Obtaining and registering Swiss citizenship

Switzerland is a country with a small number of inhabitants, but a very high standard of living. It is ahead of many other EU countries in terms of its economic development. This status has its consequences: it is rather difficult to obtain a passport of this state. Despite this, Russians and Ukrainians often think about obtaining Swiss citizenship.

New citizenship laws

In early 2019, the already harsh requirements for immigrants tightened. Now it has become even more difficult to become a Swiss citizen. But there were also several indulgences.

The updated rules look like this:

1. When accepting a migrant into citizenship, it is not the period of residence in the country that is taken into account, but the degree of integration into the local society. So, a potential subject must be economically independent, communicate with local residents, speak one of the national languages, respect the Constitution of the country;
2. The opportunity to apply for citizenship appears for a resident only after 12 years of living in Switzerland;
3. If the migrant is in the country in the status of “Temporarily employed”, the period of stay is only taken into account by half;
4. An applicant for citizenship must be in the country for a permanent residence permit (permit C). Previously, applications could also be submitted by residents under a B permit, but now this category has been excluded;
5. For children, the period of life in the country increases: for example, for persons from 8 to 18 years old, the period of stay in Switzerland is multiplied by 2. However, the authorities intend to abolish this clause.

Who is eligible to apply for Swiss citizenship

A citizen who:

• Born within the borders of the state or born of Swiss citizens;
• Married with a Swiss citizen;
• Has legally lived in the country for more than 12 years;
• He is going to invest a large sum of money in the state economy;
• He is fluent in one of the official languages ​​- Romansh, German, Italian or French.

Who will not be able to obtain citizenship

Some categories of citizens are completely prohibited from staying in Switzerland on any grounds. These categories include:

• Persons in debt to their home country or Swiss economy;
• Convicted citizens who evade justice in a foreign country;
• Persons liable for military service who refused to serve in the Swiss army;
• Foreign special agents or military personnel.

Methods for obtaining Swiss citizenship

There are several ways for foreigners to acquire Swiss citizenship. Among them:

1. Received after birth;
2. Through naturalization;
3. Combining marriage with a Swiss resident;
4. Flight from a neighboring country with refugee status;
5. Creation of a profitable business within the country;
6. Investing a large amount of money in the economy or local companies.

Despite the fact that the list of grounds is extensive, they all imply an equally long period of life in the country before applying for citizenship. The only exceptions are persons born in Switzerland.

Important! Simplified conditions for filing papers are provided for children and husbands / wives of Swiss citizens, refugees and large investors.

By birth and origin

The easiest and fastest way to become a citizen. It is mainly designed for children, but there are exceptions. Under this method, citizenship is assigned according to the following principles:

1. A child who was born into a family where at least one of the parents is Swiss automatically receives the citizenship of the country;
2. If the mother is a Swiss citizen, the newborn becomes a citizen of the country. Even if the relationship between the parents is not formalized, or the father is stateless;
3. The adopted child automatically becomes Swiss if he is taken into the family by Swiss citizens;
4. In the case where the child's father is a native Swiss, and the mother lives with her son / daughter elsewhere, official recognition of paternity will be required. The procedure must be carried out before the child reaches the age of 18, only in this case he can become a citizen of Switzerland.

Important! A newborn born in Switzerland from two migrants does not have the advantage and does not automatically become a Swiss citizen.

Marriage

Spouses of Swiss citizens can apply for full citizenship. For this, a number of conditions must be met:

• Newlyweds must have lived together for at least 3 years;
• Stay within Switzerland for at least 5 years legally;
• A Russian migrant must live in the same living space with his Swiss spouse.

In some cases, newlyweds cannot live in the same living space due to force majeure situations or other circumstances. Then the requirements become more severe:

• The duration of the marriage must be at least 6 years;
• A migrant applying for citizenship must have connections with Switzerland (for example, communicate closely with local residents or work in the country).

Naturalization

Only a few receive Swiss citizenship automatically, the rest of the applicants can only hope for naturalization. This is the most common way to obtain citizenship, but also the longest.

Switzerland is characterized by several grounds for issuing naturalization passports - employment, starting a business, entering a university, family reunification.

To implement this method, a number of conditions must be met:

1. The grounds for staying in the country must be legal and valid;
2. The migrant must not violate the laws of the country;
3. Ideally, be fluent in one of the national languages;
4. Be prepared for military service in Switzerland.

Each potential citizen is approved at several government levels, so the process of granting citizenship takes a very long time. However, there are preferential conditions in naturalization: for example, there is a common system and a simplified one.

Regular

A potential citizen must have lived in the country for at least 12 years on any legal basis.

The migrant is checked in turn at several levels:

1. The applicant is assessed for compliance with the generally recognized conditions of citizenship. The review is handled by representatives of the community and the canton;
2. If the canton has approved the migrant as a potential citizen, he is evaluated by the State Migration Secretariat.

