US Embassy Bern: the visa for Swiss applicants, Zurich residents included

In Switzerland and for Liechtenstein, only the US Embassy in Bern issues visas. The consular agencies in Zurich and Geneva serve US citizens, not visa applicants. Here you will find who can apply in Bern, who gets priority, what the visa costs and how your passport comes back.

If you live in Zurich, you know the American office in your city. For your visa, it can't help. The Consular Agency Zurich is there for US citizens who need a passport, want to register a birth or need a signature notarized. It does not issue visas, and neither does the Consular Agency Geneva. All visas in Switzerland and for Liechtenstein are handled by the US Embassy in Bern.

This guide shows who can apply in Bern and who gets priority, how the form, fee and appointment fit together, what applies on interview day and how your passport comes back with the visa. The rules come from the US Embassy in Bern, the State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual and the official fee schedule. Only the consular officer decides on your visa. What you control is your preparation.

1One country, three posts, one visa window

The US has three offices in Switzerland: the Embassy in Bern and the consular agencies in Zurich and Geneva. The Embassy handles relations with the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein and is the only one of the three that offers visa services. The Consular Agency Zurich states explicitly on its website that it offers no immigrant or nonimmigrant visa services and refers all visa inquiries to the visa section in Bern. Geneva says the same.

The agencies serve US citizens: first and renewed passports, replacements for lost passports, reporting a birth abroad, notarizations and Social Security questions. Emergency passports are issued only in Bern. If you are Swiss, a Liechtensteiner or a Swiss resident with another passport, your visa still means Bern.

Addresses and phone numbers are on ch.usembassy.gov. We don't list them here because they change and because you apply online anyway. For questions about booking, the Embassy refers you to the booking system's support.

2Who applies in Bern: Swiss, Liechtensteiners, residents

The basic rule: nonimmigrant visa applicants should book their appointment at the post in the country where they live or whose nationality they hold. For Bern, that means Swiss and Liechtenstein citizens wherever they live, and everyone who lives in Switzerland or Liechtenstein, whatever passport they hold.

Bern sets a clear priority. The Embassy states on its visa page that it serves citizens and residents of Switzerland and Liechtenstein first. Applicants who don't live there should expect considerable wait times. So if you live outside Switzerland and hope for a quick appointment in Bern, you are better off planning with the US post in your own country.

Conversely, a foreign national living in Basel, Zurich or Lugano counts as a Swiss resident and gets priority. They can apply in Bern or in their country of nationality. In visa law, residence means the place where you actually live, your actual principal dwelling; the Foreign Affairs Manual takes this from the immigration statute. A holiday flat in the Engadin does not make you a resident.

A Swiss citizen living elsewhere in Europe has two options: Bern as their country of nationality, or the US post in their country of residence. The fee cannot be transferred, so decide before you pay.

3Switzerland as a treaty country: E-1 and E-2

For entrepreneurs and investors, one number matters: 1855. Since 8 November 1855, Switzerland has been a treaty country for the E-1 trader visa and the E-2 investor visa. That is the oldest entry among the German-speaking countries; Austria followed in 1931, Germany in 1956. The Foreign Affairs Manual lists no entry for Liechtenstein in its table of treaty countries.

What this means: Swiss citizens can apply for an E-2 if they invest in and run their own US business, or an E-1 if their company carries on substantial trade with the US. There is no USCIS petition. The whole case is decided at the consulate, which for Swiss applicants means Bern if they apply there. What an E-2 business needs is covered in the guide to the E-2 investor visa, and the E-1 in the guide to the E-1 treaty trader visa.

The E visas come with an extra form, the DS-156E. The principal investor on an E-2 doesn't need it, since its questions are built into the DS-160. The principal applicant on an E-1 and all employees coming as executives or specialists on an E-1 or E-2 file it. Spouses and children don't need it.

4Before the appointment: DS-160, fee and booking

Before you can book an appointment in Bern, your application has to be complete. The Foreign Affairs Manual names three parts: the completed and electronically signed DS-160, the paid application fee and your biometrics, meaning your photo and, where required, fingerprints.

You fill out the DS-160 online in English, with your names exactly as in your passport. It asks for biographical details plus your social media accounts, phone numbers and email addresses from the last five years. The State Department estimates it takes ninety minutes on average. At the end you get a confirmation page with a barcode. You need that number for the appointment and later to check your application status online.

In Switzerland, the fee and appointment both run through the booking system linked from the Embassy's visa page. Every applicant needs their own application and their own fee.

