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Is it possible to fly into Geneva from USA, then transit immediately to France?

Posted by on

Hello,

In a few weeks I will be flying into Geneva from the United States (direct from Newark). My plan was to fly into Geneva, but spend all of my vacation over the border in France (flying into Geneva due to price of the flight and location; staying with a friend who lives in France). It's not clear to me if this is allowed, and if it is, what process I should follow. Looking for some help from the great folks in this forum!!! (I've skimmed through the forum but haven't found a similar post)

I'm flying on United, am fully vaccinated (Pfizer), and my understanding is that 72 hours prior to my flight I would declare my vaccination status (or upload documentation?) through the united.com "Travel Ready Center". That seems straightforward. I assume I will also need to bring my CDC card with me on this trip.

Then it looks like the next step is to "Complete your destination entry forms". The United website links out to this site: https://swissplf.admin.ch/formular It seems firmly straightforward as to how to fill out most of these details. However for my scenario--traveling immediately to France--I assume I should check the "Transit only" button under the section titled "Address of stay in Switzerland". Is that correct?

Does anyone foresee any issues with this plan (fly into Geneva, vacation in France, then fly back out of Geneva to the USA)? Have I missed any critical details?

I will be taking the Abbott Binaxx test with me for my COVID test/return to the US.

Last question--is there any value in getting the Swiss COVID Certificate? I read in a recent post that after 24 October, that certificate will not be transferrable to other EU countries, so perhaps it is not worth getting the Swiss COVID Certificate if I will only be in France?

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

Posted by
4879 posts

If you will be spending all your time in France, then shouldn't you get the French Pass Sanitaire? How are you traveling between Geneva and France?

Posted by
4 posts

I hadn't heard of the French Pass, I will investigate (that makes more sense, however I stumbled on the Swiss COVID Certificate through a web search, and it was previously transferrable to other EU countries). My friend is planning to pick me up at the airport.

Do you foresee any issues with my plan (fly into Switzerland and transmitting immediately to France)?

Posted by
612 posts

You are able to do as you propose. However, you must comply with covid requirements for each country. Your point of entry will be Switzerland therefore its regulations must be completed. As a tourist in France you must then satisfy its requirements. That said you should be able to travel freely between the two countries. See the following website for additional clarification regarding ‘transiting’ Switzerland to other schengen area countries - https://ch.usembassy.gov/covid-19-info/. Remember that requirements may change before and during your trip. ‘Transiting’ - legally and technically you are arriving in Switzerland even though your purpose is onward travel to another country.

Posted by
2304 posts

hey hey JLB
where in france are you going? before covid we took train from paris to geneva and took a taxi to annecy E95 with taxi-massingy.com
was about 35 minutes and gaelle was great to deal with. the train was about 2h 45m, so was worth the charge.
with different changes "everyday", between countries.
hopefully your friend can get info or you need to dig in more. it's a crazy world now.
have fun and enjoy france
aloha

Posted by
427 posts

Before I moved to Normandy, I used to live in France near Geneva and flew in and out of out of GVA going immediately to France multiple times. I also picked up friends visiting from the U.S. at the airport and drove them to my home in France. The airport's northwest boundary coincides with the national boundary between France and Switzerland and within the airport is a French sector where you may have a customs check when entering it from the larger Swiss sector.

So, from a practical perspective there's no problem doing what you're planning to do. With respect to Covid, however, I would suggest you read up on what France and Switzerland require for documentation and take the appropriate steps so you're free to visit places as you wish. Having a QR code from France allows easy movement into restaurants, bars, tourist sites, and so forth. I can't tell you how difficult it would be to not have one, but you probably could find stories from other U.S. tourists who have related their experiences.

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