The Swiss Federal Council has decided to lift the special visa restrictions it imposed on Ethiopian nationals in April 2024, bringing the country back into the normal Schengen visa regime. In a communiqué published on 12 June 2026, Bern said the move follows the European Union’s May decision to reinstate standard visa rules for Ethiopia after Addis Ababa significantly improved cooperation on readmission of irregular migrants. Under the Schengen Association Agreement, Switzerland mirrors changes to the EU visa code. For the past two years, Ethiopian applicants faced higher evidentiary hurdles, no fee waivers for official passport holders, single-entry visas only, and longer processing times. As of today, Swiss consulates may once again waive supporting documents, grant multiple-entry C-visas, process files within 15 days, and exempt diplomatic and service passports from fees.
![Switzerland Lifts Visa Restrictions on Ethiopia]()
Travellers and mobility managers looking for a hassle-free way to navigate the restored Schengen procedures can leverage VisaHQ’s dedicated Switzerland portal (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/), which aggregates real-time requirements, offers document-checking tools and schedules biometric appointments—saving both Ethiopian applicants and Swiss businesses valuable time as the standard regime returns.
The relaxation comes at a critical time for Swiss exporters, humanitarian organisations and academic institutions that rely on smoother travel with the Horn-of-Africa nation. Swisscom’s Addis Ababa office, for example, told Global Mobility News it expects staff-rotation costs to fall by 20 % because multiple-entry permits will cut repeated biometric visits. Tour operators specialising in Lake Tana and the Simien Mountains also anticipate a rebound in group bookings now that visa issuance is predictable again. For business-traveller programmes the change is largely automatic: travel-management companies only need to refresh their visa-rule databases. Employers should nevertheless update assignment letters to reference the restored 15-day processing standard and remind staff that a biometric appointment is still compulsory for first-time Schengen applicants. Swiss authorities emphasised that regular visa facilitation could be suspended again if cooperation deteriorates—highlighting how mobility privileges are increasingly tied to migration-management benchmarks.
Travellers and mobility managers looking for a hassle-free way to navigate the restored Schengen procedures can leverage VisaHQ’s dedicated Switzerland portal (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/), which aggregates real-time requirements, offers document-checking tools and schedules biometric appointments—saving both Ethiopian applicants and Swiss businesses valuable time as the standard regime returns.
The relaxation comes at a critical time for Swiss exporters, humanitarian organisations and academic institutions that rely on smoother travel with the Horn-of-Africa nation. Swisscom’s Addis Ababa office, for example, told Global Mobility News it expects staff-rotation costs to fall by 20 % because multiple-entry permits will cut repeated biometric visits. Tour operators specialising in Lake Tana and the Simien Mountains also anticipate a rebound in group bookings now that visa issuance is predictable again. For business-traveller programmes the change is largely automatic: travel-management companies only need to refresh their visa-rule databases. Employers should nevertheless update assignment letters to reference the restored 15-day processing standard and remind staff that a biometric appointment is still compulsory for first-time Schengen applicants. Swiss authorities emphasised that regular visa facilitation could be suspended again if cooperation deteriorates—highlighting how mobility privileges are increasingly tied to migration-management benchmarks.
