Across Switzerland, authorities are grappling with a sharp rise in forged identity documents and residence permit fraud. Investigators in Neuchâtel have uncovered a criminal network with roots in Turkey, allegedly responsible for distributing counterfeit European passports and IDs to individuals who use them to apply for residence permits to work illegally in local restaurants. So far, 50 people have been detained, reported SRF.
The problem is not confined to Neuchâtel. Alexander Ott of the Bernese immigration police told SRF of a case of two Vietnamese women working in a nail salon using fake Belgian passports. He estimates, that up to 10% of all residence permits in Switzerland may have been fraudulently obtained—a claim based on the volume of arrests and the number of counterfeit documents recovered. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung has reported similar concerns.
Simon Baechler, head of criminal investigations in Neuchâtel, finds the estimate plausible. The more you look, the more you find, he told SRF. Baechler’s office continues to investigate the networks facilitating the forged documents.
Training among front line municipal staff, who process residence visas, remains patchy. Ott, who also co-chairs the Association of Swiss Residents’ Services, is pushing for reform. At a recent training session in Solothurn, staff from several towns admitted they had missed forged documents in the past. Few are fully familiar with modern security features, and many are the only officials who ever handle the passports and IDs presented.
The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) agrees that municipalities need help. It has commissioned an assessment of current practices and aims to submit policy proposals to the Federal Council by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the forgers are getting better. A document specialist at the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security demonstrates a counterfeit of the new Swiss ID card—barely two years old. Some of the features are replicated with unsettling precision, he said. Training for border officials, too, is struggling to keep pace with the sophistication of fraudsters.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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