The cantonal government of Basel-Landschaft has endorsed a draft federal ordinance that would allow hotels, B&Bs and serviced-apartment operators to transmit guest information electronically to the authorities without requiring a physical signature. Currently, hosts must print, have the guest sign and forward a paper “Meldeschein” within 24 hours—a practice the police say is time-consuming and hampers real-time searches during missing-person or terrorism investigations. Under the proposal, accommodation providers would scan a passport or national-ID document, verify that the data matches the booking record and upload the file to a secure cantonal platform accessible to law-enforcement agencies. For corporate mobility managers placing assignees in temporary housing, the change removes an administrative step and reduces the risk of GDPR-related exposure from storing hard-copy forms. Cantonal officials estimate that digitalisation will save the hospitality sector 120,000 Swiss francs a year in printing and courier costs while giving police instant search capability across the roughly 1.3 million overnight stays the canton registers annually. The project aligns with Switzerland’s wider e-government push, which has already introduced e-visa appointments and online work-permit portals. Industry bodies such as HotellerieSuisse and the Basel-Landschaft Hotel Association back the plan but stress the need for uniform technical standards across all 26 cantons to avoid a patchwork of interfaces. The Federal Council is expected to publish the final ordinance text for national consultation in early 2027; Basel-Landschaft aims to pilot the system from Q3 2027 once the legal basis is in place. In the meantime, employers bringing foreign staff to the Basel life-sciences cluster should continue to advise them to carry passports to reception for manual check-in. Early adopters may, however, be invited to use a tablet-based e-registration workflow during the voluntary pilot.
Source: Nau.ch
