Swiss passport
Encyclopedia
A Swiss passport is a document known as the passport
of the Swiss Confederation.
Swiss passports are issued to citizens of Switzerland to facilitate international travel. For traveling inside the European community, Swiss citizens can use an identity card.
). On the front outside on the right upper corner of the coverpage the words are written «Schweizer Pass» (German), «Passeport suisse» (French), «Passaporto svizzero» (Italian), «Passaport svizzer» (Romansh) and «Swiss passport» (English). Immediately you will find the Swiss cross beneath the writing. The "Pass 06" and "Pass 10" respectively issued in 2006 and 2010 have an additional contain the logo of the biometric passport on the right lower side of the cover page.
". Within the incomplete Swiss cross in printing registration
, there is a tiny micro writing with the name of the canton and the year of entry to the Swiss nation marked. This can only been read with a magnifying glass, or microsope.
From 1 March 2010 and according to the Schengen Agreement
, Swiss passports will all be biometric
. This will ensure that travel to the United States will remain visa-free.
Machine Readable Zone, look under => Machine-readable passport
(biometrics
).
is also used. (except for the last cover page where certain Information for Swiss citizens is only in the 4 Swiss official languages. On page 2 there are 13 languages which of 12 are the official languages from the EU (German, French, Italian, Romansh, English, Danish, Greek, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish and Spanish).
On the back coverpage there is the sentence also in all
This passport contains 40 pages.
Temporary Passport (Emergency Passport)
The temporary passport is often called an "emergency passport". It can be issued according to the Swiss passport laws only in an emergency, when there is no time to apply for a regular passport, or a regular valid passport could not be presented (if the regular passport was misplaced), or if a valid passport does not meet the necessary requirements for travel (for instance when the time of validity is not long enough to enter a foreign country (e.g. Russia and China require over 6 month period of validity).
The temporary passport is the same as Pass 03, meaning containing no biometric information. Even after 1 March 2010 the temporary passport will not contain any biometric information.
The front over of the temporary passport is clearly marked with the white band on the lower half of the cover to distinguish it from the regular passport. The temporary passport only has 16 pages as supposed to Pass 03, having 32 pages. There is no polycarbonate
card, a laminated security paper page with the personal information of the bearer. The temporary passport matches the international security standards for these type of documents and is machine readable.
The temporary passport can only be applied for abroad at any Swiss consulate or embassy.
with printed elements when the passport is tilted against the light on the inner coverpage.
The photograph of the bearer was stuck in the passport with an official relief stamp. Also, B/W pictures were acceptable to be placed in Pass 85. As with older passport versions, the bearer's hair and eye colour were mentioned.
printing.
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
of the Swiss Confederation.
Swiss passports are issued to citizens of Switzerland to facilitate international travel. For traveling inside the European community, Swiss citizens can use an identity card.
History of Swiss passports
The first Swiss passports were issued in 1915. Those were not yet in the famous red colour, but were bound in a grey-green cover. The famous red Swiss passport only exists since 1959. Until 1985 the Swiss passport was only printed in the previously declared Swiss official languages French, German, Italian, and English (in this order of precedence); in the later version of the Pass 85 the fourth newly declared Swiss official language through a referendum, Romansh, was added and the precedence of languages were changed to: German, French, Italian, Romansh and English.The Pass 03 and Pass 06
The Swiss passport is red in colour and raised Swiss crosses on the outside cover (relief printRelief print
A relief print is an image created by a printmaking process where protruding surface faces of the matrix are inked; recessed areas are ink free. Printing the image is therefore a relatively simple matter of inking the face of the matrix and bringing it in firm contact with the paper...
). On the front outside on the right upper corner of the coverpage the words are written «Schweizer Pass» (German), «Passeport suisse» (French), «Passaporto svizzero» (Italian), «Passaport svizzer» (Romansh) and «Swiss passport» (English). Immediately you will find the Swiss cross beneath the writing. The "Pass 06" and "Pass 10" respectively issued in 2006 and 2010 have an additional contain the logo of the biometric passport on the right lower side of the cover page.
