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The Schengen Area consists of 25 EU member states and four non-EU countries that are members of EFTA: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Cyprus, while an EU member state, is not yet part of the Schengen Area but, nonetheless, has a visa policy that is partially based on the Schengen acquis. [2]
A Swiss passport. Visa requirements for Swiss citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Switzerland.. As of July 2024, Swiss citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 190 countries and territories, ranking the Swiss passport 4th, tied with passport from Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway and United Kingdom in the world ...
The holder of a travel document for refugees or passport for foreigners is allowed to return to Switzerland during the period of validity of the document (as long as the residence permit or provisional admission granted before the start of the journey has not expired in the meantime).
The admission of people from non-EU/EFTA countries is regulated by the Foreign Nationals Act, and is limited to skilled workers who are urgently required and are likely to integrate successfully in the long term. There are quotas established yearly: in 2012 it was 3,500 residency permits and 5,000 short-term permits. [20]
Two of the non-EU members – Iceland and Norway – are part of the Nordic Passport Union and are officially classified as states associated with the Schengen activities of the EU. [15] Switzerland was allowed to participate in the same manner in 2008, and Liechtenstein in 2011.
The Entry/Exit System (EES) is a planned system of the European Union for the automatic electronic monitoring and recording of border crossings of third-country nationals (non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens) at all border crossings of the Schengen Area. The system will be operated by eu-LISA. [1] The most recently announced start date is "in 2025."
Countries of the Schengen area require non-EU passports to be less than 10 years old upon entry. [17] A number of holders of British passports, which until September 2018 could be issued with a validity period of up to 10 years and nine months if the previous passport was not expired, were unable to travel to the EU subsequent to Brexit due to this restriction.
However the UK requires family members to obtain a special permit in order to enter the United Kingdom. [297] Non-EEA family members will need a Schengen Visa before they travel to Switzerland even if they possess a UK residence permit that clearly mentions that they are the family member of an EEA citizen.