Do i need a Swiss Visa if i have a connecting train?

HI from Manila!! im planning our family Euro trip and we only have a schengen visa. We didn't apply for a Swiss visa(if i recall correctly Switzerland is not a Schengen State). Currently im trying to book a trip from Paris to Milan by train the problem now is that the cheapest fare i can get has a Laussane stopover. the question now since we are just a transit passenger passing by Swiss territory do we still need to have their visa.

thanks

hi
as far as i know, switzerland is a schengen state... or they have some kind of special agreement. theyre just non-eu.

im not a 100% sure with it, you schould ask an embassy or something before you book. just to be sure..

Quoting mee

as far as i know, switzerland is a schengen state... or they have some kind of special agreement. theyre just non-eu.

Switzerland is not part of the Schengen zone yet. It is scheduled to join on 12 December 2008. However, for a start, only the overland border will be dismantled. Air travels will still be subject to passport control until March next year.

See: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/search/Result.html?siteSect=882&ty=nd&sid=9915560

Hey there,

I went on a train from Munich to Bern, stayed in Switzerland for 6 days (also seeing Interlaken), and moved on to Venice, all by train and didn't get checked at all.

On my first ride into Switzerland I even asked the train ticket inspector where I could get a visa...He seemed confused at the fact that I even asked for one! Another guy sitting next to me said they didn't bother about that on trains. I actually wanted to get a stamp to prove I'd been outside of the Schengen zone for a few days, but didn't end up bothering

So yeah, the bottom line is that nobody seemed to care about it on the trains

Hien is right.

If you are travelling after Dec 12th and have Schengen visa you do not need a visa to enter Switzerland.

@Erik85: Munich to Bern is a special case as Switzerland has an open-border agreement with Germany. They haven't checked passports on trains travelling from Germany to Switzerland for decades.

t.maia- yup im travelling after dec. 12(12/28 paris to milan w/ 1 stopover at Lausanne) so that means i dont need swiss visa anymore. any link regarding this will be greatly appreaciated. thanks for all the repllies

follow up question: is this applicable to Schengen visa issued before 12/12/08 or is it only for Schengen visa issued after 12/12 im asking this because our interview is on 11/26/08 and i presume that they will release it a week after that which is pre/beforre 12/12/08.

[ Edit: Edited on Nov 21, 2008, at 11:38 PM by doasmarx ]

No, date of issue should not matter. Switzerland has been a member of Schengen for over 2 years now. Schengen visa were supposed to be valid for Switzerland on Jan 1st 2008, but the date got moved backwards several times because of computer problems on the Swiss end of things. (For Switzerland to fully implement the Schengen treaty they need to have the software to issue Schengen visa valid for all Schengen countries. That has so far been a problem.) So don't worry!