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Summary information to obtain Swiss visa / work permit

In general, you will need to apply for a visa (or work permission) in case that your stay exceeds 8 days. The required documents have not changed. Details for what you have to do are now given on a PSI webpage which you'll find here (it's even in english!):

PSI visa information page

• Non-EU/EFTA citizens should start latest 8 weeks ahead of their arrival at PSI.
• EU/EFTA citizens should initiate the procedure at least 10 days in advance. If your stay is longer than 90 days, also EU/EFTA citizens have to apply for a visa and have to send in all the full paper work listed below. For a stay <= 90 days, you only need to send a copy of your passport and the exact dates of arrival and departure.

• First Step : Send an email to Anita_van_Loon with the following information (scanned copies should be ideally send as a PDF document):
  • A letter of your home institute confirming that (here is an example letter : MurrayEmploymentLetterSummer2011Signed.pdf):
    • you are employed at your home institute
    • your monthly (yearly) salary is ....
    • they send you to PSI from ... to ... for participating in the experiment ....
    • and you'll return to the home institute after the period.
    • Feel free to send the example letter to your department to demonstrate what you need.
      • UW grads: contact Catherine Provost (cuala@uw.edu)
  • A copy of your passport (scan of the picture & info page)
  • A certificate of health insurance indicating that you are covered in Switzerland by your US insurance. (An example letter: MurrayHealthInsurance.pdf. Feel free to distribute this to demonstrate what you need)
    • UW grads: contact Wanda Meadows (wandam2@uw.edu)
  • The completed questionaire for guest scientists (Word document)
  • A statement about the location of the consulate/embassy where you want to pick up your visa.
  • You can list me (Peter Winter) as the contact person at PSI.
• Ideally you send these information at least 7 weeks in advance to Anita.
• If you have any questions concerning the procedure or during your application process, feel free to contact me ( Peter_Winter) and I will try to help.
• Once you have the necessary paper work you need to apply at your chosen embassy for the visa. Please check with the swiss embassy webpage for the details of this process.

Applying for a visa

If you do not have the letter of invitation from the Swiss migration authority (sent to you by Anita), you must acquire this. See above.

You can find the documents and information you need on the applicable Swiss Consulate General website. Your state of residence determines which consulate you must apply to (see the website). Also, in most places in the US, you can apply by mail, but if you live near an office, you might have to appear in person.

• Washington state is served by the San Francisco Consulate general
• (please add your institution here)

The "Visa Information" link will provide more details. If you are not staying longer than 3 months, the application process is simpler. Otherwise, you must submit more material for a full Schengen visit