era were the Italian side of Splügenpass was closed but the Swiss side was fully open (or vice versa).

Here the opening times of the Austrian crossings. Do not know which ones are relevant, but Lustenau is the the one with the longest opening times in any category.
https://service.bmf.gv.at/service/an...irch%20Wolfurt

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You already left Germany when you stand at the desk to get a Swiss stamp, and this is the first time I hear the Swiss border does stamp the German export papers, those are actually none of their business.

You´re right, got that wrong

Seems to be a bit confusing here.. :-)

Here is what I normally do:


Drive to Austria, go to the Hyper Spar (just a big soar supermarket). Buy all my stuff there (within the limit offcourse :-p ) at the cashier I ask for the Swiss invoice... put address, name etc on it.


Drive to the AUSTRIAN border, get my stamp..... done! Nothing to do at the Swiss border....


Next week I go back to the supermarket, give my invoice and I get the euros...


One of the ladies at the supermarket told me there is somewhere a border that is open 24 to get my stamp...

Thanks for the overview times... I was looking for that!!!!

The only 24 hour one is Lustenau. I assume you're going to Altenstadt Interspar, for me that would be too far to be a worthwhile diversion. Schaanwald is open til 6 so you should catch it on a Saturday.

TBH I would also find Chur - Feldkirch too far to be worth going to just for food shopping. Although I live much closer than you I do not find the savings on food to be worth the time unless I am anyway there for something else.

Clothes otoh....

Thank you very much for your help: it looks like Lustenau works around a clock - got my papers stamped around midnight between Saturday and Sunday.

Can anyone give an update on what the border crossing situation is like Near St Margrethen / Bregenz?
I read on the Austria.info website that EU/Swiss travellers need a PCR test but quarantine is not necessary.
Thanks!

If you want to cross into Austria, you need to fill out the pre-clearance with the address you're staying at plus you need a COVID test (PCR 72 hours old, Antigen 48 hours old). You need to go into quarantine for 10 days and can be out in 5 with a further test.

I think it depends on the border crossing.

The offices are not always located on the precise border location. Not always practical or even possible.

We crossed by train at Buchs about 10 days ago and there were no checks whatsoever. We did have all the documentation just in case (I even phoned the Austrian consulate to make sure I had understood correctly because the text on the website was ambiguous) but nobody on the Austrian side actually checked anything.

When travelling into germany and back into switzerland make shure that
you register online , no matter if you travel by car or train/bus.
It makes no difference , if the border is manned/open or not.