The long-awaited recognition of the Swiss health certificate by the European Union should enter into force on Friday, July 9th, or next Monday, July 12th, at the latest.

The coordinated EU scheme has been established to make travel easier across the bloc, even for arrivals from countries which are not EU members such as Switzerland. 

Up until then, the Swiss immunity pass needs to be scanned directly into apps from individual countries when you visit. More information about this process is laid out below. 

A special committee made up of representatives of all the Member States has given the green light for Switzerland’s certificate to be approved.  

Once the agreement is officially given, the Swiss health passport will be valid in the 27 countries of the European Union, plus Iceland and Norway.

This passport, in the form of a QR code on a smartphone or printed out on a piece of paper, must be presented by each traveler at the border.

It includes identification data and information relating to vaccination (type of vaccine, number of doses received), screening (date of test, negative or positive result), and even serological analysis, namely if the traveler had Covid and has antibodies.

READ MORE: How to get Switzerland’s Covid-19 health pass

Switzerland’s Covid-19 immunity certificate has been available since June 7th – and now has a linked app which makes the digitalisation process easier. 

Both apps are available for free. Here is the link for the Apple App store here, and that for Android.  

Switzerland’s Covid-19 certificate app up close. Image: FOPH

How to pair Switzerland’s Covid app with those of other countries

Until Switzerland’s app becomes a part of the EU framework, it is possible to pair it with the apps of countries that you visit. 

At present, the apps of neighbouring countries France, Austria and Germany recognise the QR codes issued in Switzerland when someone has been vaccinated. 

This means that anyone visiting France, Austria and Germany needs to download the French ‎TousAntiCovid app, the Austrian Green Pass or the German Corona Warn app and scan in their Swiss QR code. 

Those visiting Italy will not yet be able to scan their QR code in, but can show paper evidence 

This will then be accepted in the app and will allow the holder the same permissions and rights that someone vaccinated in these countries. 

While this process may be a little cumbersome, it will only be necessary until the EU green pass accepts Switzerland into the framework.