German citizenship law to boost Swiss expats

Switzerland is the most popular destination for expat Germans

Swiss citizens in neighbouring Germany have become eligible for dual nationality after the authorities in Berlin eased citizenship regulations.

The move also paves the way for an increasing number of long-time German residents in Switzerland to acquire Swiss citizenship without losing their German – and European Union – passport.

The authorities in Berlin last week became one of the last EU member countries to lift a ban on dual citizenship.

Last year there were around 72,000 Swiss residents in Germany – making it the second largest community of Swiss expatriates behind neighbouring France.

Switzerland for its part is the most popular destination for expatriate Germans. About 14,500 of them left their home country for Switzerland, according to 2005 data.

However, the impact of the new regulations is not clear.

“About two third of Swiss expatriates in Germany have already held German nationality as a result of previous regulations,” said Elisabeth Michel, the president of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad in Germany.

Jobs and grants

Michel says many Swiss citizens in neighbouring Germany could be interested in acquiring a German passport to find a job or to become eligible for student grants.

“It’s not possible to be employed by the state, for instance as teacher or a member of the police force, if you don’t have a German passport,” Michel said.

She believes it would be comparatively easy for Swiss citizens to pass the citizenship procedure, as most applicants from Switzerland have sufficient knowledge of the German language.

German is an official language in Switzerland alongside French, Italian and Romansh.

Wave of applications?

Experts doubt whether the new regulations will trigger a wave of citizenship applications by German immigrants in Switzerland.

The Federal Statistics Office says most Germans move to Switzerland for a limited period, mainly for professional reasons.

In 2006 there were nearly 172,600 German residents in Switzerland and less than a third of them had lived in the country long enough to apply for citizenship.

The number of German immigrants to Switzerland has increased by a third since 2002 after Switzerland opened its labour market to EU citizens under a bilateral agreement with Brussels.

Many have taken up jobs in top business, research and the health sector.

However, Switzerland is known for its drawn-out citizenship procedure and critics say many Swiss citizens nurture a love-hate relationship with Germany.

swissinfo, based on a German article by Renat Künzi

In brief

At the end of last year there were about 645,000 Swiss living abroad – 11% more than in 2000.

Almost a third of them are based in the European Union, mostly in France (171,732), Germany (72,384) and Italy (47,012).

Elsewhere in the world, 71,984 Swiss live in the US, 36,374 in Canada, 21,291 in Australia, 15,061 in Argentina, 13,956 in Brazil, 12,011 in Israel and 8,821 in South Africa.

Key facts

Switzerland was the favourite destination for expatriate German in 2005.
There are about 162,000 German citizens in Switzerland – three times more than in 2002 when a labour accord with the EU came into force.
Nearly 7,000 students from Germany were enrolled at Swiss universities and technical colleges in 2004.
Germany is Switzerland’s main trading partner.