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SWISS CITIZENSHIP

Zurich looks to change fees for Swiss citizenship process

Some candidates applying for Swiss citizenship in the city of Zurich will pay less for the procedure, while for others the costs will be higher.

Published: 28 March 2024 12:26 CET
Zurich looks to change fees for Swiss citizenship process
Zurich naturalisation procedures could become less expensive. Photo: Its all about the shot /Getty Images

The naturalisation process in Switzerland’s largest city used to cost 1,200 francs for those coming from abroad, and 500 francs for foreigners born in Switzerland.

This week, the municipal council decided, however, to ‘equalise’ the cost: all foreigners, regardless of their place of birth, would pay a flat fee of 750 francs.

People under the age of 25 would apply for free. The fee could also be partially or completely waived for people without financial means to afford this charge.

While various parties quibbled over the new amount — with left-wing parties seeking to drop it to 500 francs — it was ultimately decided that 750 francs would be fair, as it would cover all the administrative costs.

‘Incentive for naturalisation’

During the debate, the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) argued against lowering the cost of obtaining citizenship.

“If it doesn’t cost anything, it’s no longer worth anything,” its deputies said.

On the other side of the political spectrum, Social Democrat Maya Kägi Götz pointed out that a lower fee would provide an “incentive for naturalisation.”

This view was shared by a Green councillor, Urs Riklin, who said that making the naturalisation process more ‘affordable’ is good for the city and Switzerland in general.

“Everyone should be able to participate in democracy,” he said.

The final decision on this move will be taken at one of the forthcoming council meetings.

READ ALSO: How much does it cost to become a Swiss citizen?

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ZURICH

Growth spurt: What Zurich needs to do to accommodate 2 million residents

Switzerland's biggest city Zurich is becoming more densely populated. With the population expected to pass the 2 million mark in the coming years authorities are devising plans to make it liveable for new residents.

Published: 29 April 2024 15:08 CEST
Growth spurt: What Zurich needs to do to accommodate 2 million residents

At the end of 2023, over 1.6 million people lived in Zurich, Switzerland’s most populous canton.

But this number is far from static.

The population is continuing to grow — so much so, that it will reach the 2-million mark in the coming years, cantonal authorities said in a press release.

This means an increase of around 450,000 people within the next two decades — a 28-percent growth rate, which is “significantly higher than the Swiss average.”

The primary reason for this hike, accounting for 49 percent of the increase, is immigration, followed by births (44 percent) and, to a lesser degree (7 percent), people moving to Zurich from other Swiss regions

On one hand, this is good news because “it is evidence of the canton’s attractiveness and economic prosperity,” authorities pointed out.

On the other, however, this demographic evolution will create a number of new problems and exacerbate the already existing ones.

That is why “strategic decisions are needed on how to handle challenges facing various areas,”  cantonal officials said.

‘Dealing with consequences’

With this ‘growth spurt,’ Zurich will experience many of the same challenges as Switzerland on the whole will, as demographers are expecting the country’s population to swell to 10 million (from the current 9 million) people in the coming years. 

Just as the federal government has started to think about the best ways to prepare the country’s infrastructure for the growing numbers, Zurich’s authorities too will be “shaping this growth” and “dealing with its consequences.”

To achieve this goal, they have launched the ‘Growth 2050” project to begin in the summer, which will  examine “which approach is most suitable for strategically addressing the challenges ahead,” according to the press release.

What exactly does this mean?

While the project’s findings will not be made public until 2027, authorities will have to ensure that Zurich’s infrastructure, such as housing, public transport, as well as school and healthcare systems, will not crumble under pressure, but be able to function optimally — from both the financial and practical perspectives — in the new context.

While all these areas are important, in Zurich’s case, housing appears to be a particular problem as more residents move into the canton.

With  tens of thousands of foreign nationals having settled in Zurich in the past few years, for instance, affordable housing had become scarcer — a situation that has continued to deteriorate and is expected to grow worse as more residents continue to arrive in the future.

READ ALSO: Zurich hit by affordable housing shortage amid record-high immigration

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