Lucerne city council wants to introduce a flat-rate naturalisation fee
Keystone-SDA
In the city of Lucerne, applicants for naturalisation should be able to obtain a Swiss passport more cheaply in future. The city council would like to introduce a flat fee of CHF500 per application. This would be significantly lower than the current fee, which is based on the amount of processing required.
The City Council is proposing a corresponding amendment to the naturalisation regulations to the city parliament, as announced on Monday. Accordingly, the fee for individuals over 25, married couples and families will be a standardised CHF500 (about $630).
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The fee that the city currently charges naturalisation applicants is based on a cantonal ordinance. According to this, individuals pay an average of CHF1,900 and couples CHF2,300 for the city’s naturalisation procedure. In addition, there are cantonal and federal fees.
The city council explained that these fees could deter people from naturalisation due to their high amount. This would also exclude well-integrated foreigners from political participation.
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According to the city council, processing a naturalisation application does involve a great deal of work for the city. However, the fee of CHF500 helps to cover the costs. At the same time, it remains socially acceptable.
The City Council assumes that the new fee will reduce income from fees by around CHF270,000 per year. With this proposal, it is implementing a motion that was partially passed by parliament in February.
Adapted from German by DeepL/ac
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