Personnel security screenings for stays abroad
If a person has lived outside Switzerland during the reference period, the necessary security-relevant information must be obtained from abroad. These foreign-sourced data must be comparable to the information that can be obtained in Switzerland. The citizenship of the person being screened is irrelevant.
A stay abroad is relevant for a personnel security screening if the person has spent more than three months outside Switzerland within the five years prior to the initiation of the screening, including cases where the person has never lived in Switzerland. In such cases, investigations abroad must be conducted and foreign documents verified, which entails additional effort and longer waiting times. This applies equally to Swiss citizens and foreign nationals.
For which countries are checks abroad possible?
Checks abroad can currently be conducted for the following countries:
Andorra, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Vatican.
General information on stays in these countries, as well as a list of documents to be submitted, can be found in the leaflets under country-specific information.
In addition to the listed countries, checks abroad are also carried out for special foreign stays. Depending on the nature of the stay, different documents must be submitted. Details can be found in the relevant leaflets under special stays abroad.
What does it mean if a country is not listed?
For stays in countries not included in the list, it is not possible to assess or verify the stay abroad based on a legal system comparable to Switzerland or using equivalent evaluation criteria. In such cases, the screening is concluded with a Declaration of Findings. This decision is legally reviewable.
The Declaration of Findings provides the decision-making authority with at least the information on what could and could not be clarified by the Personnel Security Screening Unit. This enables the decision-making authority to better assess the risk when hiring or continuing to employ the person, despite the absence of a granted security declaration.
Information on required documents and submission procedures is available in the information sheet below:
Contact
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CH - 3003 Bern