Visiting Switzerland? Overstaying can be painfully pricey 

Poorneema Devi Bujun barely spent a few hours at Zurich airport, but left with a hefty fine of CHF 350. Keystone/Ennio Leanza

At Zurich airport, a Canadian traveller in transit was fined CHF350 (about $385) because her visa had expired a day earlier.   

“It is a fine of pure meanness that leaves a bitter memory of Switzerland,” says Poorneema Devi Bujun, a 38-year-old Canadian citizen. She is very upset with the Swiss authorities.  

Zurich police issued her a CHF350 fine for illegally staying in Switzerland. It arrived in her letterbox in Montreal on March 15. 

Bujun’s woes began last October. The Canadian had just spent three months on holiday in Germany. Before returning home, she wanted to visit her family in Mauritius. To get there, she took a flight from Leipzig via Zurich. 

A costly miscalculation 

When the Zurich cantonal police, which handle immigration at Zurich airport, checked her passport, she discovered that her Schengen visa, which allows a 90-day stay in 27 European countries, had expired. 

Bujun felt she was treated like a criminal for one day of visa overstay. Poorneema Devi Bujun

“I clearly had the intention of respecting the rules but overstayed by one day due to miscalculation. I thought 90 days meant three months and did not consider that one month had 31 days,” she explains.  

Bujun tried in vain to explain her blunder to the police. However, they did not budge and fined her.  

“I explained it was a mistake, but no consideration was applied. It was a rigid application of the letter of the law. I felt I was being treated like a criminal for one day of overstay,” she says. 

According to her, the immigration officers should have applied the law “with discernment”.  

“They could have said ‘Be more careful next time and do visit us again’. As a Canadian, I am used to a more respectful culture when it comes to dealing with people,” says Bujun, who believes that such rigidity damages the country’s image. 

It is not possible to know how many tourists have had the same experience in Switzerland. Illegal stays due to visa expiry are not counted separately in the statistics of the Federal Office of Customs and Border Security (FOCBS). Only illegal stays are counted. These added up to just over 50,000 in 2023.

Between rigid application and tolerance 

One thing is certain: the Zurich cantonal police are not in the habit of showing tolerance when it comes to minor infringements of the law.  

“We are obliged to comply with the Schengen Borders Code when carrying out border checks, which leaves us no room for manoeuvre,” its spokesperson Kenneth Jones told SWI swissinfo.ch in writing. 

However, Zurich’s rigid stance is not the norm in Switzerland. According to several sources, Geneva has adopted a degree of flexibility for special cases. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), the government department in charge of immigration-related issues, itself seems to indicate a margin of tolerance.  

“Each case is examined individually by the competent authorities. The fact that the authorised stay has been exceeded by just one day, or that the person did not leave the Schengen area in time for medical reasons or because their flight was cancelled, are obviously factors that are taken into account,” says SEM spokesperson Magdalena Rast in a written reply. 

Three types of sanctions 

Bujun also considers that the amount of her fine is disproportionate to the offence committed.  

“At first, I thought I won’t pay the fine as it is completely unfair. But I will pay it to not have any problems in the Schengen area,” she says.  

As for the amount of the fine, the Zurich police once again point to the rule book.  

“The checks are carried out on the basis of the Federal Aliens Act, and the amount of the fine is set by the prefecture of the Bülach district [under which the airport falls],” says spokesperson Kenneth Jones. 

However, there is no need for the Canadian to be anxious during her next trip Europe. As the SEM explains, there are three types of penalties for overstaying. In the most minor cases, such as that of Bujun, the person concerned receives a fine, either directly at the border or via the cantonal fines service. 

More serious offences are referred to the SEM. It is at this point that the SEM examines the possibility of imposing a ban on entry into Switzerland, which may be extended to the entire Schengen area depending on the circumstances. Other cases may be referred directly to the cantonal public prosecutor’s office, which may sentence the person concerned for illegal residence. 

Bujun should therefore be able to obtain a Schengen visa again without any problems, when she wishes to do so. To ensure that she does not overstay her visa, she can also use the visa calculatorExternal link available on the Council of Europe website. 

However, Bujun has already crossed off Switzerland from her list of travel destinations. The Alpine nation is now associated in her mind with “its rigid and rude culture”.  

“As I prepared to board my plane after receiving the fine, I saw a big Switzerland Tourism poster and I said to myself that I will never visit again”.