This index documents the structure of the instructions and circulars of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). The presentation is purely factual and descriptive; it does not replace individual legal advice. For the correct application of a specific instruction to a concrete set of facts, a lawyer registered in the cantonal bar register should be consulted; the professional-law basis of a lawyer's advisory and representation authority is the Federal Act on the Freedom of Movement for Lawyers (Lawyers Act, LLCA, SR 935.61).

1. What are SEM instructions?

SEM instructions are administrative-law directives that the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) issues as the competent federal authority in the field of migration, asylum and citizenship. They give concrete shape to the application of federal law — namely the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (FNIA, SR 142.20), the Asylum Act (AsylA, SR 142.31), the Swiss Citizenship Act (SCA, SR 141.0), the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP, SR 0.142.112.681) and the associated ordinances, in particular the Ordinance on Admission, Residence and Gainful Employment (OASA, SR 142.201) — for administrative practice.

Legal nature (factual):

  • Instructions are not a law in the formal sense (they are not adopted by Parliament and not published in the Official Compilation [AS] or the Classified Compilation [SR] as enactments are).
  • Instructions are an internal administrative-practice interpretation — they tell officials how the law is to be applied in day-to-day administration.
  • Instructions are binding on SEM officials as well as — within the framework of the administration's self-binding — on cantonal migration offices, in so far as these apply federal law in enforcement.
  • Instructions are not binding on courts. The Federal Administrative Court (FAC) and the Federal Supreme Court examine the application of the law freely and may depart from an instruction where it conflicts with higher-ranking law (statute, Constitution, international law).

According to the settled case law of the Federal Supreme Court, administrative instructions are not binding on the courts; they are nonetheless taken into account in so far as they allow an interpretation of the applicable provisions that is adapted to and does justice to the individual case. The precise scope of this consideration in a concrete proceeding is a matter of individual application of the law and must be assessed by a lawyer.

Significance in practice: instructions are the most important interpretive tool for the daily work of the migration offices. Anyone who files a residence application will, in practically every case, encounter an instruction rule that steers the caseworker's actions.

2. Where can SEM instructions be found?

  • Main portal: https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/de/home/publiservice/weisungen-kreisschreiben.html
  • Thematic breakdown: the instructions are ordered according to the three central areas of law:
    • Foreign nationals law area (FNIA, OASA, AFMP) — auslaender.html
    • Asylum area (AsylA, Asylum Ordinances 1/2/3) — asyl.html
    • Citizenship law area (SCA, Citizenship Ordinance [BüV, SR 141.01]) — buergerrecht.html
  • Archive: earlier versions are likewise accessible on the SEM website and can be looked up by their status date. This is relevant for proceedings whose material reference date lies before the current status date of the applicable instruction. Principle: the decisive instruction is the one that was in force at the time of the relevant act of authority; the intertemporal treatment in the concrete proceeding is to be clarified by a lawyer.
  • Languages: the instructions are generally available in German, French and Italian. Federal law is equally authoritative in the three official languages (Art. 14 of the Publications Act); no language version has formal interpretive precedence. In the event of discrepancies between the versions, the true meaning of the norm is to be determined by interpretation.

3. FNIA instructions — overview

The central FNIA instruction bears the title "Instructions and Commentaries I. Foreign Nationals Area" (also cited as FNIA Instructions or Instructions I). It is the most extensive SEM instruction and covers the administrative practice on the application of the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (FNIA, SR 142.20) as well as the associated ordinances, in particular the Ordinance on Admission, Residence and Gainful Employment (OASA, SR 142.201).

