1. Obtaining a visitor card

1.1 For individual visitors or groups of visitors (excluding guided tours)

If individual visitors or groups of visitors wish to visit a person present on the CERN site, whether in a professional or a private capacity, a member of the personnel must vouch for the compatibility of the visit with CERN's activities and must apply for the visitor card(s).
This guarantor must be:

• a member of the CERN personnel, or
• a member of the Council, a committee or another subsidiary body of CERN (usually registered as External, COMT), or
• an Industrial Liaison Officer.

Guarantors are responsible for the visit and, for security reasons, must be on site for the duration of the visit. It is also their responsibility to ensure that all visitors abide by the CERN Code of Conduct in all respects.

The requestor must apply for the visitor card in advance, 48 hours before the beginning of the visit, based on CERN's calendar, by completing the Request for a CERN visitor card (individual visitors or groups), providing the first information about the description of the visit:

• the guarantor of the visit,
• the name of the visit which will used as a reference for the visit,
• the reason for the visit, providing the necessary details to enable the CERN Community Support Centre agent (building 33) to determine the legitimacy of the visit,
• the date of arrival and departure.

and then the registration of the visitor(s):

1. either by filling the details of the visitor(s):

• surname, first name (to be completed as mentioned on the identity document to ease their identification by the CERN Community Support Centre agent upon their arrival),
• nationality,
• e-mail address (only if the visitor must be informed of the reservation code),
• phone number (facultative information),
• date and place of birth,
• vehicle registration number if the visitor is coming by car and cannot park in the Globe car park. For more information, please refer to the website "Visit CERN". 

2. or by mentioning the surname, first name and e-mail address of each visitor and then submitting the form. In this case, the visitor(s) will receive an e-mail containing the instructions allowing them to complete the information concerning them in the visitor card request.

Each application may include up to 10 persons. In the case of a larger visit, it is recommended to create an event in Indico and follow the procedure.

If the requestor completes the request in place of the guarantor, he must agree that the guarantor has read the terms and conditions.

The guarantor follows the evolution of his request as well as the status of each request for each person: completed, pending, refused and cancelled (cf. KB0006227: Request for a visitor access card: Checking visitors status). He can't however see the personal information submitted by the visitor(s) in accordance with the processing of personal data.

In the case of a visit cancellation, guarantors are responsible for informing the CERN Community Support Centre agent. If a visitor has himself submitted his private data in the visitor card request, he will also be able to cancel the visit.

Applications for visitor cards valid for a period of more than two days will be examined individually by the Site Security Service, depending on the reason for the visit.

When the application has been approved and all the data collected, the confirmation code of the visit is sent to the requestor and the guarantor, who are then responsible for forwarding the information to the visitor(s) concerned.

The guarantor may go to the CERN Community Support Centre in building 33 the day before to collect the visitor card(s) and when the registrations have been confirmed.

The Site Security Service may reject requests received for various reasons: the guarantor's contract ends before the dates mentioned in the request, it is not possible to combine several requests with adjacent dates, etc. If the requestor provided the e-mail addresses of the visitor(s) in the application, they will also receive this confirmation. It is important to note that the requestor and the guarantor are responsible for informing the visitor(s) of the procedure to be followed and for sending them the visitor card(s).

If the visit takes place from Monday to Friday between 7:00am and 6:00pm, the guarantor or visitor must go to the CERN Community Support Centre (building 33), takes a ticket, goes to the defined counter, gives the access code to the agent and presents a valid ID for each visitor. He then collects the visitor cards from the agent.

Outside these opening hours and anytime, it is also possible for the guarantor or visitor to follow the same procedure on the printing terminal located in front of the building 55 (inside the phone booth). Then the visitor card(s) can be collected from the security guard on duty at Entrance B.

In addition to building 33 and Gate B in Meyrin, it is possible to print the approved visitor cards at the entrance of the Prévessin site in building 880. A desk to enter the access code and a printer are available from the security officer in charge of access control.

Visitors accompanied by a guarantor can have access to the site by calling the Guards Service (CSA) via the door intercom (Jura door, Gate A, Gate B, etc.) after a remote identity check, irrespective of the Gate.

N. B. If an unannounced visitor arrives at the CERN Community Support Centre in building 33, the agent contacts the guarantor to check that the visit is legitimate. The guarantor then follows the procedure above to produce the visitor card.

