The Swiss authorities have announced that third country citizens arriving from countries outside the EU/Schengen Area can now apply for a Swiss COVID-19 Certificate. However, in order to be eligible to obtain such a document, applicants must prove that they have been immunised against the COVID-19 disease with one of the vaccines that have been approved for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) – AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, SchengenVisaInfo.com said.

“The national and electronic solution for converting foreign vaccination certificates  (EMA vaccines) into a Swiss Covid certificate has been in operation since October 19, 2021,” the statement of Switzerland Tourism reads. Except for meeting the vaccination requirement, applicants from third countries must also provide all of the following information for their vaccination passport conversion to be completed:

• Citizenship or their residential status, including a passport copy and an identification card
• Confirmation of vaccination, including detailed description (name of the vaccine, number of vaccine doses received, the institution that carried out the vaccination, date of last vaccine dose, attach the existing certificate)
• Reason of visit, duration, and place of stay while in Switzerland
• Proof of entry to Switzerland, such as plane ticket or overnight reservation

Moreover, it has been noted that all of the required documents must be submitted either in German, French, Italian, or English. Documents provided in other languages are not accepted. According to the data provided by Switzerland’s tourism official page, applicants are required to pay an amount of CHF 30 (€28) for the conversion of their certificate, which can be either downloaded or directly moved into the COVID-19 Certificate App.

As soon as the application process is completed, the applicants will have to wait for a period of up to five days before receiving their Swiss COVID Certificate.

Additionally, it has been highlighted that as a temporary solution, until Sunday, October 24, all human-readable certificates will remain valid for access to indoor areas. However, starting from Monday, October 25, this solution will no longer apply.