Chapter structure (status 2026-05; the exact chapter numbering is to be read off the SEM page on a day-to-day basis, as the SEM occasionally adjusts the structure):

  • Chapter 1 — definitions, principles, general provisions
  • Chapter 2 — residence rules (presence without gainful employment, with gainful employment, residence status)
  • Chapter 3 — gainful employment (priority for resident workers under Art. 21 FNIA, maximum numbers/quotas under Art. 20 FNIA for third-country nationals, admission to gainful employment under Art. 18 and Art. 19 FNIA, trainee permit under the trainee agreements, salary and working conditions)
  • Chapter 4 — family reunification (spouses, children, registered partnership, cohabitation — differentiation according to the status of the person seeking reunification; Art. 42–52 FNIA)
  • Chapter 5 — special titles and hardship cases (serious personal hardship case under Art. 30 FNIA, integration as a ground for residence)
  • Chapter 6 — C settlement permit and early settlement (Art. 34 FNIA, requirements, granting)
  • Chapter 7 — application of the AFMP (free movement of persons CH–EU/EFTA, residence categories, self-employed persons, service providers)
  • Chapter 8 — G cross-border permit (under the AFMP, or under the FNIA for third-country nationals)
  • Chapter 9 — termination of residence (revocation and non-renewal under Art. 62–63 FNIA, lapse of the permit, removal, entry ban)
  • Chapter 10 — external borders and visas (visa issuance, entry, Schengen short stay, national visa D)
  • Chapters 11 ff. — special areas (including diplomatic status and special missions, permits for artists, athletes and researchers, students, au pairs, EU long-term residence, sanctions, data processing, enforcement)

Update cycle: the Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area are typically comprehensively revised, with ad-hoc partial revisions in the event of substantial legal changes (e.g. after the entry into force of new Federal Council ordinances or after Federal Supreme Court rulings that qualify a previous practice as contrary to federal law).

4. AsylA instructions — overview

In the asylum area, the SEM publishes several thematically focused instructions, as the asylum procedure is more fragmented than the ordinary residence procedure. Central instruction areas (the current list is available on the SEM page):

  • Examination of the asylum application — assessment of refugee status under Art. 3 of the Asylum Act (AsylA, SR 142.31), establishment of the facts, standard of proof.
  • Hearing of asylum seekers — course of the hearing, role of legal representation, hearing record, special categories (unaccompanied minor asylum seekers [UMA], women's hearings, traumatised persons).
  • Appeal proceedings — domestic appeal proceedings before the FAC, appeal deadlines, duties to cooperate.
  • Family reunification for recognised refugees — family asylum under Art. 51 AsylA, requirements, timing of the application.
  • Removal and enforcement — removal decision, obstacles to enforcement (unlawfulness, unreasonableness, impossibility) as well as F provisional admission under Art. 83 FNIA.
  • S protection status (Ukraine) — application of temporary protection under Art. 4 AsylA in conjunction with the Federal Council's activation decision of 2022. Ongoing adjustments since then (see Section 8).
  • Dublin procedure — application of the Dublin III Regulation (Regulation [EU] No 604/2013), determination of responsibility, transfer to the responsible Dublin state.

Free legal advice and legal representation in the (accelerated) asylum procedure are based on Art. 102f ff. AsylA; the cantonal allocation of asylum seekers is governed by Art. 27 AsylA.

Update cycle: asylum instructions are adjusted more frequently than FNIA instructions, since asylum practice must respond more strongly to situation assessments per country of origin. Situation reports (country analyses) are published separately and are, in fact, closely interlinked with the asylum instructions.

5. SCA instructions — overview

In the citizenship law area (application of the Swiss Citizenship Act of 20 June 2014 [SCA, SR 141.0], in force since 1 January 2018), the SEM instructions concentrate on the federal competences — that is, primarily on facilitated naturalisation and re-naturalisation as well as on the annulment and the withdrawal of Swiss citizenship. Ordinary naturalisation falls primarily within cantonal and communal competence; the SEM here issues the federal naturalisation authorisation (Art. 13 SCA), and the federal instruction accordingly relates to this preliminary examination.

