Resident services overwhelmed Thousands live in Switzerland with forged passports
Ten percent of Swiss residence permits are issued on the basis of forged documents. This is how police and customs officials, who regularly confiscate false passports and IDs, assess the situation.
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- People from non-EU countries work in Switzerland with forged passports from EU countries in order to take advantage of the free movement of persons and circumvent strict immigration hurdles.
- Many forged identity documents are not recognized when residence permits are issued, which, according to experts, means that up to ten percent of permits could be fraudulent.
- Representatives of the authorities are calling for increased training for municipal employees and border personnel, as forgeries are becoming increasingly professional and there is currently no standardized check.
Some work in restaurants or nail salons. What they have in common: A forged passport from an EU country enables them to work in Switzerland due to the free movement of persons. In reality, these people come from third countries for which Switzerland has erected much higher hurdles before they are allowed to live and work here.
In a report on SRF's "Rundschau" program, an officer from the Neuchâtel cantonal police gives an insight into her investigations into a criminal network that enables numerous people with fake IDs to work in catering establishments in the canton.
Fifty people have already been arrested. Their identity cards supposedly come from Bulgaria, Lithuania and Belgium - all Schengen states. In reality, the documents are fake.
Forgeries are well made
According to the experts, the forgeries are well made and it takes experience and technical tools to expose them. The Neuchâtel forensic scientist shows two French passports that were found in a stolen vehicle. With the help of a light, magnifying glass and microscope, she establishes that one of the passports is forged. The owner could possibly have used it to obtain a residence permit.
According to the report, the weak point is the local authorities, who check passports before issuing residence permits. Exercises with forged passports have shown that some employees would not recognize every false identity document.
This is all the more serious as several experts believe that one in ten residence permits are fraudulent because they were issued on the basis of forged documents. According to the State Secretariat for Migration SEM, 921,542 people were living in Switzerland at the end of 2024 with a residence permit - not to be confused with the more long-term permanent residence permit. Ten percent of these are a considerable group.
Alexander Ott from the immigration police in Bern arrives at this proportion of fraudulent permits based on checks and seized forgeries. As a recent example, he cites two Vietnamese women who worked in a nail salon with false Belgian passports.
Counterfeiting networks
Simon Baechler, head of the Neuchâtel criminal investigation department, is investigating the counterfeiting networks. He also believes that the estimate of ten percent of fraudulent residence permits is realistic: "The harder you search, the more you discover," he explains.
Alexander Ott emphasizes how important it is to train the residents' services in the municipalities to check passports and ID cards so that they can actually detect forgeries. There is currently no nationwide training, but Ott is convinced that it is necessary.
The SEM confirms that there is a need for action in this regard. It has contacted the Association of Residents' Services to analyze the density of checks. It intends to submit proposals for further action to the Federal Council by the end of the year.
A document expert from the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security explains that counterfeit plastic cards in particular are getting better and better. Border guards must therefore also be continuously trained.
The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.