At the same time, at all stages of consideration, additional conditions may be set that relate to different aspects of the applicant's life.

Simplified

The simplified system implies a shorter stay in the country before opening citizenship. It is relevant for:

• Refugees and their close relatives;
• Swiss university students;
• Large investors;
• Children and spouses of Swiss citizens;
• Some citizens living outside the country (on rare occasions and with very close ties to Switzerland).

Representatives of these categories are entitled to apply for the acquisition of citizenship after 5 years of uninterrupted life in Switzerland. Applications for the accelerated naturalization program are reviewed by the Confederation. The municipality and canton do not participate, but they can appeal against the decision.

Double citizenship

Switzerland allows residents of their country to have multiple passports. That is, the recipient of a national passport does not have to renounce his previous citizenship.

In this case, it is important to take into account the laws of the applicant's home state - it may be against having two passports for its subjects. In this case, upon obtaining Swiss citizenship, the previous one will have to be abandoned. If this rule is not observed, the offender may face punishment up to criminal prosecution.

As for Russia and Ukraine, both of these states are quite loyal to the second citizenship as Switzerland.

Citizenship process

If all the nuances and conditions are met, the applicant can collect the documentation for filing along with the application for a passport. Would need:

• Original national passport along with copies of all pages;
• Tax certificate stating that the applicant has no debts either in his home country or in Switzerland;
• A certificate from a doctor about the absence of diseases dangerous to society;
• Birth / marriage document as grounds for opening status;
• Employment contract or certificate from an employer in Switzerland;
• Proof of the absence of a valid criminal record and criminal record;
• Bank statement confirming that you have enough money to live in Switzerland.

Despite the fact that Ukrainian citizens have recently acquired the right to travel without a visa to all EU states, the filing of papers for citizenship has not been simplified in any way. A similar scheme applies to the issuance of a new passport for citizens of the Russian Federation.

Interview

After the selection of papers, the applicant signs up for an interview - a mandatory stage in obtaining citizenship. During the interview, the migrant will be asked questions about the history, culture, geography of Switzerland.

The purpose of the conversation is to find out how much a foreigner is interested in the country to which he wants to move permanently. Therefore, citizenship officers can also inquire about knowledge of local politics, traditions, customs and famous people.

Important! The dialogue takes place in one of the national languages, the knowledge of which was declared by the foreigner. This is how the officers check their proficiency at a conversational level.

Where and how to submit documents

The place of filing of documents differs depending on the basis for issuing citizenship. If it is naturalization, the applicant comes to the cantonal administration, and in all other cases is sent to the state migration department.

Then you need to wait for the final decision from the inspection staff. If it turns out to be positive, the new Swiss citizen will be invited to the ceremony. There he will have to take the oath and solemnly receive a passport with a red cross.

Cost and terms of registration

For consideration of his application, the applicant must pay a state fee and other fees. The final amount to be spent is 1000 Swiss francs. In terms of Russian rubles, it will be approximately 65,000.

The process of collecting a complete package of documentation can take from three months to several years. A foreigner can wait 2-3 years for the final verdict of the Swiss government.

Reasons for refusal

The Swiss authorities often refuse to grant citizenship to applicants. Moreover, a negative decision can be made at any level - both at the regional and at the state level.

There can be a lot of reasons for refusal, here are just a few of them:

1. An attempt to defraud the government with a fictitious basis for granting citizenship. In the statistics of the state, there were cases when a migrant entered into a fictitious marriage with a Swiss in order to obtain the desired document;
2. False data specified in the application or fake documents;
3. Insufficient knowledge of the national language;
4. Errors or misprints in the application;
5. Too small amount in a Swiss bank account or insufficient income;
6. The presence of a criminal record (valid or canceled), which the applicant kept silent about.

According to Swiss law, the decision of the cantons cannot be appealed, even if the applicant does not agree with it. A foreigner has only one way out - to try to send the documents again in a few months.

Is it possible to buy Swiss citizenship

Advertisements often pop up on the Internet, where it is proposed to issue Swiss citizenship by investment. Such "lots" are accompanied by a price predominantly prohibitive.

In fact, Switzerland does not offer any citizenship by investment or real estate. Therefore, the pseudo-intermediaries who advertise this are scammers.

If you can't buy citizenship, then you can pay for a residence permit quite legally. For this, foreigners use a legal procedure called lump-sum taxation.

Life in the most developed state of Europe is the dream of almost every Russian. But Switzerland does not distribute passports to everyone, so first it is important for the applicant to decide whether he is ready for a long and difficult journey.

He will have to collect documents for a long time and wait for the desired passport for at least 10 years. But in the end it will be possible to move to a state with beautiful nature and a high standard of living, while retaining Russian citizenship.