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What changed

The Swiss Federal Council has extended protection status S for people from Ukraine. This status will now last until 4 March 2028. The Council made this decision on 19 August 2026. A new rule also starts on 20 August 2026. New applicants for protection status S must follow their military duties in Ukraine. This rule applies to Ukrainian citizens who are old enough for military service, those on the reserve list, and those who joined the armed forces by choice. This new rule does not affect people who already have protection status S.

What changed

Switzerland made visa rules stricter for people from Somalia and Guinea. This started on 12 August 2026. This change matches decisions the European Union (EU) made on 25 June 2026 (for Somalia) and 10 July 2026 (for Guinea). This stops several helpful processes in the visa application. Before, it was easier to provide documents, get faster decisions, avoid fees for people with diplomatic or service passports, and get multiple-entry visas. These benefits will no longer apply. The new rules affect all people from Somalia and Guinea who want a visa for Switzerland.

What changed

The Swiss Federal Council wants to change Asylum Ordinance 2. This change lets cantons set their own social assistance rules for people with protection status S who have lived in Switzerland for five years or more. It will start on 1 March 2027. This happens because the federal government will stop paying subsidies to cantons for this group on 1 January 2027. This decision is part of the 2027 relief package. Cantons can then make their support rules the same as for local people. Or they can keep lower benefits. Or they can set benefits somewhere in between. The federal government also plans to pay cantons a one-time amount of 1300 Swiss Francs. This is for emergency aid costs for each person whose protection status S is removed. This payment is only made if there is a legal decision to remove the person from Switzerland.

What changed

The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), the City of Brugg, and Canton Aargau have agreed. They will extend the temporary federal asylum centre (BAZ) in Brugg. This extension starts on 1 July 2026. It will last for three more years. The center's maximum capacity for asylum seekers was 440 places. This will change to a regular capacity of 250 places. The centre can temporarily increase to 350 places. This needs approval from the Brugg city council. The decision was made with the Swiss Army. It continues using military halls for asylum accommodation.

What changed

The Swiss Federal Council started a public discussion on 19 June 2026. This discussion is about what will happen to Protection Status S after March 2027. Main ideas include keeping the status, possibly not allowing Ukrainian men who have been called for military service to have the status, and giving regions (cantons) more power to set their own rules for social help for people with Status S from March 2027. This last change is because the federal government will stop paying for people who have had Protection Status S for more than five years. This is part of the 'Entlastungspaket 2027' (Relief Package 2027). The Federal Council will make final decisions by the end of summer 2026. They will consider what different groups say and what the European Union (EU) decides.

What changed

Switzerland's Asylum Strategy 2027 started in December 2025. Federal, cantonal, city, and municipal authorities created it. The strategy aims to improve the asylum system. It wants to focus on people who need protection. It also wants to make the process faster for claims that are not valid. Key changes include a new procedure. This procedure will decide if an asylum application is valid under the Asylum Act. This happens before a person can access asylum services. The strategy also wants to make security better. It will allow stronger use of forceful actions against people who break rules. It also wants to make integration programmes better for women and through education. This will help the system handle changing numbers of asylum seekers. A plan for the future of Protection Status S has also been made.

What changed

On 19 June 2026, the Swiss Federal Council approved a change to the Asylum Sectoral Plan (SPA). This plan guides how asylum facilities are set up. The change adds the new object sheet TZCH-2 Buosingen to the plan. It also takes out the object sheet ZSCH-2 Schwyz (Wintersried) from the plan. This change sets the stage for planning and approving a new federal asylum centre (BAZ) in Buosingen. This centre is expected to have 170 places for people to stay. The new federal asylum centre is expected to start working in 2031.

What changed

The Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) announced on 21 May 2026, that it would temporarily close six Federal Asylum Centres (BAZ). These centres are in Thônex, Niederscherli, Aesch, Arlesheim, Sulgen, and Chiasso. This change will start by mid-June at the latest. The SEM is doing this because fewer people are applying for asylum than expected. Asylum applications are almost 20 percent lower than last year's numbers for the first four months. The closure will reduce the SEM's total number of available places by about 700. The centres will undergo minor maintenance work. They are expected to be ready again when asylum applications usually increase in the summer. Right now, 30 BAZ are open across the country, offering about 7,000 accommodation places.

What changed

On 20 May 2026, the Swiss Federal Council approved changes to laws and rules. These changes will put parts of the new European Union (EU) Migration and Asylum Pact into effect. They will start on 12 June 2026. Switzerland is part of the Schengen and Dublin agreements. So, it will use new rules about who is responsible for an asylum request and how procedures work. These come from the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation and the updated Eurodac Regulation. Switzerland will also use a new, single screening process at the outside borders of the Schengen area. This screening will quickly identify, register, and send people to the right process. These processes include sending people back, handling asylum requests, or moving them to another Schengen country. The changes also include a way for countries to help other countries that have a lot of asylum requests. Switzerland's own rules, like AsylV 1, AsylV 3, VEV, and VZAE, will also change.

What changed

Switzerland has lifted its visa restrictions against Ethiopia. This starts right away, on 12 June 2026. This policy change uses the Schengen Association Agreement. It brings back several ways to make getting a visa easier for people from Ethiopia. These include: it might not be necessary to provide supporting papers; people with diplomatic and service passports do not have to pay visa fees; people can get visas that allow many entries; and visa applications will be processed within 15 days. This decision happened because Ethiopia has worked better with Switzerland on taking people back. Because of this, the European Union (EU) brought back parts of its Visa Code that it had stopped using. Switzerland has now done the same.