Indian passport renewal in Switzerland?

Holding Swedish work & residence Permit - Passport not stamped?

• I am an Indian citizen and hold a work & residence permit for Sweden valid for 6 months. I came to Sweden through Swiss Airline via Copenhagen i.e. Delhi to Zurich and Zurich to Copenhagen through flight. Then, I took train from Copenhagen to Sweden. The issue is that my passport was not stamped either in Zurich (Switzerland) or Copenhagen (Denmark). I flew from Delhi (India) on 26 April 2009 and got passport stamped from immigration department in Delhi. Thereafter, I reached Zurich at 6:30 AM on 26 April 2009. There was hardly 30 minutes to catch connecting flight to Copenhagen as next flight was around 7:10 AM. Immediately, I rushed to gate A65 and went through passport control. I presented my passport to a lady officer but she did not put a stamp on it which was quite strange to me, though she scanned it. Since I was in hurry, I caught flight to Copenhagen quickly. After arriving at Copenhagen airport, there was no passport control encountered in the exit path. I was quite afraid that there is no inbound stamp on my passport for entering into Schengen country. I went to police within airport to report the same. I met officer and he told that it was not a problem for Denmark. But he acknowledged that since Switzerland was the first Schengen country in journey, so passport needed to be stamped there. He just advised that while going back to India, carry boarding passes for this journey and it was not our fault. Please advise us why my passport was not stamped in Zurich and does it have any ramifications for me? I plan to visit other Schengen countries in holidays, so will it be a problem? Strange issue is that my colleagues having Swedish work & residence permit flying through Frankfurt faced no such problem. Their passports were stamped in normal fashion. What options are available to me?

• Answer:

  The Swiss Border Protection Officer made the fault, she should have stamped your passport on entry. You have three options: 1. Address this issue to the Embassy of Switzerland, Valhallavägen 64, 100 41 Stockholm, Sweden, Phone 08-676 79 00, E-Mail: [email protected], website .. http://www.eda.admin.ch/stockholm .. and have them stamp your passport substitutely. 2. Address this issue to an office of the Swedish Migration board. .. http://www.migrationsverket.se/english.jsp .. 3. Do nothing but keep copies of your flight records with you which can provide proof of your entry into the Schengen zone. You will not face problems when you visit other Schengen countries during your stay since there are no immigration controls, same as on your flight from Zürich to Copenhagen. Edit: (based on additional details): When you leave the Schengen zone just take a little bit more time and I'm sure that the Border Protection Officer will comply with your wish to get the extry stamp based on your flight documents provided. I really don't know whether your Indian Government requires it The European customs officers will not care as long as you depart before your visa expires, so don't worry. Take care!