Border between France & Switzerland

chokolat2

Hello.

Just a quick question that I seem to be getting different answers to.

I understand there is no physical border between France & Switzerland? But random checks are still possible? Or am I missing something?

Thanks

warwicktiger

There is no physical border, such as a river, and most small roads are not controlled, but the bigger the road the greater the chance of a permanent or temporary control point.

Moneybot

Most of the main roads have a check point and they are manned by the Swiss.

You can avoid them but why are you trying to get into Switzerland undetected?

GlennTheBaker

Tax reasons? Maybe the OP is Jimmy Carr.

alanrowell

Switzerland & France are part of Schengen so there aren't any border controls

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

Roger1

alanrowell wrote: »

Switzerland & France are part of Schengen so there aren't any border controls

Ha ha ha!

Oh yes there are! Perhaps not on roads between France and Switzerland but certainly between Germany and Switzerland.

Apart from spot checks, people arriving by road are checked for vignettes - the windscreen stickers needed to drive on Swiss motorways. Those with are normally allowed to pass without stopping, those without are either diverted (to buy a vignette) or interrogated (to explain why they don't need one).

Back to the OP, it depends. At Basel/Mulhouse, there is a visible border post. In Francophone Switzerland, there are many byways which may appear unmonitored but which have surveillance cameras.

Voyager2002

We don't know why the question was asked...

Until a few years ago, people from countries like India and China who were living legally in the UK (and USA and a few other countries) could visit Switzerland without a visa, but needed the hassle and expense of getting a visa in order to visit France, Germany, and other Schengen countries. So people in that situation might be tempted to visit Switzerland and take an illegal excursion into France...

Sadly, now that Switzerland is a Schengen country even permanent residents of Britain now need a visa to visit, just the same as France, and so it is hard to imagine why anyone would want to slip across the Swiss border.