Asylum regions and federal asylum centres

Since 1 March 2019, the asylum procedure in Switzerland has been organised into six asylum regions. Each of these regions has a federal asylum centre that conduct the asylum procedure and up to four centres that do not.

List of all Federal Asylum Centres

Federal asylum centres

In future SEM will be able to provide 5,000 places for asylum seekers in asylum centres. There are three different types of federal asylum centre:

Federal asylum centre with processing facilities
Asylum seekers can lodge an asylum application in these asylum centres. All applications are examined and the decision over whether to grant asylum made at the centre. The entire process takes place under one roof, thus speeding up the asylum procedure. Asylum seekers remain in these centres while their application is processed; they are no longer transferred to the cantonal authorities, unless additional information has to be obtained and an extended procedure is required. These federal asylum centres house accommodation for asylum seekers as well as offices for interviewers, interpreters, document examiners and lawyers.

A large park with old trees and in the background various buildings accommodating asylum seekers. — The federal asylum centre with processing facilities in Boudry (Canton of Neuchâtel) has been open since April 2018. (photo: SEM © Marco Frauchiger)

Federal asylum centre without processing facilities
These federal asylum centres are mainly occupied by people who are due to be removed to another Dublin member state under the Dublin Regulation or whose asylum applications have been rejected. They remain in the federal centres and are no longer transferred to the cantonal asylum centres, unless they cannot be removed from Switzerland within the set period of 140 days. These centres therefore house people who usually have to leave Switzerland within a short period of time.
Special centres
If an asylum seeker significantly endangers public safety and order or if their conduct massively disrupts the operation of normal federal asylum centres, they may be temporarily accommodated in a special centre. One such centre operates in Les Verrières (NE), and a second centre is planned in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.