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5What the visa costs

Application fees are the same worldwide and are set in the State Department's fee schedule in the Code of Federal Regulations. For a B-1 or B-2 visitor visa and other visas that don't require a petition, you pay $185. Petition-based visas such as the L-1 and O-1 cost $205, and the E-1 and E-2 cost $315.

The fee applies per person, children included. Depending on nationality, a reciprocity issuance fee may be added after approval. Principal applicants under an L blanket petition also pay the $500 Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee. Fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, even after a refusal.

6Interview or application by mail

Since September 2, 2025, all nonimmigrant visa applicants generally need an in-person interview, regardless of age. Interview waivers essentially remain only for diplomats and for renewing a fully valid B-1, B-2 or B-1/B-2 visa within twelve months of expiry. For that, you must have been at least eighteen when the earlier visa was issued, apply in your country of nationality or residence, never have been refused unless the refusal was overcome, and show no apparent ground of ineligibility. The consular officer can still require an interview.

For entrepreneurs on an L-1, E-2 or O-1, this means renewals lead back to Bern too. Plan them with the same lead time as your first application.

7Appointments and wait times

The wait for an appointment depends on the post, the visa class and, in Bern explicitly, on whether you are one of the citizens and residents who get priority. The State Department publishes estimated wait times for every post. Don't book any travel until the visa is in your passport.

If you need to travel urgently, for example for medical treatment in the US, you can request an expedited appointment. Posts only consider genuine emergencies, not late planning.

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8Your day in Bern

Bern offers no walk-in services. The Embassy asks you to have all required documents ready before you book; if you don't bring them to the appointment, you'll be asked to rebook. Be on time: you won't be let in more than fifteen minutes before your appointment.

The Embassy's security notice allows one small bag of no more than 35 by 30 by 20 centimeters in the waiting area. Multiple or larger bags are not permitted. Prohibited items include larger electronic or battery-powered devices such as cameras and laptops, liquids, sealed envelopes and packages, cigarettes, e-cigarettes and lighters, sharp objects and weapons. The list is not exhaustive, and security staff can ban other items. There is no storage.

Bring your passport, the DS-160 confirmation, the appointment confirmation and the documents for your visa: for the L-1 and O-1, the USCIS approval; for an L-1 under a blanket petition, Form I-129S with the blanket petition approval; for the E-2, the documents on your business and investment. The consular officer has your DS-160 in front of them. Answer the way you wrote it.

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9After the interview: your passport comes by mail

If your visa is issued, the embassy hands your passport to its service provider for delivery. The embassy itself does not handle the return and cannot help with it, so any questions go to the service provider. You can check the status of your application online in the State Department's status portal, using your interview location and the barcode on your DS-160.

You have three options. Your passport can be delivered to your home or office address in Switzerland or Liechtenstein, or to a premium pickup point at a Swiss Post counter. For both of these you pay a delivery fee through VFS-GTS Premium, a separate one for each visa application. If the fee has not been paid, the passport is not forwarded. The third option is free: collection from the VFS Global pickup point in Bern. You get an email and a text message as soon as your passport is ready.

Free collection comes with a deadline. If you do not pick up your passport within thirty calendar days, it goes back to the embassy. And one restriction applies to every option: delivery is only available within Switzerland and Liechtenstein. If you live elsewhere in Europe and apply in Bern, you collect your passport in Bern or give an address in Switzerland.

10When your case stays open: 221(g) in Bern

If the consular officer asks for more documents after your interview, or your case goes into administrative processing, that is legally a refusal under Section 221(g), including for ESTA purposes. But it can be overcome: if you submit what was requested within one year, or once the review is complete, your case continues, with no new DS-160 and no new fee.

Bern has its own process for this. The embassy's website has a form for uploading the requested documents. The embassy asks you to combine every document ticked on your letter into a single PDF file. You only fill in the supplementary form DS-5535 if the consular officer asked for it, and you upload it as a separate file. Send your documents as quickly as possible to avoid delays. What happens next is explained in our guide to 221(g).

If your visa is refused under Section 214(b), there is no appeal, but you can reapply at any time. When that makes sense is explained in our guide US visa refused.

In short

• In Switzerland and for Liechtenstein, only the US Embassy in Bern issues visas; the consular agencies in Zurich and Geneva do not offer visa services.
• Bern gives priority to citizens and residents of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; if you do not live there, expect considerable waiting times.
• Switzerland has been a treaty country for the E-1 and E-2 since 1855.
• Almost all applicants must attend an interview in person; fees are $185, $205 or $315 per person.
• Your passport is only returned within Switzerland and Liechtenstein, either by delivery or through a pickup point that holds it for thirty days.

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