Swiss Abroad Paul Widmer has been living in Germany for over 15 years and now holds dual citizenship.
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For some Swiss citizens living abroad, dual citizenship is a sign of their attachment to their new home; for others, it makes daily life easier. But not everyone is free to choose whether to take up the citizenship of their country of residence.
Three-quarters of Swiss citizens living abroad hold dual citizenship, with at least one other nationality in addition to their Swiss citizenship. By comparison, only around one in five Swiss citizens living in Switzerland has more than one nationality.
One of these Swiss Abroad is Swissinfo reader Paul Widmer, who emigrated to Germany 15 years ago. In time, he started a family, built a house and found a permanent job. He realised that he wanted not only to live in Germany but also to become a German citizen. For him, citizenship was an expression of “respect and affection for Germany”, he writes.
However, around that time, debate flared up again in Germany over the possible abolition of dual citizenship. Paul suspended his application. Otherwise, he writes, “it would have led to the rather bizarre and amusing situation in which I would have been the only person in my family to be exclusively German”. His German wife had acquired Swiss citizenship through their marriage, while his children had obtained it through him.
A few years later, dual citizenship became possible in Germany againExternal link, and he reapplied. Today, he holds both passports. He particularly values one benefit: he can vote in both Germany and Switzerland. “I value this enormously and see it as a great privilege,” he writes. He says the right to vote in Switzerland helps him maintain his ties to his former home.
Home: having more than one passport
Other Swiss citizens living abroad also see dual citizenship as part of their identity. Peps Türler writes on Facebook that she emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1983 and acquired British citizenship four years later. She wanted to express “that my life is now here”. Nevertheless, Switzerland remained important to her.
Brexit has changed her relationship with the UK. Today, she feels less at home there, and British citizenship no longer means much to her. “I see myself first and foremost as Swiss and may return to Switzerland towards the end of my life,” she writes.
A Swiss woman who has lived in Australia since 1971 says she holds Italian citizenship through marriage, in addition to Swiss and Australian citizenship. Asked whether the three nationalities represent a sense of home for her, she replies: “Certainly.”
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A second passport makes life easier
It is not always about feelings or identity. Beat Sieger, who lives in Mexico, applied for Mexican citizenship partly for “very practical reasons”. Without a Mexican passport or the relevant documents, it had been difficult to take care of certain matters, such as opening a bank account.
Obtaining the passport was nevertheless a time-consuming process, even though he qualified for a simplified procedure because his son was born in Mexico. He had to have Swiss documents translated and certified, marry a second time – this time in Mexico – “to avoid additional mountains of paperwork”, and finally take oral and written tests on language, history and politics.
Thomas Bühlmann in Australia also cites practical reasons for seeking Australian citizenship: “My wife and child are Australian citizens, and having citizenship is an advantage professionally when dealing with government authorities.”
For Hans Schuster in the United States, meanwhile, naturalisation was also a form of security. He initially obtained a Green Card after being transferred from Switzerland to the US for work. But then, he says, it suddenly became unclear whether Green Card holders could still take out health insurance. He therefore sought US citizenship. “It was a laborious process, and in my case it took ten years,” Schuster says.
Today, he is glad to hold both citizenships. At the same time, he stresses that his Swiss passport, and particularly his right to vote in Switzerland, continue to bind him closely to the country.
The proportion of Swiss nationals holding multiple nationalities is highest in Argentina (95%), Chile (92%), Israel (86%) and Italy (85%).
Keystone / Gaetan Bally
Dual citizens since birth
Not all Swiss citizens living abroad who hold dual citizenship have made a conscious decision to acquire a second nationality. Many have grown up with more than one citizenship because their parents have different nationalities or because they were born in a country whose citizenship they acquired automatically.
For them, a second nationality is less a conscious choice than a part of their life story. However, young Swiss citizens living abroad must register with a Swiss diplomatic or consular representation before their 25th birthday if they want to retain their Swiss citizenship for life.
Several members of the Swiss Abroad community mention children who hold Swiss citizenship alongside that of their country of birth or residence. One Swiss woman in Ireland, for example, writes that her children have Swiss and Irish citizenship, while her grandchildren hold Swiss and German citizenship.
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The choice is not always free
A second citizenship is not an option for every Swiss citizen living abroad. Frieda Alii in Kenya writes: “I deliberately decided against it.” Kenyan citizenship would be too expensive and offer her too few advantages, she says.
Whether someone can become a dual citizen also depends on the laws of the country concerned. This is clear not only from Paul Widmer’s experience but also from the different rules governing naturalisation.
Switzerland has allowed multiple citizenship since 1992External link. Other countries have restricted it, while some require applicants to renounce their existing nationality when they naturalise.
Cornelia Stransky in Austria says she would like to acquire Austrian citizenship but has decided against it because of the legal consequences. She would have to surrender her Swiss passport, as Austria generally does not allow dual or multiple citizenshipExternal link. Since she faces few restrictions in everyday life, she does not want to give up her Swiss citizenship. Her children, however, hold both passports.
According to the State Secretariat for Migration, a number of Swiss citizens voluntarily renounce their citizenship each year. Over the past five years, a total of 319 people have been released from Swiss citizenshipExternal link.
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Rules also vary from country to country depending on whether citizenship is acquired by birth, descent, marriage or naturalisation.
Accordingly, the proportion of Swiss citizens living abroad who hold another nationality varies depending on their country of residence. At the end of 2025, Thailand had the highest proportion of Swiss citizens who held no other nationality. In Argentina, by contrast, almost the entire Swiss diaspora holds multiple citizenships.
A second nationality can also affect the assistance Swiss citizens receive from Switzerland while abroadExternal link.
The foreign ministry points out that its services may be limited for people with multiple nationalities. If a Swiss dual citizen also holds the nationality of their country of residence, the local authorities generally treat them as one of their own citizens. Switzerland can provide consular protection in such cases as long as the country of residence does not object.
Edited by Balz Rigendinger. Translated from German by Catherine Hickley/ds
