Switzerland Advance Passenger Information

In accordance with Art. 104 of the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals (FNA; SR 142.20), the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) shall determine, having consulted with airline carriers, the flights for which passengers’ personal details (hereafter referred to as API messages) are to be submitted electronically immediately after departure.

This document describes the interface to the Swiss API system, by which means the airline carriers can transmit API messages to the SEM. It shall serve as a basis for both parties in determining the required infrastructure. Further to the requirements and pre-requisites specified herein, the provisions laid-out in the API Ruling of the duty to provide passenger data, are also applicable.

The contents of this document have been divided into three main parts. Chapter 2 provides a description of the data transmission options and applicable message formats. Chapter 3 contains some important organisational information, whilst Chapter 4 specifies the exact format in which the SEM expects to receive API messages. To facilitate implementation on the carrier side, a number of sample messages are provided in the appendix of this document.

Any use of the Swiss API System interface is at the carrier’s own risk. The SEM and the IT Service Center ISC-FDJP assumes no liability for any loss or damage arising directly or indirectly from the use of the Swiss API system.