Switzerland is not bound by Asylum Procedures Directive and the recast Reception Conditions Directive, but it is bound by the Dublin III Regulation and the Returns Directive (2008) and has national legislation in place to regulate the provision of information.

Asylum Act | Loi sur l'asile

Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration | Loi fédérale sur les étrangers et l’intégration, as amended by Annex No 1 of the Federal Act of 25 September 2015, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2016 3101, 2018 2855; BBl 2014 7991)

Classification: Public

The Swiss legislation does not foresee any information provision activities at this stage of the asylum procedure. According to Article 26(3) of the Asylum Act, applicants receive multilingual information brochures, watch a video about the procedure and its steps and are entitled to free legal assistance only after filing the application, at the start of the preparatory phase, when arriving to the assigned Federal Asylum Centres | Bundesasylzentren | centres fédéraux pour requérants d’asile | centri federali d’asilo .The State Secretariat for Migration | Staatssekretariat für Migration | Secrétariat d’Etat aux migrations | Segreteria di Stato della migrazione provides information about applying for asylum in Switzerland its website and a dedicated asylum information web app. 

Further information is made available under the dedicated page and the Youtube profile of the State Secretariat for Migration | Staatssekretariat für Migration | Secrétariat d’Etat aux migrations | Segreteria di Stato della migrazione. 

Information about children in the asylum procedure, stateless persons and gender-specific persecution is provided by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) in their website.
Information on access to procedures is also provided by 

• the Swiss Refugee Council | Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe (SFH) (under a dedicated page of their website) together with a page containing information about children in the asylum procedure.
• the Swiss Organisation for Aid to Refugees | Organisation suisse d’aide aux réfugiés (OSAR) (under a dedicated page of their website).
• UNHCR under their Help page and Information for children page, even if in Switzerland, UNHCR has no formal role in the asylum procedure.
   

There are no specific brochures at the airport or in detention facilities about the right to file an asylum application.

In practice, applicants receive an information leaflet about the Dublin procedure after filing the application at the start of the preparatory phase by the SEM and when arriving to the assigned Federal Asylum Centres | Bundesasylzentren | centres fédéraux pour requérants d’asile | centri federali d’asilo. Additionally, the State Secretariat for Migration | Staatssekretariat für Migration | Secrétariat d’Etat aux migrations | Segreteria di Stato della migrazione (SEM) provides information about the Dublin procedure in Switzerland in its website and a dedicated asylum information web app. Further information is available under the Frequently asked questions about Dublin Procedure and Eurodac page.

• the Swiss Refugee Council | Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe (SFH) (under a dedicated page of their website) together with a page containing information about children in the asylum procedure.
• the Swiss Organisation for Aid to Refugees | Organisation suisse d’aide aux réfugiés (OSAR) (under a dedicated page of their website).
• UNHCR under their Help page, even if in Switzerland, UNHCR has no formal role in the asylum procedure.

The State Secretariat for Migration | Staatssekretariat für Migration | Secrétariat d’Etat aux migrations | Segreteria di Stato della migrazione (SEM) is responsible to provide information on the personal interview, the procedure, and their rights and obligations according to Article 26 of the Asylum Act. The legal representative has the task to provide detailed information and prepare the applicant for the interview. 

Further information is made available under the dedicated page and the  Youtube profile of the  State Secretariat for Migration | Staatssekretariat für Migration | Secrétariat d’Etat aux migrations | Segreteria di Stato della migrazione.

Information on special procedures is available on a SEM dedicated page. In addition, the accelerated asylum procedure is presented in a video format, together with an explanation of national asylum procedures and the strategy for processing asylum requests.

Information on first instance procedures is also provided by 

• the Swiss Refugee Council | Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe (SFH) (under a dedicated page of their website) together with a page containing information about children in the asylum procedure.
• the Swiss Organisation for Aid to Refugees | Organisation suisse d’aide aux réfugiés (OSAR) (under a dedicated page of their website).
• UNHCR under their Help page and Information for children page, even if in Switzerland, UNHCR has no formal role in the asylum procedure.
  
