Any thoughts on what agency wrote this?  Customs and Immigration?  Anything on the citation to suggest the statute number of the offence?  

Nothing yet, still have not seen the ticket in person.    I will look tonight and follow up.   Just very weird. 

Well, that is very interesting.  I am going to contact the US consulate to ask about this as I only carry my residency permit with me when in town.  Trains  and trams are ground zero for pickpockets and I do not want to risk having my passport stolen simply because I had to run errands in  town.

Two weeks ago I was waiting for the number 5 bus at Gare Cornavin. I saw two policemen, one in plain clothes asking people for their id.  Most of the people they were asking appeared to be asking primarily non-whites.

Being of an inquisitive nature, I went up the police and asked what was going on.  They explained  that they had orders from the authorities to check identification of non-whites who appeared to be hanging around the train station. 

My french is excellent and there is no way I mistook their explanation. The two  cops said that  it was well known that individuals from various racial and ethnic minorities were engaged in criminal activity in Geneva.  More specifically, they said that Africans from Guinea sold drugs, people from Georgia were the burglars, and that they occasionnally arrested Germans  for selling heroin. 

I asked when they were going to arrest the Swiss money launderers.  They said that those crimes were not in their purview. One of the cops told me he was of Moroccan descent and that he had absolutely no problem with "ethnic profiling."  Finally, I asked why police badge numbers are not visible on their uniforms.  I was told that

This past year the police launched so-called "Operation Figaro" with the aim of cleaning of crime in the Paquis.  According to a recent report in the Tribune de Genève,  much of the criminal activity has simply migrated to the Plainpalais area, mainly along Avenue Mail.

Of  course, not everything done here in the name of the state is correct or ethical.

Sorry,  about the badges, I meant to say that I was told that any one can ask a police officer for her/his badge number....  Yeah, right..

I am in shock Translator, or maybe just naive, that this would happen.. thank you for posting it. Please update when you have the information about carrying the IDpassport from your Consulate.

I do know that the second offense for riding tram/bus without a valid ticket rises to 240 chf. It is 80 francs on first offense if you pay on the spot and 120 francs if you don't have the money on you right then.

The whole thing sounds really fishy to me.

Then again, thank goodness Switzerland is not as bad as some places in the US, particularly Arizona. 

Still, I have never heard of tram/bus inspectors asking for passports. I have seen them ask for id when issuing a ticket.  That is generally a matter handled by the police. I've been here for a quite a few years and have never seen customs officials away from the borders.

Looking at this a bit further, it is a ticket for not having a ticket on the tram.  So since we did not pay at the time of the offense (80 chf) we have to pay 120 CHF or more (240 CHF) if we do not pay in 10 days.

Here is the kicker, in the same hand as the residency card we provided a transportation ticket.  I currently have the ticket for the tram and the time on the ticket is approximately 15 minutes prior to the time on the TPG fine.  It was the "tout Geneve" ticket at 3 CHF.   They did start by asking for Passports and it was clearly different than other times in which we have been asked for out ticket.  Hence our rationale that they were doing passport checks  because we just purchased a ticket and presented to the authorities.   Did not even have extra tickets to get it confused with in out pockets.   Very strange.

So, my apologize for creating the issue above, but still do not understand why we were given a fine.   There is an appeal number and process and we plan on taking up this issue on Monday.  Going to enjoy the weekend.

Thanks

E

Val,

You have to carry your resident permit on you at all times? I didn't know that... I always leave mine at home with my passport and just carry my University ID

"riding a tram from Bechat de Pesay today and an "officer" was requesting Passports."

sounds to me like a pretty creative scam, and a way of "collecting" a particular passport. ( they ask you to step off the tram and walk off with your passport )

you can always ask the "officer" to see their ID.

also check the payment slip they gave you and the account holder.

i don't believe this is a bone fide / legitimate control by geneva tgv. if anything it would be the police.

or maybe, this is just another provocative scam message from the former glocal, notorious for such messages. remember H........

L.

I don't think you would have a problem with your university id.  I do have my residency permit on me at all times. It shows I have the right to live here. A  passport does not serve the same purpose.

It is true that the TPG (Geneva Public Transport) has become more aggressive in ticketing fare jumpers.  The Tribune de Genève reported  that a number of adolescents have  been allowed to work  off  their fines by collecting trash on the trams.  I saw a little work crew the other day whilst taking the 13.

TPG inspectors generally operate in a group and get on at  the front of the tram, yelling '[b]illets, s'il vous plâit!'  Their uniforms are a dark greenish-blue.

@erik this may sound obvious, or perhaps i'm being naive, but when you make the call in order to show your TPG ticket was valid at the time your wife received the fine, I would *not* mention the passport. Unless there is something that has been noted on the fine itself.

I would simply say "Our TPG ticket was valid from 11:07 to 12:07 but we got a fine at 11:42. Why?"

Then, *after* they resolve that - hopefully in your favor, you can ask about passports vs. residency permits, if you are so inclined.

It does sound like a fishy situation, though.

Additionally, though, when I first moved here, I lived in Ferney-Voltaire (France). My son and I rode to school every day on TPG. At first, I took my passport pretty much every day, but when I saw that cars and buses were being whisked through the border with nary a glance, I decided not to take it with me and rely instead on my Carte de Legitimation.

Sure enough, the next day, the bus was stopped at the border and people were asked for their passports. I explained that I had left them at home and showed my Carte. That was good enough for him.

And this was *before* the agreement with EU and Switzerland about border crossings.

Please let us know about how this is resolved.

re always having your passport on you:

One 'solution' is to have a photocopy in your wallet, handbag, whatever. This is also useful when you're on holiday away from home.  It might not cover all situations but it can be enough to establish your identity.

I also keep a photocopy of my passport in every piece of luiggage when I'm travelling.  If my passport gets stolen or lost, I still have some evidence to present to the police, customs and especially the embassy or consuilate you apply to for a new document.

Of course if you lose your luggage as well . . .  well, you can't win thenm all.