Switzerland Visa Photo Requirements

No single national photo standard

Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration does not publish one photo-size figure that every mission must follow. The Embassy in Beijing’s own checklist for the Schengen visa states one set of figures [1]; the Embassy in New Delhi’s own checklist, for the same visa, states only a width and does not restate a height [2]. Neither page is a nationwide circular — each is a single mission’s own checklist, published on the same Federal Department of Foreign Affairs domain.

Background and recency are not stated identically everywhere

Where missions state a background rule, the wording differs: the Beijing checklist allows a second colour option that the New Delhi checklist does not mention [1][2]. Recency is stated with more or less precision depending on the mission — the New Delhi checklist gives an explicit age limit for the photo, while the Beijing checklist’s own wording gives no comparable figure at all [1][2].

Face proportion, ears and eyebrows

Of the missions checked, only the Embassy in Bangkok’s checklist spells out how much of the frame the face should fill, and it additionally requires that the ears and eyebrows both remain visible in the photo [3].

The photo must be an original print, glued not stapled

The Embassy in New Delhi’s checklist states plainly that a photocopied or scanned picture is not accepted, and that the photo must be glued onto the application form — a stapled or pinned photo is rejected [2].

Two different ways a photo reaches the application

Applicants bringing their own printed photo follow a mission checklist’s own size, background and mounting rules [1][2]. Separately, the joint Schengen local-cooperation information sheet published for India describes an in-person route: when biometric data (fingerprints and a photograph) is collected at the appointment, the photograph itself may be captured digitally on the spot, or scanned from a recent photo that already meets the ICAO standard, rather than brought as a separate print [4]. These are two different ways the photograph can reach the application, not two competing specifications for the same printed photo.

This page does not cover the national long-stay visa

The checklists used on this page are for the Schengen short-stay (type C) visa. No Swiss source found sets out a distinct photo specification for the national long-stay (type D) visa.