IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Qatar Airways Flights UPDATE

Passengers who already booked a seat and received a flight ticket for a charter flight with Qatar Airways from Johannesburg (05./07./09./12./14./16.05.2020), please contact the airline immediately for further information and last news. Click here

General information about repatriation flights

The Swiss and all EU-coordinated repatriation flights have departed. We cannot confirm when or if other future options may arise.

Should the Swiss Regional Consular Center (RCC) in Pretoria receive information concerning possible repatriation flights, the RCC will inform all persons who have registered on the repatriation list of this representation.

IMPORTANT COMMUNICATION

Due to the system of alert levels, which we have to respect, the Embassy of Switzerland, the Regional Consular Center in Pretoria and the Consulate General of Switzerland in Cape Town are closed for the public until further notice. However, the Embassy and the Consulate General stay functional and operational.

Thank you for your understanding.

Please note prior appointment will be required. You can contact us via phone or (preferably) email to schedule an appointment.

Regarding submitting the AHV/OASI life certificates we are happy to inform you that the Swiss compensation office in Geneva has simplified the procedure due to the current situation:

• The Swiss compensation office in Geneva is temporarily accepting life      certificates via email (scan) due to the current situation, the delays in         postal  services and various difficulties in contacting authorities.
• The life certificates can be confirmed by the insured person by means of  his/her signature (without an official stamp).
• If the insured person would like an extension because the deadline for      submission is imminent, please inform the Swiss compensation office, as  payment will be deferred automatically if the document is not received.

Inquiries and certificates of life should be sent to the following email address:

sedmaster@zas.admin.ch. (Please indicate your AHV/OASI-number!)

In urgent cases you can also contact them by phone on +41 58 461 91 11.

Emergency Notice

On 18 March 2020, the Swiss Federal Council decided, that entry at the Schengen external borders is generally prohibited with few exceptions. Switzerland follows the practice of the other Schengen states. Until 15th June 2020, Switzerland will also no longer issue Schengen visas. National visas will also only be issued in exceptional cases, for example to family members of Swiss citizens with a right of presence in Switzerland who require a visa and to specialists from the health sector.

For additional information, please consult the webpage of the State Secretariat for Migration SEM 

COVID-19, Travel

The Federal Council calls on Swiss tourists and business travellers to return to Switzerland as soon as possible and to organize their journey independently. It cannot be ruled out at this point in time that flight connections to and from South Africa could be affected due to the travel ban issued by the local authorities. Please note that Switzerland is on the South African and WHO list of high risk countries. We recommend that you contact your airline and/or travel agency urgently.

Further, we recommend to all Swiss nationals who are currently travelling or living in South Africa to follow closely the information and recommendations of the local authorities as well as of the World Health Organisation WHO.

On state level, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health has information about the new coronavirus and publishes updates of the current situation and measures to be taken.

IMPORTANT: If you are currently travelling abroad, please make sure you download the EDA Travel Admin App and register or update your travel plans and contact details. By doing so you ensure that you can be contacted by the relevant Swiss representations if necessary.

More information on the situation and measures in South Africa

Department of Health

National Institute of Communicable Disease

COVID-19 General Hotline for the public: +27 800 029 999 / National Health and Laboratory service COVID-19 Hotline: +27 82 883 9920

WhatsApp Coronavirus Support Line from the National Department of Health: +27 60 012 3456

Other relevant sources of information are

Infoline Coronavirus Switzerland: +41 58 463 00 00

Show solidarity and take the necessary precautions and measures to protect yourself and others.

More information and explanatory videos  

Warning to Swiss Bank Account Holders

Swiss citizens living in South Africa have lately become victims of banking frauds. The perpetrators get access to details from Swiss or Liechtenstein banking accounts (names, addresses, signatures, credit balance, etc.) and use this information to forge orders to transfer money to bank accounts in Asia. To prevent such cases, the Consulate General of Switzerland recommends Swiss or Liechtenstein bank account holders to be vigilant with their banking identity details and to request their bank not to send correspondence via postal service and not to process any written money transfer order without prior consultation of the bank account owner via the telephone number that is lodged with the bank (not the one on the instructions).