A couple from the Netherlands, who have lived in Switzerland for 20 years, saw their request for naturalisation denied. One of the reasons cited for the refusal: they only have a few friends in their local community.
At first glance, Ronny van Unen (72) and Saskia Scheltes (64) are perfect candidates for a Swiss passport: they have lived in the country for two decades, are law-abiding, don’t get welfare benefits, and speak the language of their region — that is, German.
But their application for Swiss citizenship was nevertheless turned down by the naturalisation committee in their community of Unteriberg, canton Schwytz, who cited lack of integration as one of the reasons for the refusal.
READ ALSO: How your Swiss commune plays a key role in your citizenship application
After the refusal, the couple decided to defend their cause at the town meeting on April 24th. But that attempt did not bode well for them either.
‘Don’t identify with Switzerland’
According to Unteriberg’s mayor, Ruedi Keller, who is also a member of the naturalisation committee, the couple is not sufficiently integrated.
“We had the impression that they don’t really identify with Switzerland,” he told Swiss media.
Even though van Unen, a member of the Swiss Alpine Club, participates in local hikes and is therefore familiar with the Swiss mountains, and also belongs to the local flying club, the couple reportedly have too few friends and acquaintances in Unteriberg, are not sufficiently involved in social life, or informed about current political issues in the commune.
After their application had been refused for the second time, the unsuccessful candidates are now planning to plead their case in the canton’s administrative court.
In the meantime, they may find some solace in knowing that they are by far not the only applicants found unworthy of Swiss citizenship.
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Icy windshield and shopping at Aldi
Take, for instance the case of a man from the African nation of Cape Verde, who defrosted his windshield on an icy winter morning, but apparently not thoroughly enough to pass a roadside police check.
This one incident froze his chances of becoming a Swiss citizen.
And then there was a Turkish woman, who formally met all the criteria for naturalisation, but was denied Swiss citizenship in the municipality of Buchs (Aargau).
The committee reportedly didn’t like the fact that she shopped at Aldi and Migros instead of buying from local merchants.
This too was deemed as a sign of poor integration into the community.
But all these examples are only the tips of the iceberg
There have been many instances over the years of candidates bring denied Swiss citizenship for what can objectively be seen as artibtrary reasons:
READ ALSO: The bizarre reasons applicants have been denied Swiss citizenship
