Anyone who has lived in Switzerland for five years, has a basic knowledge of a national language and has not committed a serious criminal offence should receive a Swiss passport. This is the demand of a popular initiative launched on Tuesday.
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Lancio di un’iniziativa per rendere più facile diventare svizzeri
The initiative committee, Aktion VierviertelExternal link, now has until November 23, 2024, to collect the 100,000 valid signatures required for the initiative to make it to the polls.
Specifically, the initiative calls for naturalisation to be possible after five years of legal residence in Switzerland, irrespective of the permanent residence permit. Today, only people who have a C residence permit and have lived in Switzerland for at least ten years – including three of the past five – are eligible for naturalisation.
About a quarter of Swiss residents do not have Swiss citizenship (of whom about a fifth were born in Switzerland). According to a study, Switzerland has the second-strictest naturalisation rules in Europe after Cyprus.
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Becoming Swiss: ‘Where do I sign?’
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Swiss citizenship is highly sought after – and correspondingly hard to get. swissinfo.ch looks at how to get the naturalisation ball rolling.
Reforms of the citizenship law are a recurring topic in Switzerland. In 2017 voters decided that well-integrated third-generation foreigners should be able to naturalise more easily. These changes came into force in 2018. It later turned out, however, that the number of these naturalisations did not increase as much as expected.
In recent years parliament has rejected making naturalisation easier, including two parliamentary initiatives that would have granted foreigners more co-determination rights after five years in Switzerland.
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Naturalisation still not easy for third-generation foreigners
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Easier naturalisation for third-generation foreigners introduced in 2018 has not had high take-up.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
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Why some residents choose not to become Swiss
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A 2012 study commissioned by the Federal Commission on Migration found that in 2010 around 900,000 people in Switzerland were eligible for citizenship. In contrast, 36,000 people, or around two per cent of foreigners in Switzerland in 2011, were granted Swiss citizenship. “In comparison to other countries, Switzerland has very strict criteria for citizenship, which…
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Some children of Swiss women abroad - but not of Swiss men - still have almost no chance of obtaining a Swiss passport. Why?
Going on a quest for a Swiss passport – as a Swiss national
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Born to Swiss parents, Cate Riley was adopted by an Australian family in the 1970s. She is on a journey to be recognised as a Swiss citizen.
Politicians call for simplified naturalisation of third-generation foreigners
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Third-generation foreigners living in Switzerland should be able to become Swiss more easily, according to the House of Representatives.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.