(Art. 42 SAA)
The Confederation shall only provide protection after individuals or legal entities have exhausted every means of helping themselves, either on their own or with the help of third parties.
Before requesting assistance, individuals and legal entities must do everything that may be expected of them in terms of personal responsibility to overcome their difficulties from an organisational and financial point of view on their own. Where reasonable, use should be made of any assistance available in the receiving state.
Individuals and legal entities must take steps to avoid running into difficulty, in particular by complying with the national legislation of the receiving state and following the Confederation's recommendations as well as ensuring adequate insurance cover.
Swiss nationals may register their stays abroad. The FDFA provides an electronic database for this purpose.