1.2 For participants in a conference (or workshop or seminar) on the CERN site

If the conference organiser is a member of the personnel, he or she is considered to be the CERN guarantor for all participants. If the organiser is not a member of the personnel, another person involved in the organisation of the event who is a member of the personnel must act as the guarantor.
No visitor cards can be issued to accompanying persons who are not on the list of conference participants.

The CERN conference organiser creates the event in Indico. The organiser then activates visitor card management using the “CERN visitor badges” option in the “Logistics” menu. At the time of activation, the organiser indicates which registration forms will be used to give access. The participants must register online using one of the forms indicated. The organiser then individually confirms each participant’s right to access the site in Indico and the participants receive an e-mail asking them to fill in their nationality and date and place of birth online (in an Indico form). When this information has been submitted, each participant receives an e-mail containing a reservation code and a visitor card, which should be printed in A4 format and then folded into four to obtain an A6 format.

The conference organiser may customise the back of the card, adding specific information pertaining to the conference, such as its logo, etc.

The organiser may also at any time withdraw access from or grant access to a participant whose name appears on the Indico list.

On the day of the event, the organiser can distribute the visitor cards in the CERN Community Support Centre in building 33. Prior to this, the CERN Community Support Centre agent is contacted to prepare the reception.

The participants must be able to show their visitor cards, along with a valid identity document. A badge holder is distributed on arrival, so that the visitor card can be worn where it can be easily seen. Any participant who forgets to bring a visitor card may request that a replacement be printed by going to the CERN Community Support Centre agent.

1.3 For participants in guided tours organised by the Visits Service

The Visits Service website outlines the procedure and conditions applicable to the organisation of various types of tour: tours for groups, tours for families and individual visitors and tours organised by members of the personnel.

The organiser submits a tour organisation request on the site visit.cern. If the visit program includes a guided tour of the CERN fenced site, it is the organiser's responsibility to ensure that all the visitors have a means of access to the site, possibly, a visitor's card for external persons.

Organisers who have no connection to CERN can request that a CERN Lightweight Account be created for them.

When the visit has been approved by the Visits Service or the service responsible of the visit point, the organiser receives an e-mail requesting information for each visitor requiring a visitor card (surname, first name, date of birth, city and country of birth) on the website http://myvisits.cern.ch.

The Visits Service then prints the visitor cards, which are distributed to the visitors by the members of the reception at the Science Gateway (building 82/R-001) from Tuesday to Sunday, or by the Visits Service (building 86/R-001) on Mondays. These cards follow the same format as individual visitor cards.

Visitor cards issued by the Visits Service are supplied with a white lanyard. Visitors can only enter the site accompanied by an official CERN guide and/or the tour organiser, and only for the purpose of carrying out the guided tour as mentioned in the program (including the lunch break). For all other activities, a standard visitor card must be requested (see paragraphs 1.1 and 1.2 above).

1.4 Overview of the different procedures for obtaining a visitor card

Special case for participants in a guided visit and a visit of another type during the same period:

When the same group of visitors would like to add to a guided visit a visit of another type (conference, private visit or professional visit), it is recommended to make sure that the request for a guided visit can be accepted then to prepare the visitor card request to have a card valid beyond the guided tour alone:

• either by completing the Request for a CERN visitor card (individual visitors or groups) for a small group of visitors and include the entire visit period in the application;
• either by creating an event in Indico for a group event always mentioning the full period.

As an example: a person wants to organise a visit via the Visits service on a day and then the following day after the guided visit, she takes the responsibility as guarantor to propose and additional conference on the Prévessin site. The requestor must first book a guided visit during the dates of the event with the Visits service while informing them that the visitor cards will be requested in parallel. Then, once the guided visit has been accepted by the Visits service, the requestor will apply for visitor cards either via the Services portal (see paragraph 1.1) or Indico (see paragraph 1.2) according to the number of visitors concerned.

2. Parking and access to the CERN site for private vehicles and coaches

2.1 Private vehicles

Where bringing a car onto the CERN site is justified and if the guarantor has clearly specified it in the application, for example if the venue is some distance away, holders of visitor cards can obtain authorization to bring their vehicle onto the CERN sites.

In this case, the registration number of the vehicle is printed directly on the visitor card.

For more information on access with private vehicles, refer to the website "Visit CERN".

2.2 Coaches

Private coaches are permitted to enter the CERN site to drop off or pick up participants in visits or conferences at the event venue and must leave the site immediately afterwards. Parking inside CERN is strictly forbidden.

An official CERN guide must be present in private coaches used to enter the sites as part of a guided tour.

Free parking is available behind the Science Gateway on the north side. Limited to groups with reservation.