Central instruction areas:

  • Ordinary naturalisation — federal naturalisation authorisation; formal requirements (duration of residence) under Art. 9 SCA, substantive requirements under Art. 11 SCA (successful integration, familiarity with Swiss living conditions, no endangerment of internal or external security), integration criteria under Art. 12 SCA. The proof of language skills is regulated not in the act but in the Citizenship Ordinance (Art. 6 of the Ordinance on Swiss Citizenship [BüV, SR 141.01]).
  • Facilitated naturalisation — spouses of Swiss citizens (Art. 21 SCA), children of a Swiss parent as well as persons of the third generation of foreign nationals (Art. 24a SCA, in force since 15 February 2018).
  • Re-naturalisation — for persons who have lost Swiss citizenship (Art. 27 ff. SCA).
  • Annulment and withdrawal of citizenship — annulment where it was obtained by false statements (Art. 36 SCA); withdrawal, restrictively and only in the case of dual citizens whose conduct seriously harms the interests or reputation of Switzerland (Art. 42 SCA).
  • Language-proof criteria — recognised language diplomas and certificates (e.g. fide language proof, telc, Goethe, DELF/DALF, CELI), requirements for school certificates, grounds for exemption.

Update cycle: SCA instructions are adjusted comparatively rarely (compared with FNIA and asylum instructions); larger revisions typically follow Federal Supreme Court rulings on naturalisation practice or legislative revisions.

6. Instruction hierarchy and forms of publication

The SEM publishes several forms of administrative texts with differing standing:

  • Main instructions (e.g. Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area) — comprehensive, systematically structured works; periodically updated; form the "main framework" of administrative practice.
  • Circulars — shorter, thematically focused directives on exceptional or newly emerging topics; published sporadically; often following legal changes, Federal Supreme Court rulings or situation developments.
  • Information letters and circular letters — current clarifications, often in response to concrete practice questions; less formal than the main instructions. The designation used in each case is available on the SEM page.
  • Situation reports (country analyses) — factual analyses of the situation in individual countries of origin; factual basis for asylum decisions; published in part with access restrictions (internal vs public situation reports).

7. Thematic-area index (alphabetical)

The following index lists the most frequent thematic areas for which SEM instructions exist. Each entry refers to the relevant section of the SEM website; the direct URL anchors per topic are to be retrieved there, since the website structure is occasionally rebuilt.

  • Labour market access — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, Ch. 3 (priority for resident workers, maximum numbers, salary/working conditions, trainee).
  • Examination of the asylum application — Asylum Instructions, chapter on Art. 3 AsylA (refugee status).
  • Au pair permit — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, special area (in the later chapters).
  • Accompanying-person permit — special set of facts for accompanying persons in the case of medical treatment.
  • Advice and legal representation in the asylum procedure — free legal representation in the accelerated procedure (Art. 102f ff. AsylA).
  • Citizenship (general) — SCA Instructions (separate main document).
  • Diplomatic status — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, special chapter on international officials, NGO personnel, special sets of facts under international law.
  • Facilitated naturalisation — SCA Instructions, chapter on Art. 21 SCA.
  • Family reunification — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, Ch. 4 (Art. 42–52 FNIA); for refugees additionally Asylum Instructions (Art. 51 AsylA).
  • Refugee status — Asylum Instructions, recognition under Art. 3 AsylA.
  • G cross-border permit (frontier workers) — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, Ch. 8.
  • Hardship case (Art. 30 FNIA) — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, Ch. 5.
  • Priority for resident workers (Art. 21 FNIA) — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, Ch. 3.
  • Integration — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, integration-relevant provisions (integration criteria, integration agreement/recommendation, early settlement upon successful integration under Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA).
  • Cantonal practice variation — no uniform document; SEM instructions are in principle uniform at federal level, yet cantonal enforcement practice may vary (see Section 13).
  • L short-term permit — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, Ch. 2 and Ch. 3.
  • C settlement permit — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, Ch. 6 (Art. 34 FNIA).
  • Maximum numbers / quotas — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, Ch. 3 (Art. 20 FNIA, third-country nationals).
  • Return assistance (voluntary return) — instructions and information on return assistance in the enforcement area; the exact place of publication is available on the SEM page.
  • S protection status (Ukraine) — Asylum Instructions, separate section since 2022.
  • Trainee permit — Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area, Ch. 3 in conjunction with bilateral trainee agreements; the current list of agreements is available on the SEM page.
  • F provisional admission — Asylum Instructions and Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area (interface, as status F is regulated in the FNIA [Art. 83 ff. FNIA], the substantive requirements partly in the AsylA).
  • Removal — Asylum Instructions, enforcement; also Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area in the case of removals following FNIA revocation.

