In Switzerland, naturalisation requirements vary from one canton to another, making the process of becoming a citizen more onerous for foreigners. But this could change in the future.
The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has set federal criteria for obtaining citizenship – including permit C, ten years of residency in the country, B1-level proficiency in oral and A2 in written language of the canton, and integration into Swiss way of life.
However, individual cantons have the right to devise their own naturalisation rules – as long as these requirements don’t conflict with, or are more lenient than, those set by the federal government.
Cantons, can’t, for instance, decide that foreigners can apply for citizenship after five years of living Switzerland, or ease the federal language proficiency rules. (The same applies to all federal laws: cantons can enact tougher regulations than the national ones, but can’t introducer laxer ones).
However, they are allowed to set minimum residency periods within the canton and commune, or stricter requirements for language proficiency.
How does this system work in practice?
Let’s take language proficiency levels needed for citizenship.
Three Swiss-German cantons: Schwyz, Nidwalden, and Thurgau all require that candidates for naturalisation have B1 written level and B2 spoken.
None of these three cantons recognises the lower, A2 level for written skills that is set by SEM.
Aargau, where naturalisation requirements are already stricter than elsewhere in Switzerland, wants to have even harsher rules for the language proficiency – to raise it to a B2 level as well.
In Zug too, the cantonal government has responded favourably to a motion from the local chapter of the populist Swiss People’s Party (SVP) calling for a better language proficiency to obtain Swiss citizenship: B2 for spoken and B1 for written German.
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Resetting the clock
Another example of how requirements for naturalisation vary from canton to canton, are different lengths of residence.
You need to have lived in the same canton for a certain period of time, ranging from two to five years, within the general 10-year federal residency requirement.
This rule is two years in Geneva, Vaud, Zurich, and Basel-City; three years in Lucerne; and five years in Zug and Ticino.
These criteria will pose no problem to people who don’t plan to move, but will be major headache to those who are relocating to a new canton, which may have different naturalisation conditions from their previous residence.
Not only will they have to re-start their countdown toward citizenship, but will also have to comply with that canton’s other naturalisation rules as well — like language proficiency for example — which may be different from their former home.
READ ALSO: How does moving cantons affect your application for Swiss citizenship?
This lack of consistency among cantons can be very frustrating to foreigners who change their place of residence, but a solution could be on the horizon.
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What is it?
There is a move is underway in Switzerland to harmonise the naturalisation rules.
It is based on a SEM study which found that “ordinary naturalisation is subject to very different conditions from one canton to another, so that equal opportunities [for all applicants] are not always guaranteed,” The Federal Council said.
Specifically, the government has asked the cantons to “examine together how to simplify and harmonise the naturalisation procedure.”
This way, the municipality or canton in which a foreigner submits their application for citizenship “would no longer play as determining a role as in the past.”
READ ALSO: Switzerland makes move to harmonise naturalisation rules
There is no timeline for this measure to go into effect, but if and when it does, foreigners will be able to move to another canton without having to restart the residency clock.