   

Information on legal assistance and representation is provided by the State Secretariat for Migration | Staatssekretariat für Migration | Secrétariat d’Etat aux migrations | Segreteria di Stato della migrazione (SEM) and the Federal Asylum Centres | Bundesasylzentren | centres fédéraux pour requérants d’asile | centri federali d’asilo.

According to Article 102f of the Asylum Act, the applicant whose application is examined in one of the Confederation centers, has the right for a counsel and a legal representation free of charge. Article 102g provides that the applicant benefits of a counsel concerning the asylum procedure and that person shall provide to the applicant legal and procedural information, on the right and obligations of the applicant during the asylum procedure.

Article 14 of the Ordinance of the FDJP on the on the management of federal reception centres in the field of asylum and accommodation at airports outlines that the persons accommodated in the reception centers of the Confederation as well as those in the premises of the airports have free access to information related to Article 102f of the Asylum Act (free legal assistance and representation), and to other documents, in particular to the list of legal advisers and legal representatives, with their contacts. Additionally, UNHCR under their Help page, even if in Switzerland, UNHCR does not provide individual legal representation or counselling.

Civil society organisations are also providing information on the asylum procedure.

The Swiss Organisation for Aid to Refugees (Osar) provides general information on the asylum procedure (biweekly permeances by phone) and training for professionals on the asylum procedure, but it does not intervene in individual cases.

The Swiss Refugee Council provides legal information on the asylum system in Switzerland and on the rights deriving from each protection status, during a weekly phone consultation. However, the organisation does not provide legal counselling on individual cases.

Currently, Switzerland has not implemented resettlement or humanitarian admission programmes.

According to Article 57 of the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration | Loi fédérale sur les étrangers et l’intégration, as amended by Annex No 1 of the Federal Act of 25 September 2015, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2016 3101, 2018 2855; BBl 2014 7991), asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection are provided with information on living and working conditions in Switzerland, their rights and obligations and programmes for encouraging their integration. The Cantons | Kantone  | Cantons | Cantoni are responsible for providing initial information to third country nationals, together with the State Secretariat for Migration | Staatssekretariat für Migration | Secrétariat d’Etat aux migrations | Segreteria di Stato della migrazione (SEM) and the Federal Asylum Centres | Bundesasylzentren | centres fédéraux pour requérants d’asile | centri federali d’asilo.

Information is made available under the dedicated page and a dedicated app of the State Secretariat for Migration | Staatssekretariat für Migration | Secrétariat d’Etat aux migrations | Segreteria di Stato della migrazione

Information on integration and content of protection is also provided by UNHCR under their Help page, even if in Switzerland, UNHCR has no formal role in the asylum procedure.

All asylum seekers received information on the asylum procedure, rights and obligations and accommodation (available in several languages) when they filed their application, at the start of the preparatory phase, when arriving to the assigned federal asylum centre with processing facilities. The responsible authorities for providing such information are the State Secretariat for Migration | Staatssekretariat für Migration | Secrétariat d’Etat aux migrations | Segreteria di Stato della migrazione (SEM) and the Federal Asylum Centres | Bundesasylzentren | centres fédéraux pour requérants d’asile | centri federali d’asilo.

According to art. 14 of the Ordinance of the FDJP on the on the management of federal reception centres in the field of asylum and accommodation at airports, people accommodated in Confederation centers and accommodation in airports have free access to information on the providers referred to in art. 102 f , of the Asylum Act and other documents, in particular lists of legal advisers and representatives, with their contact details. 

Information on reception and preparatory phase is available on a SEM page.

According to article 73 of the Federal Asylum Centres | Bundesasylzentren | centres fédéraux pour requérants d’asile | centri federali d’asil , the applicant is informed of the grounds for temporary detention by the Cantons | Kantone  | Cantons | Cantoni 

Immigration detention in Switzerland is applied for the purpose of removal and no general detention of asylum seekers is foreseen.