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SWISS CITIZENSHIP

‘Too soon’: Why Swiss MPs refused to ease naturalisation rules for some foreigners

The issue of simplifying the citizenship process for Swiss-born foreigners, which has been on Switzerland’s political agenda for years, has now been scrapped.

'Too soon': Why Swiss MPs refused to ease naturalisation rules for some foreigners
Third-generation foreigners still face bumps on the road to Swiss citizenship. Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP

While some MPs have been calling for the loosening of the current requirements, thought to be too strict and difficult to fulfill, the majority of deputies voted to maintain the status quo.

The Council of States has vetoed  on Wednesday a parliamentary initiative of the National Council which sought to relax the criteria for the naturalisation procedure for Swiss-born grandchildren of immigrants.

This decision came a month after the Political Institutions Commission of the Council of States recommended that the parliament turn down any motions aimed at lowering the obstacles to naturalisation for this group of people — even though in 2017, voters approved facilitated naturalisation for Swiss-born grandchildren of immigrants.

READ MORE: Swiss lawmakers refuse to ease citizenship rules for third-generation immigrants 

After that ‘yes’ vote, more relaxed measures were introduced in 2018, though many restrictions still remain (see below).

This has prompted deputies from left-wing parties to push for further easing of the requirements.

“The procedure is still tedious, with significant administrative burden and obstacles,” according to Green MP Lisa Mazzone.

These motions have, however, been turned down on Wednesday because “facilitated naturalisation for the third generation was introduced only a few years ago and we must  wait for more information on the evolution of the situation before starting a new revision of the law,” said Marco Chiesa of the populist Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which has opposed laxer rules for these, or any other, foreigners.

READ ALSO: ‘Broken system’ – The fight to make it easier for foreigners to become Swiss

Why do people born in Switzerland have to be naturalised?

Unlike many other countries, being born in Switzerland doesn’t automatically mean the person is Swiss — even if they have lived their entire lives here.

If their parents were born abroad and still hold foreign passports, a person will not obtain Swiss citizenship at birth, but must be naturalised.

The Social Democratic party has been pushing for years for laws allowing citizenship by birth in a manner similar to the United States, France, and many other countries.

“Anyone who is born in the country, grows up, works, and spends his life here should also have the appropriate rights as a citizen. That is a democratic and human rights principle,” said socialist MP Paul Rechsteiner.

However, this plan has been encountering resistance, particularly from the SVP, who have consistently advocated for a tough naturalisation framework. 

READ MORE: How Switzerland’s Social Democrats want to introduce ‘citizenship by birth’

What are criteria for third-generation naturalisation?

Greens and Social Democrats have been trying (unsuccessfully so far) to relax the rules many in Switzerland consider too harsh.

Even after the new law was introduced in 2018, “the legal requirements are impossible to meet,” according to a report by the Federal Commission for Migration (FCM) “Thus, it is clear that facilitated naturalisation is not actually easier for the third generation, but rather more difficult.”

The burden of proof is very high and often, as FCM stated, difficult to meet.

For instance, at least one of the grandparents must have been born in Switzerland or it can be plausibly established that the grandparent had a B, C, L or A permit. 

Or, at least one of the parents had a C permit, had lived in Switzerland for at least 10 years and had completed at least five years of compulsory schooling here.

However, as the FCM pointed out, the documentation relating to grandparents could be difficult to obtain if they are deceased and no family records can be found.

And many parents who arrived in Switzerland later in life did not meet the five years of compulsory schooling  criteria, so eligibility for citizenship under this rule “is a real obstacle”, according to the study.

“For third-generation foreigners, the administrative burden inherent in the current procedure is unfairly high: while they themselves meet all the criteria, their application for naturalisation depends above all on the residence status of their parents,” the report said.

READ MORE: Third generation fast-track naturalisation in Switzerland: What you need to know 
 
All this doesn’t necessarily mean the efforts to introduce less stringent rules are definitely finished, but so far MPs haven’t indicated whether, or when, they will continue the battle.

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SWISS CITIZENSHIP

Why young people born in Switzerland can be denied citizenship

If you are expecting a child in Switzerland and look forward to him or her receiving the Swiss passport, you may be disappointed — they may not be eligible for it for a while.

Why young people born in Switzerland can be denied citizenship

Unlike a number of European countries, as well as the United States, where citizenship is a birthright, this is not the case in Switzerland.

Therefore, not all children born here have automatic access to citizenship.

A child born in Switzerland will become a citizen immediately upon birth only if both or one of the parents are/is a Swiss citizen.

It doesn’t matter how the parents got their citizenship in the first place: whether they are Swiss by birth, through ancestry, or naturalisation.

READ ALSO: Can I obtain Swiss citizenship through ancestry? 

It also doesn’t matter if you are a dual citizen — of Switzerland and another country. As long as you have a Swiss passport, you will pass on the nationality to any offspring you have.

If you don’t, then your child will remain a foreigners as well.

What happens if neither you or the child’s other parent is Swiss at the time of the baby’s birth?

In this case, the child will ‘inherit’ your nationality and will, from the legal point of view, remain a foreigner — unless and until one (or both) of the parents obtain Swiss citizenship.

If that happens before the child turns 18, he or she will become Swiss as well; after this age, they will have to apply for naturalisation themselves.

What if neither parent gets naturalised?

Then the child will remain the citizen of your country of origin, at least while he or she is a minor.

At 18, however, they will have a choice of either continuing to live in Switzerland with a foreign passport and a C permit, or applying for citizenship him/herself.

This is strictly a personal choice; there are many people who were born in Switzerland to foreign parents and who live in the country their whole lives without ever seeking citizenship.

Official statistics indicate, for instance, that 2.9 million people aged 15 and over have a migration background, but only 1.1 million of them actually have Swiss nationality.

That’s because many foreigners who live in Switzerland with a C permit don’t feel the need to seek citizenship; this permit ensures the right to remain in Switzerland indefinitely (regardless of your nationality).

The major benefits that a Swiss citizenship would offer and that C permit holders don’t have is the right to vote and run for an elective office, and the possibility to leave the country for an extended period of time without worrying about losing the residency status.

Do Switzerland-born foreigners have an advantage over other foreign nationals in terms on applying for naturalisation?

If they belong to the third generation, they are eligible for the fast-track procedure — a quicker (though not necessarily easy) way to get citizenship.

But even if they have to go through the ordinary process, they have the edge because, being born and raised in Switzerland, they are fluent in their canton’s language and are integrated — two important requirements for obtaining citizenship.

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