Switzerland is now in the last month of rolling out the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) at its remaining external-border airports—Lugano, Dübendorf and Bern-Belp—before full automation goes live nationwide in early April 2026. Basel, Geneva and Zurich airports have used the biometric system since October-November 2025. EES replaces manual passport stamping for third-country nationals with electronic registration of facial images and fingerprints. It automatically counts visa-free days, allowing cantonal migration offices to detect overstays in real time and giving companies early warning if an employee’s allowable 90-day period is close to expiring.
![Entry/Exit System reaches final deployment phase at Swiss regional airports]()
Travellers or HR departments who need additional guidance on visa classifications ahead of this change can turn to VisaHQ’s dedicated Switzerland page (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/), where interactive tools, document checklists and on-demand experts simplify everything from Schengen visa applications to work-permit renewals.
During the commissioning period travellers may meet longer queues while officers switch between old and new processes. The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security recommends arriving at regional airports 30 minutes earlier than usual until 31 March. Global-mobility teams should note that once EES is fully operational the “reset” practice of exiting and re-entering Switzerland on a weekend trip to London will no longer hide cumulative Schengen days: the system tallies them automatically. Auditing short-term business travellers’ stay budgets—and educating line managers—is therefore a priority for April onward.
Travellers or HR departments who need additional guidance on visa classifications ahead of this change can turn to VisaHQ’s dedicated Switzerland page (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/), where interactive tools, document checklists and on-demand experts simplify everything from Schengen visa applications to work-permit renewals.
During the commissioning period travellers may meet longer queues while officers switch between old and new processes. The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security recommends arriving at regional airports 30 minutes earlier than usual until 31 March. Global-mobility teams should note that once EES is fully operational the “reset” practice of exiting and re-entering Switzerland on a weekend trip to London will no longer hide cumulative Schengen days: the system tallies them automatically. Auditing short-term business travellers’ stay budgets—and educating line managers—is therefore a priority for April onward.
