General info - Visa & permits procedures for Switzerland

Which procedures to choose ?

The kind of procedure a students has to go through to obtain an entry visa and a students’ permit for Switzerland depends on the nationality of the student, on his age, the length of his stay, and the type of accommodation where he is staying (boarding school or other accommodation). In order to find the right procedure to follow, it’s necessary to determine to which category the student belongs:

  • The stay does NOT exceeds 3 months
    Students coming from a country member of the ALCP (agreement on free movement of persons)
    Students coming from a country NOT member of the ALCP
  • The stay exceeds 3 months
    Students coming from a country member of the ALCP
    Students coming from a country NOT member of the ALCP

How do I apply for a visa or a permit

ESL is happy to help its students to apply for an entry visa and/or a residence permit. Therefore ESL sends the application forms to the student and asks him/her to fill them out and send them back to ESL with the additional documents that need to be provided. As soon as the student has sent all documents to ESL and has paid his language course, ESL will take care about applying for the entry visa and/or the residence permit.

Depending on the nationality of the student, it may take 8 weeks up to several months until the permit is approved. However it just takes 1 to 10 days to get the approval of the visa.