Foreigners applying for naturalisation in Switzerland must fulfil a number of conditions, but one stands out because it can spell failure for even the most qualified candidates.
If you are thinking of applying for Swiss citizenship (or have already done so), you know what criteria you need to fulfil to be successful.
It is only when you meet all of these requirements that you can expect to get your Swiss passport.
These are the criteria you need to meet:
Length of residency
Adults seeking ‘ordinary’ naturalisation must have lived in Switzerland continuously for at least 10 years and have a C permit before applying for naturalisation. (Rules are less stringent for foreigners married to Swiss nationals, who can apply for fast-track procedure).
After five years with a B permit, they usually qualify for the permanent residency — that is, the C permit.
Then, another five years of continuous residency is required before they can apply for naturalisation.
People from third countries, however, face stricter requirements: their wait to ‘upgrade’ from a B to C permit is twice as long — 10 continuous years.
There are, however, some exemptions from these rules.
For instance, Americans and Canadians are on par with their EU / EFTA counterparts: they can also apply for a C permit after five years of continuous residence on a B permit.
There is currently a push seeking to allow all eligible foreigners, regardless of nationality, to apply for Swiss citizenship already after five years of residency, but it would have to be approved by Swiss voters first.
READ ALSO: Swiss to vote on cutting the wait period for citizenship
Language proficiency
According to State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), in order to apply for citizenship, you must have a B1 oral level, which means you “can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters, deal with most situations likely to arise while travelling, and produce simple coherent texts on familiar topics. They can also express opinions and explain plans.”
You must also have an A2 written level, meaning “you can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar topics.”
In other words, you should be able to communicate in German, French or Italian, depending on the linguistic region where you live.
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Not pose any threat to Switzerland’s security
Obviously, Switzerland doesn’t want to naturalise people who have a criminal record of serious offences, violence, or known terrorist links.
In this context, the government defines ‘serious crimes as those “warranting at least a three-year prison sentence, including murder, rape, serious sexual assault, violent acts, armed robbery, as well as drug and people trafficking.”
(Not only these foreigners can’t hope to become Swiss, but in many instances they are deported from the country before they can even apply for naturalisation).
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And then here is another condition all applicants must live up to: integration.
This is the most challenging requirement for many people seeking to become Swiss and there is a good reason for that: while the first three are factual rather than vague, ‘integration’ has proven to be open to interpretation by local naturalisation committees and applied arbitrarily at times.
First: what is meant by ‘integration?
According to SEM, it includes language proficiency and respect for Swiss values – no problem there.
Then, there is financial stability and self-sufficiency, which means you should be able to support yourself and your family, and not rely on social assistance to survive (in fact, foreigners who have been receiving welfare will not be naturalised until and unless they fully repay the money they owe to the government).
Another point is knowledge of Swiss history, geography, politics, and society in general.
All this sounds reasonable enough and yet integration is a category that trips many otherwise eligible candidates up on their way to Swiss citizenship.
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Why is that?
That’s because this is one category that opens itself up to various interpretations.
Even when candidates pass the federal and cantonal muster, the last – and most important – hurdle to naturalisation are local committees. Their mission is to judge the candidate’s integration, and their decision can sway the federal and cantonal approval the other way.
Depending on whether you live in a city or a small community, this means either a municipal committee or a panel composed of local residents, will ultimately decide your fate.
Under the Swiss system of grassroots democracy, it is believed that local residents are in a better position to ‘judge’ whether foreigners living in their midst are integrated in community well enough to become Swiss — something that neither the cantonal nor federal authorities can ascertain.
So even if a person meets all the requirements set on cantonal and federal levels, each municipality autonomously decides on the naturalisation applications.
READ ALSO: How your Swiss commune plays a key role in your citizenship application
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And what matters most to these committees is not so much your knowledge of Switzerland’s history or how many ministers sit on the Federal Council (hint: seven), but how you get along with your neighbours and what you contribute to your local community.
While you think you are a model resident, the committee may decide otherwise — and often does.
Based on past cases, local committees had refused citizenship on what appears to be trivial reasons — for instance one foreigner’s bid for naturalisation was rejected because he mowed his lawn on national holidays, while another was turned down due to his lack of knowledge of animals in a local zoo.
You can read more about such arbitrary refusals here:
READ ALSO: The bizarre reasons applicants have been denied Swiss citizenship
And for that reason, the ‘integration’ part of the citizenship process is the one that could dash your plans.
This is less likely in big cities where your comings and goings are anonymous than in small communities and villages where everyone knows your business.
