Post National Thesis

This article takes a retrospective look at the visa policy in Switzerland in the period before its association with the Schengen area. Examining this key period allows us to question the weight that national and international dynamics (national and post national theses) have on state sovereignty, and especially on state’s ability to regulate mobilities towards their territories. For this purpose, specific attention is placed on the influence of Schengen policy on Swiss practices. Results show that in most cases Swiss policy used to follow those of European countries, thereby leading to an increasing harmonisation of visa practices. This convergence was fully achieved when the Schengen agreements came into force on December 12th 2008.