Whether you plan on spending one semester or one year at the University of Lucerne as an incoming exchange student, you need to be aware of certain visa requirements.

Schengen

As of December 12 2008, Switzerland is now part of the Schengen area. The Schengen regulations provide for the removal of border controls between member states. Today, twenty-two EU countries (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden), plus Norway, Iceland and Switzerland fully apply the provisions of the Schengen acquis. For more information about Schengen and whether these rules apply to you, please visit the website of the European Commission.

Visa Regulations

For country-specific information about the need to obtain a visa for entry into Switzerland, please consult the following sheet provided by the Federal Office of Migration. Note that some countries have different requirements depending on the length of stay (e.g. United States citizens do not need a visa for stays shorter than 3 months, but do require a visa for stays lasting longer than 3 months).

Country-specific Visa Information

For complete information on visa entry requirements, please visit the website of the Federal Office of Migration. It is the students' responsibility to obtain the proper documents for entry into Switzerland as an exchange student. However, we would be happy to answer any questions you may have that is not available on this website or the Swiss Federal Office websites. Please click on Contact Us in the menu above to reach us.