Visa Requirements - Invitation Letters

Am I subject to a Visa?

If you are a Swiss national or from an EU-Country, you are not subject to a Visa. To enter and stay in the Organization's Host States, Switzerland and France, any national of a third country (i.e. not a national of a country within the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland) is in principle subject to a visa requirement and must submit an application depending on his/her length of stay and place of residence.

You can also find more information on the Swiss Confederation website and on the French Ministry website. Please kindly follow the steps below depending on your situation.

The CERN site straddles the Swiss/French border and parts of the Meyrin site are in France, hence USERS must have the appropriate documents to work in both countries.

The Convention d'Accueil (for short stays of less than 90 days and multiple stays) IS REQUIRED IN ALL cases, as it serves as a work permit in France for nationals of countries who are not members of EEA & who are not Swiss.

Please kindly follow the steps below depending on your situation. We must insist that ALL requests are being made in due time and we thank you for your understanding.

How to request an Invitation Letter for Visa purpose

To start the procedure, the following information (together with a scan copy of your passport) is to be sent to the CENF-Secretariat:

  • First Name
  • Family Name
  • Birth Date
  • Birth Place
  • Nationality
  • Home Address and Phone (in the US if you live there)
  • E-mail
  • Passport no. and Type (ordinary or special)
  • Passport Issue Date
  • Passport Expiration Date
  • Employer/Institute's Name, Address and Phone
  • Name of the Town in which you will apply for Visa
  • Exact dates of stay at CERN
  • Are you coming several times in the coming year (in the coming 365 days)?
    • ​ If yes, please specify approximately how many days and how many times?
  • will you live in France or in Switzerland?
  • Are you coming with your family? 
    • ​If yes, please provide us with their personal information and the scan of their pasports as well. 

During your stay at CERN

  • Name of the Funding Institute
  • Name of the Project
  • Name of the Team Leader (TL)
  • Name of your supervisor if different than the TL
Visas for Switzerland and France - Time needed to process applications

Please note that any person required to be in possession of a visa in order to take up functions at CERN must start the application process sufficiently early to allow the Visa to be issued in time.

The submission of an incomplete application, local circumstances and an increase in applications before the summer holiday period can all result in considerable variation in the time needed to process your application and issue the Visa.

You are therefore recommended to submit your Visa application at least three months and not later than 21 days, prior to your departure date.

This is not anything imposed by CERN, but rather the embassies delays for treating demands.

This information is available in the CERN Bulleting.

More details can also be found here.

The CENF-Secretariat remains at your disposal for any questions you may have.

 

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