Published on 3 March 2026

General information – valid for all countries

1. Important: as part of the process of reviewing a stay abroad, the Personnel Security Screening Unit (PSS Unit) will contact you by email. Please check your inbox (including your spam folder) regularly during the first few days after the initiation of the personnel security screening (PSS).

2. Please note that incomplete questionnaires, missing documents, or forged documents may lead to a declaration of findings or even to a risk declaration being issued. This may mean that you will not be approved for the intended security-sensitive activity.

3. The documents you submit must not be older than three months. An exception may be granted if your stay abroad occurred some time ago and you can provide older documents that cover the duration of that stay and meet the formal requirements.

4. Documents that are not in German, French, Italian or English must be accompanied by a translation from a recognised translator. The databases of the Swiss Association of Translators, Terminologists and Interpreters ASTTI and the Swiss Association of Court Interpreters and Translators juslingua.ch offer valuable assistance in finding translation professionals in Switzerland.

5. The requested documents must always be submitted online. The PSS Unit reserves the right to request the original documents (including translations) by mail at any time if necessary.

6. The required documents must be submitted no later than 30 days after receipt of this request. Without the required documents, the PSS cannot be processed or completed. If this deadline is not sufficient, please contact the PSS Unit in good time.

7. No binding information can be provided in advance regarding the maximum processing time for the PSS. This depends on the circumstances of each individual case. However, experience shows that clarifications from abroad typically take at least one to two months longer than those based solely on data from Switzerland.