8. Hyper-volatile instruction areas (frequent updates)

  • Ukraine — S protection status: first activated in 2022 by Federal Council decision (first application of Art. 4 AsylA); extended several times since. The currently applicable extension decision and the end date are to be taken from the SEM page on S protection status.
  • Geographical differentiation "safe regions" (Ukraine): the SEM has introduced a geographical differentiation under which applications from regions classified as safe are treated differently. The current list of regions and the application practice are to be taken from the SEM page.
  • Russia / Belarus — tightened examination: the background is the sanctions regime and the changed security-policy situation since 2022. Whether there is a self-standing SEM instruction on this or whether the tightened examination takes place within the framework of the general establishment of facts is to be taken from the current state of SEM publications.
  • Afghanistan, Iran, Syria: situation assessments are adjusted as the situation requires; the situation reports are revised regularly.
  • Dublin practice Italy / Greece: availability of reception structures, so-called systemic deficiencies; the current SEM practice and the FAC case law are to be examined in the individual case.

9. Comparison: instructions vs law vs ordinance

To situate the instructions within the hierarchy of norms:

  • Law (FNIA, AsylA, SCA; AFMP as an international-law treaty) — adopted by Parliament or (in the case of the AFMP) ratified after approval by Parliament and acceptance in a popular vote. International-law treaties occupy a special position in the hierarchy of norms; the precise scope vis-à-vis domestic law is a matter of individual application of the law.
  • Ordinance (OASA, Asylum Ordinances 1/2/3, BüV, Ordinance on the Introduction of the Free Movement of Persons [VFP]) — issued by the Federal Council; substantive concretisation of the laws. Ordinances must stay within the framework of the statutory delegation.
  • Instruction (SEM instructions) — administration-internal directive; binds the authorities (self-binding of the administration), but not the courts. An instruction that conflicts with a law or ordinance is to that extent immaterial.
  • Circular — short, ad-hoc directives; same legal nature as instructions, but less extensive and systematic.

Practical conclusion: anyone who wants to challenge an SEM practice (e.g. in appeal proceedings) generally attacks the law or the ordinance directly as the legal basis — the instruction is merely an interpretive tool, not itself a source of law.

10. How to apply instructions? (purely factual)

  • Consult the SEM website — always refer to the most current version.
  • Check the status date — typically noted in the table of contents or at the end of the instruction document; for main instructions often on the title page.
  • Cantonal migration offices may deviate in enforcement practice — see Section 13.
  • In FAC or Federal Supreme Court proceedings: an instruction may be qualified by the court as contrary to federal law and left unapplied in the individual case. Consequent practice: the SEM adjusts the instruction or differentiates its application.
  • Cross-reference situation reports — in the asylum area, situation reports supplement the instructions with factual findings per country of origin.

Anti-scope: SIP gives no individual instruction interpretation. For the concrete application of an instruction to a particular set of facts, a lawyer registered in the cantonal bar register should be consulted (Lawyers Act, LLCA, SR 935.61).

11. Instruction archive — earlier versions

The SEM archives earlier versions of the instructions on its website. This is relevant for proceedings whose material reference date lies before the current status date of the applicable instruction.

