I just wanted to make this post separate to the Brexit post so it doesn't get lost.

I have read so many stories on here and Facebook of Swiss residents stuck abroad because they didn't take their permits. Whilst until now (pre-covid and pre-brexit) this has not been a problem for Brits....

NOW DO NOT LEAVE SWITZERLAND WITHOUT YOUR PERMIT you need it for re-entry (always) as you are Non-EU.

https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home...reise/faq.html

For UK nationals and their family members who exercised their right to free movement before 1 January 2021 the same entry requirements continue to apply as before (see answer to the question “What requirements must EU and EFTA citizens meet in order to enter Switzerland?”). At border control, these persons must show one of the following documents in addition to a travel document:

-A residence permit for Switzerland issued before 31.12.2020;

-A residence permit for Switzerland issued after 31.12.2020 bearing the words Gemäss Abkommen CH-UK vom 25. Februar 2019 / Selon l’accord CH-UK du 25 février 2019 / Secondo l’accordo CH-UK del 25 febbraio 2019;

-A residence document issued by a Schengen state pursuant to Article 18 paragraphs 1 and 4 of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community

As a Swiss representative of British in Europe, thank you for posting this and I can only reiterate it. DO NOT LEAVE THE COUNTRY WITHOUT YOUR PERMIT. This applies across the board now, not just because of Covid restrictions.

Of course, it's always been sensible to carry your permit with you at all times anyway, but I know a lot of people haven't done so as a matter of course. Now is the time to change that habit.

but dont they let UK people in as tourists without visa regardless if they have residence permit?

Not during the Covid restrictions. UK no longer EU, nor on the safe counties list.

Outside covid times, yes (until 2022 when they'll need ETIAS). But you're then only allowed to stay for 90 days. If you are a resident here, you must produce your permit at immigration (as the link above confirms).

In the beginning, after I arrived in 85 they never wanted to see it. I got my C in ‘95 and they weren’t bothered about seeing it either. However after Switzerland joined Schengen they began to ask for it. At first nicely with an admonition that I should have it. They told me if I was a resident they didn’t have to stamp me out/in. Since then I always presented the two together.

Now that I’m Swiss it is moot.

Third country nationals resident in Switzerland need their permit to cross borders, any of them (except,perhaps Liechtenstein)!

Likewise, though I arrived in '86 and became Swiss in '97.

Got asked for a permit once while claiming VAT stamps in Germany, driving a Swiss plated car registered in my name, and oddly I had it.

Tom

To reiterate this The Telegraph (UK) reports certain UK citizens were denied boarding by the airlines in the UK to Spain/Italy et al over the weekend as they did not have their resident permit with photo ID.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...-eu-residency/

I flew from London Heathrow today, permit was asked for on check in and boarding. They were turning people away and making calls to Swiss border control for some people. Plane was pretty full and airport was quite empty on both sides , bonus being 10 mins from stepping of the plane to luggage arriving !

That appears to be different. People had their permits, but old (but still valid) ones. But that could be a potential problem with UK nationals with the old paper permits.

Thanks for the heads up! Hopefully we'll soon get some photo IDs and not those cumbersome plastic wallets to carry around with us.

A question though, if one lives in Switzerland and doesn't have an ID with them, how are they supposed to get home?

Secondly, a few years ago I was checked on entry to Switzerland and the border guard took my passport and told me it's linked to my residency permit "in the system". If this is the case, why the need to carry them?

With great difficulty. Airlines are refusing to let people board.

New Rule, present your Permit with your Passport.

This is known as YAUCoB (Yet Another Unforeseen Consequence of Brexit) !

Airlines get big fines for transporting inadmissible passengers. And their handling companies staff can’t possibly know all the rules, they are minimum wage workers who do what they are told and cannot take the initiative.

It's hardly a biggy though, one has to take their passport abroad with them, now it just a matter of taking an additional document!

If not Swiss, and now only a UK citizen (and therefore no longer EU), but living in Switerland, then to enter Switzerland, you will need

• your UK passport
• your Swiss permit.

If you don't have those, the airline may not let you on the plane from the UK, and possibly not from other countries. Even if you do get as far as the Swiss border (because the airline did let you on, after all, or by travelling overland) officially, you will be asked to show these.

For anyone who is abroad without their Swiss permit, and trying to get home to Switzerland, it's been recommended that one phone someone in Switzerland to go and collect the permit out of your home. Whether or not an airline will let you embark with an electronic copy is at the discretion of the airline. It might be possible to be let into Switzerland if someone here takes the physical permit to the Swiss airport/border crossing.

Having said all that, in fact it boils down to the individual person who is in charge of opening the gate at either end of the journey, and their decision and mood, at the moment.

Agree, but when travelling overland (or on connecting flights) you need these two documents when entering Schengen.

Maybe the case before as an EU national.

It is a requirement for non-EU nationals that are Schengen residents to physically provide proof of residence when attempting to cross the Schengen border. In case you are entering Schengen via another country that is not Switzerland where they may not necessarily have access to Swiss resident information, the border officer will know not to stamp your passport.

Visitor UK passports will be stamped on entry and exit of Schengen as the rest of non-EU nationals for non-Schengen residents given the 90 day limit.

Same applies at the UK border for non-EU (now non-UK/Irish) nationals for what it's worth.

Question 1 doesn’t make sense. Where is home and where are they?

Question 2 you are in the Swiss system, but not in any other country’s...

They are trying to keep the bad guys out, give them a little slack please. This rule, which has applied for years to other third country nationals, now applies to British nationals. YAUCoB!