Make up of the new Swiss passport
The new Swiss passports (Pass -03 -06 and -10) now contain 40 pages instead of the previous 32 and an information page. For foreign visas and official stamps there are 37 pages provided. The first page is used for the bearer to sign the passport and beneath it the 11 information: "Official observations" and on page 2 there are the translations of the information page in 13 languages (Pass 03) and 26 (Pass 06 and Pass10) respectively. Each page in designed differently. The Coat of arms of the cantons and an architectural element (famous landmarks of each canton) are printed on the right upper hand side of the page and between page 8 and 33 colours of background motives and the Swiss cross printed in "printing registrationPrinting registration
In color printing, registration is the method of correlating overlapping colors on one single image. There are many different styles and types of registration, many of which employ the alignment of specific marks.-Purpose:...
". Within the incomplete Swiss cross in printing registration
Printing registration
In color printing, registration is the method of correlating overlapping colors on one single image. There are many different styles and types of registration, many of which employ the alignment of specific marks.-Purpose:...
, there is a tiny micro writing with the name of the canton and the year of entry to the Swiss nation marked. This can only been read with a magnifying glass, or microsope.
Biometric passports
Since 15 February 2010, non-biometric passports (Passport 03, 06 and 85) are no longer delivered.From 1 March 2010 and according to the Schengen Agreement
Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...
, Swiss passports will all be biometric
Biometric passport
A biometric passport, also known as an e-passport or ePassport, is a combined paper and electronic passport that contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers...
. This will ensure that travel to the United States will remain visa-free.
Physical appearance
Swiss passports are red in colour, with the words «Schweizer Pass» (German), «Passeport suisse» (French), «Passaporto svizzero» (Italian), «Passaport svizzer» (Romansh) and «Swiss passport» (English) at the top right corner with the Swiss equilateral white cross below. The standard biometric symbol is placed at the bottom right.Identity information page
A Swiss Passport includes the following data on the full plastic information page- (left) Photo of the passport bearer
- Type of Passport (PA - without biometrics, PM- with biometrics, PD- )
- Code (CHE)
- Passport No.
- 1 Surname
- 2 Given Name(s)
- 3 Nationality
- 4 Date of Birth (dd.mm.yyyy)
- 5 Sex (M/F)
- 6 Height in (cm)
- 7 Place of Origin : Family origin cantonCantons of SwitzerlandThe 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
is different from Place of Birth, several can be mentioned. - 8 Date of Issue
- 9 Authority
- 10 Date of Expiry (note: Swiss Passports can no longer be extended after the date of the expiry.)
- Passport Type :
- PM - Passport10, Normal biometric passportBiometric passportA biometric passport, also known as an e-passport or ePassport, is a combined paper and electronic passport that contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers...
containing 1 digital photo and 2 digital finger printFinger PrintFinger Print is a Malayalam language film. It was released in 2005....
s - PB - Service, Diplomatic or Partner
- PD - Temporary or Emergency (generally for return travels only)
- PM - Passport10, Normal biometric passport
Machine Readable Zone, look under => Machine-readable passport
Machine-readable passport
A Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....
(biometrics
Biometric passport
A biometric passport, also known as an e-passport or ePassport, is a combined paper and electronic passport that contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers...
).
Languages
The data page/information page is printed in the 4 Swiss official languages: German, French, Italian, Romansch. EnglishBritish English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
is also used. (except for the last cover page where certain Information for Swiss citizens is only in the 4 Swiss official languages. On page 2 there are 13 languages which of 12 are the official languages from the EU (German, French, Italian, Romansh, English, Danish, Greek, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish and Spanish).
On the back coverpage there is the sentence also in all
This passport contains 40 pages.
Languages in the "Pass10"
In the Swiss passport "Pass10", which has been issued since 1 March 2010, there were 13 additional languages added as a good will to help translate the info page to foreign authorities of the extended EU in 2004. Therefore, the Swiss passport "Pass10" has now in total 26 languages on page 2 which supersedes the EU's own passport containing 23 official languages. On the back cover of the Swiss passport "Pass10" contains the sentence in 26 languages: "This passport contains 40 pages".Present: Pass 10
Since 1 March 2010 the Swiss passport Pass 10 has been issued with biometric information - photograph and fingerprints. Switzerland had to implement this type of passport in order to keep participating in the Schengen Agreement, which means that Swiss citizens can move across the borders of the Schengen member countries without using a passport or ID card and vice versa for foreigners. On page 2, 26 languages are used to translate the information page of the bearer. Pass 10 is practically the same as Pass 06 except for the chip with the biometric data. The Swiss accepted it in a referendum on 17 May 2009, with 50.1% voting to introduce this new type of passport.Pass 06
Pass 06 was issued from 2006 onwards. It contains biometric data within an RFID chip. This was a prototype of the newest Pass 10 but only has a 5 year validity. On page 2, there are 13 languages to translate the information on the info page of the bearer. The older version, Pass 03 is still usable until their date of expiry, but because of the Schengen Treaty had to be replaced with Pass 06. [1]Temporary Passport (Emergency Passport)
The temporary passport is often called an "emergency passport". It can be issued according to the Swiss passport laws only in an emergency, when there is no time to apply for a regular passport, or a regular valid passport could not be presented (if the regular passport was misplaced), or if a valid passport does not meet the necessary requirements for travel (for instance when the time of validity is not long enough to enter a foreign country (e.g. Russia and China require over 6 month period of validity).
