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SWISS CITIZENSHIP

Switzerland revokes citizenship for ‘unfair and deceptive behaviour’

A woman who gained a Swiss passport through marriage has had her citizenship revoked after she divorced - just one of the reasons that Swiss nationality can be removed from foreigners.

Published: 2 August 2022 10:46 CEST
The Swiss passport.
The Swiss passport. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

Married in 2010 to a Swiss man 15 years her senior, a Moroccan woman became naturalised through the facilitated process in 2015, but separated from her husband just months later.

As soon as the couple divorced in 2017, the woman remarried in Lebanon, raising suspicions among Swiss authorities about the ulterior motives behind her marriage in Switzerland.

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why ‘simplified’ Swiss naturalisation is actually not that simple

According to media reports on Monday, “after inquiring into the circumstances of the couple’s breakup” and concluding that the woman married expressly to get a Swiss passport,  the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) revoked her naturalisation.

She appealed the decision, first to an administrative court, and then to Switzerland’s highest judicial authority, the Federal Court. Both have upheld SEM’s decision.

“The SEM may cancel the facilitated naturalisation obtained by false statements or by the concealment of essential facts”, the federal judge ruled, adding that the woman obtained her citizenship through “disloyal and deceptive behaviour”.

While this may seem like a rare occurrence, in fact it is not.

On average, SEM revokes close to 50 naturalisations each year following a divorce.

But there are also other circumstances when the government can strip someone of Swiss citizenship.

As The Local reported earlier in 2022, “dual nationals can have their Swiss citizenship revoked if their conduct is seriously detrimental to Switzerland’s interests or reputation”.

One example of when such a drastic and irrevocable step can be taken is in the case of people convicted of war crimes, terrorism, or treason.

Between 1940 and 1947, 80 Swiss nationals were deprived of their citizenship because they collaborated with the Nazis.

More recently, in 2019, a Turkish-Swiss dual national lost his Swiss citizenship after being convicted by the Federal Criminal Court for being a member of Islamic State (ISIS).

The last such case, in 2020, involves a woman who was born and raised in Geneva but also has a French passport in addition to a Swiss one. She took her two young daughters to live in the ISIS enclave in Syria without the knowledge of their respective fathers.

In both these cases, authorities revoked their citizenship, banning them from returning to Switzerland and possibly posing a security threat within the country.

Whatever the reason for withdrawing the citizenship, it can only be done if the person has a second nationality. Otherwise, Switzerland would create stateless people, an act prohibited by international law.

And while in certain cases the citizenship can be reinstated, you can’t get it back if your naturalisation has been nullified or if your citizenship has been revoked, for reasons cited above.

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Can Swiss citizenship be revoked – and can you get it back?
 

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SWISS CITIZENSHIP

Do you need permanent residency to become a Swiss citizen?

There are many eligibility criteria to be met before applying for naturalisation. But is living in Switzerland one of them?

Published: 17 April 2024 14:01 CEST
Do you need permanent residency to become a Swiss citizen?

If you have gone through the naturalisation procedure — or are planning to do so — you probably know all the requirements you need to fulfil.

There is the language proficiency, successful integration, and yes, length of residency as well.

This implies that you must actually live in Switzerland a certain length of time as a permanent resident before being able to seek citizenship.

This rule also extends to foreign spouses of Swiss citizens, who must live at least five years in the country — including three years before applying for naturalisation. 

What exactly does this mean?

In Switzerland, ‘permanent residence’ for the purpose of naturalisation means that you must have a ‘settlement’ C permit — the highest in Switzerland’s permit hierarchy, and the only one allowing to apply for citizenship.

Most foreigners in Switzerland, especially those coming from the EU or EFTA nations (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein) ‘worked their way up’ from the B to C permit through residency — typically five years.

In case you come from non-EU / EFTA states (including the UK), then your wait to ‘upgrade’ from a B to a C permit is twice as long — 10 continuous years.

There are, however, some exemptions from these rules.

For instance, Americans and Canadians are on par with their EU/ EFTA counterparts: they can also apply for a C permit after five years of continuous residence on a B permit.

Another exemption to the length-of-residency rules are Switzerland-born foreigners who have lived in the country since birth and are automatically holders of a C permit.

READ ALSO: Why does Switzerland have two kinds of C-permit holders? 

So in that sense, applicants for citizenship must be permanent residents of Switzerland who have a C permit.

But there are some non-residents who can become Swiss citizens as well

This is where the so-called ‘citizenship by ancestry’ kicks in.

You may apply for citizenship via the ancestry route through paternal or maternal descent, regardless of your place of birth and whether you actually live in Switzerland or not.

According to the Swiss Citizenship Act, you are considered Swiss if your parents are married to each other and either of them is a Swiss citizen

You may also apply for facilitated naturalisation if you are the child of a female Swiss citizen, even if your mother is not married to your father.

This process is not automatic, however; you will still have to prove that you have close ties with Switzerland — for instance, through family interactions or regular visits to the country.

If, however, you are the child of a Swiss father not married to your mother, the situation is slightly trickier.

In such as case, you can acquire citizenship at birth (or later) so long as the father’s paternity is established. In this case, too, you will need to prove your close ties with Switzerland.

In all these cases, you don’t have to live in Switzerland at all (or only occasionally) and still apply for a Swiss citizenship.

READ ALSO: The bizarre reasons applicants have been denied Swiss citizenship
 

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