  • Intertemporal law (principle): the decisive instruction (or law) is the one that was in force at the time of the relevant act of authority. For transitional cases, different intertemporal rules apply depending on the subject matter; the treatment in the concrete proceeding is to be clarified by a lawyer.
  • Practical consequence: in pending proceedings with a reference date before the entry into force of a new instruction, the old instruction may be applicable.
  • Archive access: typically findable on the SEM website under "Earlier versions" or "Archive"; the current navigation structure is available there.

12. SEM address and contact

  • SEM headquarters: State Secretariat for Migration, Quellenweg 6, 3003 Bern-Wabern
  • Telephone SEM (main number): +41 58 465 11 11
  • Web / contact forms: https://www.sem.admin.ch — the current, topic-specific e-mail addresses and contact forms (foreign nationals area, asylum, citizenship) are to be taken from the official contact area of the SEM website, as the SEM periodically adjusts the mailbox addresses.

Important: the SEM does not answer individual legal questions via the general contact channels. For a concrete proceeding, the migration office of the canton of residence (via the relevant file) is generally responsible.

13. Cantonal migration offices and the SEM binding

The relationship between SEM instructions and cantonal practice is not trivial:

  • Principle: the permits under Art. 32–35 and 37–39 FNIA are granted by the cantons (Art. 40 FNIA); the Confederation's competence is reserved for limitation measures (Art. 20 FNIA), derogations from the admission requirements (Art. 30 FNIA) and in the approval procedure (Art. 99 FNIA). In the enforcement of federal law, the cantonal migration offices are bound by the SEM instructions within the framework of the administration's self-binding.
  • Practical reality: despite the formal binding, there is a cantonal interpretive variation. Frequent variation topics:
    • Hardship case (Art. 30 FNIA) — substantial cantonal practice variation in the assessment of the "serious personal hardship case".
    • Social-assistance assessment — differing thresholds in the assessment of social-assistance dependency for permit decisions.
    • Integration agreement — applied with cantonally differing frequency and differing strictness.
    • Early settlement — the cantonal assessment of "successful integration" (Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA) varies.
  • Confederation-vs-canton division of tasks: the SEM itself grants permits only in special cases or gives its approval (e.g. hardship-case approval, visa approval); most permits are granted at first instance by the cantonal migration office, subject to SEM approval in certain constellations (Art. 99 FNIA; the concrete approval catalogue is governed by the FNIA and the OASA).

Consequence: for a realistic assessment of the legal situation, both the state of the SEM instructions and the cantonal enforcement practice must be taken into account. SIP documents cantonal practice particularities in its cantonal in-depth contributions.

14. Cross-References

  • The FNIA/OASA terminology glossary — terminological apparatus of the FNIA (SR 142.20) / OASA (SR 142.201), given concrete shape by the Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area.
  • The Asylum Act glossary — terminological apparatus of the AsylA (SR 142.31), supplemented by the Asylum Instructions.
  • The Citizenship Act 2018 glossary — terminological apparatus of the SCA (SR 141.0) and the BüV (SR 141.01), supplemented by the Citizenship Instructions.
  • The AFMP/free-movement glossary — AFMP-specific terms (SR 0.142.112.681), given concrete shape in Ch. 7 of the Instructions I. Foreign Nationals Area.
  • The article on data protection at SwissImmigrationPro — data protection in the migration area (revised Data Protection Act [revFADP], in force since 1 September 2023), interface with the instructions on data processing.
  • All articles on the individual permit types — these each cite the relevant instruction chapters.
  • All cantonal in-depth contributions — cantonal variation in the application of the instructions.

15. Anti-Scope (limits of the SIP presentation)

  • SIP gives no individual instruction interpretation — the index is descriptive, not advisory.
  • For proceedings with a concrete status date, intertemporal questions or a disputed instruction interpretation, a lawyer registered in the cantonal bar register should be consulted (Lawyers Act, LLCA, SR 935.61).
  • SIP content does not replace consulting the SEM original text. The chapter structure, topic list and update cycles presented here are approximations as of 2026-05 that may change.