The temporary passport is the same as Pass 03, meaning containing no biometric information. Even after 1 March 2010 the temporary passport will not contain any biometric information.
The front over of the temporary passport is clearly marked with the white band on the lower half of the cover to distinguish it from the regular passport. The temporary passport only has 16 pages as supposed to Pass 03, having 32 pages. There is no polycarbonate
Polycarbonate
PolycarbonatePhysical PropertiesDensity 1.20–1.22 g/cm3Abbe number 34.0Refractive index 1.584–1.586FlammabilityV0-V2Limiting oxygen index25–27%Water absorption – Equilibrium0.16–0.35%Water absorption – over 24 hours0.1%...
card, a laminated security paper page with the personal information of the bearer. The temporary passport matches the international security standards for these type of documents and is machine readable.
The temporary passport can only be applied for abroad at any Swiss consulate or embassy.
Pass 03
Pass 03 was first issued on 1 January 2003 as the replacement of Pass 85 because the older version did not match the current international standards of the time. Pass 03 is also the first Swiss passport which has been equipped with a polycarbonate card page, which made it machine readable. It is identical with Pass 06, except it contains no biometric data.Pass 85
Pass 85 was first introduced on 1 April 1985 but does not contain any polycarbonate card and therefore is not machine readable. On the red front over in the centre there is a large Swiss cross where from the right upper corner vertically the words "Swiss Passport" are written in 5 languages. An earlier version of Pass 85 only had 4 languages, right until the romansh language was made an official language in Switzerland in the late 80's. The safety features are UV reactory paper, watermarks with the page number and Swiss cross, a Guilloché printing technique with colour changing ink, and printing registrationPrinting registration
In color printing, registration is the method of correlating overlapping colors on one single image. There are many different styles and types of registration, many of which employ the alignment of specific marks.-Purpose:...
with printed elements when the passport is tilted against the light on the inner coverpage.
The photograph of the bearer was stuck in the passport with an official relief stamp. Also, B/W pictures were acceptable to be placed in Pass 85. As with older passport versions, the bearer's hair and eye colour were mentioned.
Pass 59
Pass 59, which was introduced in 1959, had a dark red coverpage with a Swiss coat of arms on the left and on three lines «Passeport Suisse», «Schweizerpass» and «Passaporto Svizzero». The inner pages were in four languages: French, German, Italian - the then official languages - and English. Security feature were watermarks and GuillochéGuilloché
Guilloché is a decorative engraving technique in which a very precise intricate repetitive pattern or design is mechanically engraved into an underlying material with fine detail...
printing.
Pass 1932
Pass 1932 was brown on the cover page and had in the centre a Swiss coat of arms. It had white pages inside. It did not have any security features at the time. Also, there was no Romansh language in it.Pass 1915
Pass 1915 was green on the cover page with no printing on it and also only had the three Swiss official languages. There were no security features in this first series of Swiss passports. The picture of the bearer had no limits on dimensions and could be placed over the marked lines of the outer lines of the page.Price
Prices in Swiss Francs (CHF) as 25-01-2010| Passport10 | Combined with ID card | Temporary Passport | IDK | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children up to 18 | CHF 60.-- | CHF 68.-- | CHF 100.-- | CHF 30.-- | |
| Adult | CHF 140.-- | CHF 148.-- | CHF 100.-- | CHF 65.-- |
External links
- Schweizer Pass Official Swiss passport site available in German, French and Italian
- Images of a 1931 Swiss passport from www.passportland.com
- Images of a 1956 Swiss passport from www.passportland.com