the hurricane wrote:an EU member but not part of the Schengen agreeement. on the flip side, Switzerland has signed the Schengen agreement and but is not part of the EU. theoretically they could travel without visa based on the bilateral agreements between EU-Switzerland on the free movement of person (FMP) , I highly doubt that it is possible. I suggest that they consult the Swiss embassy in the EU ( i am ninety percents sure that his wife will need to apply for a schengen visa).
You are right. Swiss law seems to be ambiguous with regards to this (especially with regards to UK issued permits) and that makes things way more complicated.
Of course, entering Schengen in another member state and going to visit Switzerland should not be a problem depending on the type of residence permit held in the UK.