The border patrol in Switzerland is still hard at work but it is no longer business as usual with major changes in force from today. Routine passport controls have been scrapped for most travellers entering the Alpine nation by land. But spot customs checks will continue in which some could be required to present their ID.

It is all because Switzerland, while not part of the European Union, is now a member of Europe’s border free Schengen zone. “We will carry on checking goods but we will no longer systematically check identities,” confirmed an official on the Swiss-German frontier. But while EU citizens and Schengen visa holders no longer face passport controls on the ground, airport checks will remain in place until the end of March next year.More about: Border Controls, Switzerland

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