# Archives and sources: Switzerland (CH)

Where records created in Switzerland are held, whether they can be found online, and the archives and providers EasyPassport has vetted for them. The list is keyed on the country where the record was created, usually the ancestor's birthplace, which is not always the country the user is applying to. For an ancestor born elsewhere, ask for that country's list. For the office, request channel, apostille authority and translation rules, use the "country record playbook" guide for CH.

## Can these records be found online?

Partly. Some records are online but coverage is incomplete; set the user's expectations.

THE HEIMATORT IS THE ROUTING KEY, and you cannot infer it from the birthplace — you need to know it directly. Refinement that matters: the BIRTH certificate follows the birthplace, but every document that actually proves the citizenship chain — Heimatschein, Personenstandsausweis, Familienausweis — follows the HEIMATORT (commune of origin), which may be a commune your family has not lived in for generations. Staatsarchiv Bern states it flatly: family research in the Bernese church books is only possible if the family's Heimatort lies in canton Bern. So if you know only that 'great-grandfather was born in Zurich,' you may be searching entirely the wrong canton. Free online access is thin: 26 cantons, each with its own archive and platform, no national aggregator. Expect to ORDER from the Heimatort commune rather than find anything online. ch.ch has the authoritative document→office routing table.

## Where the records are held or ordered

- **Swiss Federal Archives (BAR)** (official): https://www.bar.admin.ch/bar/en/home/research/research-tips/topics/auf-den-spuren-von-aus--und-einwanderern/auf-der-suche-nach-der-eigenen-familiengeschichte.html
  National archives' English family-history guide; Swiss birth registers sit with the ancestor's commune of origin and historic records with the cantonal archives.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.
- **Swiss apostille — cantonal chancellery / Federal Chancellery** (official): https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/usa/en/home/services/legalisations/legalisation-official.html
  FDFA guide to legalising a Swiss-issued document; the apostille is issued by the cantonal chancellery (Staatskanzlei) or the Federal Chancellery. English page.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.

## Vetted providers

- **RushTranslate** (commercial service): https://rushtranslate.com/?ref=ciq
  Certified translations accepted by consulates, courts, and USCIS — turnaround in 24 hours.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.
- **FamilySearch** (official): https://www.familysearch.org/
  Free digitized civil and church records for most European countries — start here before paying.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.
- **Ancestry.com** (commercial service): https://www.ancestry.com/
  Largest commercial genealogy database; 30B+ records from US and European archives.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.
- **Heimatschein — certificate of origin (commune of origin)** (official): https://www.ch.ch/en/documents-and-register-extracts/civil-status-certificates/
  Swiss certificate of origin evidencing an ancestor's place-of-origin citizenship, ordered via the federal ch.ch portal.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.

## Access notes

Every link in a country's list carries one of these:

- **open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it**: the site forbids automated access, needs a login or written permission, or has not been cleared for agents. The user opens it in their own browser and shares what they find with you.
- **your agent may open this page for the user's own family research; record images are for the user's private use only and must not be republished**.
- **openly licensed; your agent may open this page**.

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General guidance, not legal advice. EasyPassport is a document-organization tool, not a law firm. Confirm your own case with the relevant authority or a qualified professional.