Swiss citizenship
From Freepedia
Swiss citizenship is status of being a citizen of Switzerland and it can be obtained by birth, marriage or naturalization.
The Swiss Citizenship Law is based on the following principles:
- Triple citizenship level (Confederation, canton and community)
- Acquisition of citizenship through descent (ius sanguinis)
- Prevention of statelessness
Every Swiss is a citizen of his/her place/community of origin, his/her canton of origin and the Confederation, in this order: a Swiss citizen is defined as someone who has the citizenship of a Swiss municipalities (art. 37 of the Swiss Federal Constitution). He/she is entered in the family register of his/her place of origin. The place of origin is the place where the family (usually the father) comes from. It is not to be confused with the place of birth. The place of origin can be the same as the place of birth, but this is not necessarily the case.
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Requirements for citizenship
Birth
A person is a Swiss citizen at birth (whether born in Switzerland or not) if they are:
- born to a Swiss father or mother, if parents are married
- born to a Swiss mother, if parents are not married
Where parents marry after birth and only the father is Swiss, the child acquires Swiss citizenship at that point.
There are exceptions if only the mother is Swiss and she acquired Swiss citizenship on the basis of a previous marriage to a Swiss citizen.
Jus soli don't exist in Switzerland, hence birth in Switzerland in itself does not confered Swiss citizenship on the child.
Marriage (facilitated naturalisation)
A person married to a Swiss citizen may apply for Swiss citizenship by facilitated naturalisation after living in Switzerland for five years and married for a least three years. No language test is required, however one must show:
- integration into the Swiss way of life;
- compliance with the Swiss rule of law;
- no danger to Switzerland's internal or external security.
Children from the person previous relationship are given citizenship along with the partner. This clause is not valid for same-sex relationships.
It is also possible for the spouse of a Swiss citizen to apply for facilitated naturalisation while resident overseas after:
- 6 years of marriage to a Swiss citizen; and
- close ties to Switzerland.
Spouses acquiring Swiss citizenship by facilitated naturalisation will acquire the citizenship of the commune and canton of their Swiss spouse.
Naturalization
Citizenship in Switzerland can be obtained by a permanent resident who lives in Switzerland for twelve years (any years spent in Switzerland between the 10th and the 20th years are counted double), lived in the country for the last three out of five years before applying for citizenship. You should be able to speak fluently in either German (preferably Swiss German), French, Italian or Romansch (depended on which municipality) and show:
- integration into the Swiss way of life;
- familiarity with Swiss habits, customs and traditions;
- compliance with the Swiss rule of law;
- no danger to Switzerland's internal or external security.
Cantons and municipalities impose their own residence and other requirements, which may be additional to those imposed by the Confederation.
Simplified naturalisation
Certain categories of non-Swiss may apply for simplified naturalisation, including:
- women who lost Swiss citizenship through marriage to a non-Swiss citizen, or through the loss of Swiss citizenship by a husband, before 23 March 1990
- children born to Swiss mothers who acquired Swiss citizenship themselves on the basis of a previous marriage
- persons born before 1 July 1985 whose mother acquired Swiss citizenship by descent, adoption or naturalisation
- children whose mother acquired Swiss citizenship by marriage
All these categories have additional requirements to be fulfilled. Normally a successful applicant acquires the cantonal and communal citizenship of the Swiss mother or spouse.
Triple citizenship level
Each municipality in Switzerland maintains its own registry of citizens, which is separate from the registry of people living in the municipality. Most Swiss citizens do not live in the municipality that is their place of origin; therefore, they are often required by the municipality they live in to get a certificate of citizenship (in French: acte d'origine) from their place of origin. In practice, there is no difference in rights or obligations between citizens of different municipalities, except for the extra paperwork that may be involved.
Dual citizenship
The Federal Office for Migration states:
"Dual nationality has been permitted without restrictions in Switzerland since 1st January 1992. Thus people who acquire Swiss nationality no longer have to waive their previous nationality, as was the case before (although there is a possibility that the law of the country of origin provides an automatic loss of nationality if another nationality is voluntarily acquired). Swiss citizens who acquire another nationality abroad do not have to forego Swiss nationality (as was indeed the case even before 1992) unless the other country requires that they waive their Swiss nationality on naturalisation.
The vast majority of dual nationalities have no longer arisen from naturalisation since men and women achieved equality with regard to passing their nationalities on to their children in virtually all the countries. Thus children of nationally mixed marriages acquire at least two nationalities. This has not resulted in any problems worth noting. As a rule, military service is done in the country in which the applicant is resident at the time of conscription. People who have done military service in a foreign country will no longer be called up in Switzerland."
Controversy with Swiss citizenship
Swiss citizenship has been in and out of the media by the difficulties of the procedure of obtaining it as it doesn't allow people who have lived (even born in the country) their whole lives in Switzerland to receive it because of various reasons, this even included second or even third generation immigrants. There has been many referenda on trying to loosen the rules, such as a second generation immigrant getting it after completing compulsory full-time education and the third generation getting automatic citizenship, however it has been defeated many times. Some people think this is due to a sinister reflection of the perceived xenophobia present in Switzerland
Rights and obligations of Swiss citizens
All Swiss citizens are:
- Able to vote in political elections upon reaching the age of 18.
- Able to run for political office.
- Able to start and give a signature to a petition of signatures for a referendum
- Able to obtain a Swiss passport.
- Able to prevent risk of getting deported from Switzerland
- Obliged to do military service (men only)
External links
Swiss nationality page of the Federal Office for Migration
Fact Sheets on Swiss Citizenship, Swiss Embassy, Washington DC
