Switzerland visa guide
The Switzerland Study & Research Visa is for study, research or an internship in Switzerland. Short stays of up to 90 days use a Schengen Type C visa; longer study requires a national long-stay visa or residence permit.
Beyond the standard Schengen documents, the embassy expects a certificate of admission or registration at an educational establishment in Switzerland, or a cover letter from the inviting institution.
Lifeset Overseas confirms whether your stay needs a short-stay visa or a residence permit and builds the file so your study or research purpose is clearly evidenced.
Switzerland national (D) student visa from India
A stay of more than 90 days to study in Switzerland needs a national D visa. The Embassy of Switzerland to India and Bhutan states that the application "has to be submitted personally at the Visa Section" of the Embassy in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, with an appointment booked online through VFS Global. The visa application form "is free of charge" and is downloaded from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). Authorisation "lies in the competence of the migration office of the respective canton", so the Embassy forwards the file to the canton where your school is.
What to submit
- Three application forms plus one original and two copies of every document, "in exact order", not stapled.
- Passport issued within the last ten years, valid at least three months after the scheduled return, with two blank pages; handwritten passports or passports with observations on the biodata page are not accepted.
- Four passport photographs 35 to 40 mm wide on a white background, under six months old: three pasted on the forms and one clipped to the last page of the passport.
- The admission and fee confirmation from the Swiss institution, your academic record, a motivation letter and CV, proof of funds for the study period, accommodation and health-insurance arrangements as the Embassy lists.
Official sources
- State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), visa application form: https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/einreise/visumantragsformular.html
- VFS Global, Switzerland, India, appointment scheduling: https://www.vfsglobal.ch/switzerland/india/
Checked against the Embassy of Switzerland's D visa student checklist held in our Knowledge Base on 30 September 2026. Fees and rules change; the official page always prevails.
Verified figures for Switzerland
What a year in Switzerland costs — and what you must prove
- Public-university tuition, non-EU student, per year
- €927 – €8,529
- Private universities: €24,963 – €41,049
- Funds the visa authority asks you to show
- €22,388 a year
English-taught courses: available but limited. varies by university and programme — no national minimum is published
Read on the official pages below on 27 Aug 2026. Figures change every academic year — check them before you pay anything.
Where Switzerland stands among the 29 Schengen study countries
Computed from verified figures
On the lowest published public-university fee for non-EU students, Switzerland sits 6th of 26 Schengen countries (€927 a year at the floor, up to €8,529). The living-cost proof the residence permit asks for works out to about €1,866 a month, which ranks 23rd-lowest of the 23 countries that publish a monthly or yearly figure. English-taught programmes exist but are limited: only 18 of the 29 countries teach widely in English, and Switzerland is not one of them, so the course list matters more than the country.
Closest on tuition: Italy and Croatia. Compare all 29 side by side on Study in Europe.
