New Design Swiss Passports to be Issued

The Federal Office of the Swiss Police (Fedpol) has announced that citizens of Switzerland will have a new passport with a new design from the end of October.

Although the design has taken a completely different form, the functionality and performance process remains the same, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

Switzerland is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association; however, it is not part of the European Union. It joined the Schengen Area in 2008, from which date world travellers can enter its territory with a Schengen visa.

In 2017, Switzerland issued a total of 451,528 uniform Schengen visas from 517,010 visa applications received at Swiss consulates and embassies around the world. The visa rejection rate was 7.25%.

Fedpol pointed out in a statement that the current design of the Swiss passport is about 20 years old. Meanwhile, the last update on the design of the passport dates back to 2006, when it was adapted to the security standards of the time in order to include biometrics.