Location:
Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Part of:
Foreign & Commonwealth Office

We develop and maintain relations between the UK and Switzerland. Our work covers a range of issues including trade, investment and financial cooperation.

Through our public affairs team we offer a wide range of information services to the general public, schools, universities, government departments and the media. Our Science and Innovation (SIN) Section works with UK stakeholders, local Swiss partners and SIN colleagues elsewhere in Europe on targeted activities, designed to facilitate science collaboration and R&D business deals.

We provide full consular, nationality and notarial services for the whole of Switzerland and provides an emergency passport service. We also represent the UK’s interests in Liechtenstein.

Check our opening hours

Services for British nationals

Urgent assistance

If you’re in Switzerland and you urgently need help (eg if you’ve been attacked, arrested or there has been a death), call +41 (0)31 359 77 00. If you’re in the UK and concerned about a British national in Switzerland call 020 7008 1500.

Get or renew a passport

The British embassy can’t help with passport enquiries. Contact Her Majesty’s Passport Office if you need help.

If you can’t get a new or replacement passport in time to travel, you may be able to get an emergency travel document.

Get an emergency travel document

You can apply for an emergency travel document if you’re abroad and your passport has been lost or stolen, damaged or expired, and you can’t get a new or replacement passport in time to travel.

If you are due to travel in the next 24 hours, contact us as soon as possible.

Please note that ETDs can only ever be issued to First Time Applicants (FTAs - those who have never held a passport before) in very exceptional circumstances where there is an urgent need to travel and there are serious and unforeseen compassionate issues.

If the traveller is a dual national, you will first need to fully explore all other options, ie travelling on / applying for another passport, before we will consider your application for an FTA ETD.

Apply online for an emergency travel document if you:

  • are over 16 years old and
  • are a British citizen and
  • have previously owned a British passport

Contact us to apply for an emergency travel document if you are:

  • over 16 years old but have not owned a British passport before or
  • not a British citizen or
  • applying for a child under 16 years old

Once you have contacted us, you will be advised to make an appointment to apply for an emergency travel document at the British Embassy Berne.

Travel advice: for information and advice on travelling to Switzerland and Liechtenstein see travel advice for Switzerland and travel advice for Liechtenstein.

Get a visa

The British embassy can’t help with visa enquiries.

If you’re not a British national, you may need a visa to travel to the UK. Check if you need a UK visa.

If you’re a British national travelling abroad and need to apply for a visa to visit a particular country or check if you need a visa, see the entry requirements on our foreign travel advice for the country you want to visit.

For more information on visas, see UK visas and immigration.

Marriage in Switzerland

If you are planning to get married in Switzerland, please see our marriage abroad information about who you need to talk to and the documents you may need.

Please note that the British Embassy no longer issues Civil Status Declarations to British Nationals residing in Switzerland who wish to get married in Switzerland.

If you reside outside of Switzerland please also consult the notarial and documentary service guide.

Register a birth or death

Find out how to register a birth or register a death that occurred in Switzerland. You can’t register a birth or death at the embassy or our consulates.

Bereavement support

If the death occurred in Switzerland and you’re still in the country, contact us. If you’re in the UK and hear of the death of a relative from a third party, you should contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 020 7008 1500.

Read our guidance on coping with death abroad as well as our bereavement guide for Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Support if you’ve been arrested

We’ll do all we can to contact you within 24 hours of being told that you’ve been detained or arrested, and will give you a prisoner pack with information for British prisoners in Switzerland. We cannot get you out of prison, prevent the local authorities from deporting you after your prison sentence, or interfere in criminal or civil court proceedings.

Notarial and documentary services

We may be able to offer notarial services, including administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit; make a certified copy of a document and witness a signature. See the full list of notarial and documentary services we provide.

Legalisation services

Ask the UK government to get a UK document legalised (certified as genuine).

Local service providers

Use our lists of local suppliers and services if you need help in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Please note that inclusion in these lists does not constitute official endorsement by the British embassy or the UK government.

How else we can help

In addition to the services listed above we can also:

  • provide information about transferring funds
  • provide appropriate help if you have suffered rape or serious assault, are a victim of other crime, or are in hospital
  • help people with mental illness
  • offer support and help in a range of other cases, such as child abductions, missing peopleand kidnapping
  • contact family or friends for you if you want
  • make special arrangements in cases of terrorism, civil disturbances or natural disasters or other crises abroad

For more information on the services we can provide, see Support for British nationals abroad: A guide.

General information on living in Switzerland

What the embassy cannot do for you

Although we try to help British nationals in a wide range of situations, we cannot:

  • help you enter a country, for example, if you don’t have a visa or your passport is not valid
  • give you legal advice, investigate crimes or carry out searches for missing people, although we can give you details of people who may be able to help you in these cases, such as English-speaking lawyers.
  • get you better treatment in hospital or prison than is given to local people
  • pay any bills or give you money (in very exceptional circumstances we may lend you some money from public funds, which you’ll have to pay back)
  • make travel arrangements for you, or find you work or accommodation
  • make business arrangements on your behalf

Consular fees

We charge fees for some of our services. See the full list of consular fees in Switzerland

Our people

David Moran

David Moran

British Ambassador to Switzerland and to Liechtenstein

Contact us

British Embassy Berne

Thunstrasse 50
3005 Berne
Switzerland

Access and opening times

Corporate information