Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

SWISS CITIZENSHIP

Can I still get Swiss citizenship after claiming social benefits?

Switzerland’s naturalisation criteria is among the toughest in Europe, with many applicants experiencing additional complications on the road to citizenship. Is depending on social aid one of them?

Published: 14 April 2023 12:33 CEST
Updated: 2 March 2024 11:45 CET
Can I still get Swiss citizenship after claiming social benefits?
Many people want it, not everyone will get it. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

From the length of residency to language and integration requirements, conditions for obtaining a Swiss passport are strict, especially for those applying under the ordinary naturalisation procedure rather than the simplified one.

The steps and requirements for both are outlined in this article:

How to apply for Swiss citizenship: An essential guide 

In order to be eligible for naturalisation, you must fulfil a number of requirements, all of which are listed on the website of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). 

While not depending on social assistance is not specifically mentioned, neither federal nor cantonal / communal naturalisation commissions will grant citizenship to foreigners who have been receiving public money, even if they meet all the other requirements.

Who is entitled to receive social aid in Switzerland?

This kind of financial aid is intended for residents who have insufficient income to support themselves and / or their families.

In Switzerland, this means wages below 2.259 Swiss francs a month for a single person, or 3.990 Swiss francs for two adults and two children.

Many of the recipients are newly arrived and have no jobs or income of any kind.

Amounts of payments vary based on personal circumstances.

However, to be eligible for government help, applicants cannot have any assets of their own. If they have money in the bank, own property or vehicles, they will not qualify for public assistance until the assets are liquidated.

Why is this so?

One of the most important conditions for citizenship is to be successfully integrated.

SEM defines integration as “personal responsibility,” self-sufficiency, and participation in the country’s economy.

This means applicants should be working and earning money rather than relying on the government to support them.

READ ALSO: What does being ‘successfully integrated’ in Switzerland mean?

So if you are receiving welfare benefits, and have been within three years before seeking to be naturalised, you are not eligible to apply for Swiss citizenship.

However, if you have completely repaid the amount of social aid you received before the naturalisation application, then your chances of obtaining Swiss citizenship are much greater.

Receiving assistance also doesn’t bode well for your work permit.

The Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (FNIA) provides for the possibility of downgrading or revoking the permit of a person receiving social assistance.

This means authorities may decide to downgrade permanent residence permits to temporary ones, or withdraw them altogether, if someone has applied for benefits.

The revision of FNIA in 2019 extended the consequences of social assistance even to C permit holders, meaning that sweeping rights and protections normally conferred by this particular permit in relation to long-term permanent residence could be nullified.

This would impact not only third country nationals, but also EU/EFTA citizens living in Switzerland.

READ ALSO: How applying for social benefits could see your Swiss work permit cancelled

But there is more.

You can also see your bid for citizenship denied if you have debts or, worse yet, there are debt collection proceedings against you.

In its handbook on naturalisation, SEM notes that “compliance with Swiss law is measured in particular by an exemplary financial reputation”.

SEM goes on to list non-payment of taxes, health insurance premiums, fines, rents, or accumulation of debt as valid reasons for denying citizenship.

READ ALSO: How personal debt could stop you from becoming Swiss 

What about unemployment benefits?

There is nothing in the FNIA law referring specifically to unemployment, so no, this would not be held against you in the naturalisation process.

If you have been legally working in Switzerland for at least 12 months in the last two years and contributing to the social insurance scheme, then you are entitled to receive unemployment benefits.

Since you ‘earned’ these benefits fair and square, they can’t be considered as free handouts, and therefore would not hinder your citizenship application.

READ ALSO: Which foreign workers are entitled to unemployment benefits in Switzerland?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

SWISS CITIZENSHIP

EXPLAINED: How to speed up your Swiss citizenship application

The naturalisation process in Switzerland is quite slow as it makes its way through two levels of the government — cantonal and municipal. But can be accelerated in certain cases?

Published: 25 April 2024 14:45 CEST
EXPLAINED: How to speed up your Swiss citizenship application

You have waited a long time (more than a decade in most cases) to be able to apply for Swiss  citizenship, so when you do, you may be eager to hasten the process.

The Swiss (and that includes the government) don’t like to be rushed, and that penchant for slow deliberations includes naturalisation procedures. The usual wait time from the moment you apply and receive your citizenship is typically between 12 months and two years.

Usually, the wait time is shorter for those applying for the fast-track naturalisation — for instance, people married to a Swiss citizen, or foreigners born in Switzerland — than for people going through the ‘regular’ process.
 
READ ALSO: Five ways you can fast-track your route to Swiss citizenship

Is there a way to make the process go faster?

You can’t jump the line or ask the cantonal or municipal authorities responsible for naturalisation procedures to hurry up.

In fact, such as a move could ‘red-flag’ you as a candidate unworthy of Swiss citizenship because impatience and not following the proper due course could be seen as lack of integration.

There are, however, ways to speed up the process in other ways.

You can do so by following the application instructions to the letter, that is, knowing what documents you need to submit with your application, and making sure you have all the required  paperwork (read more about this below).

This is especially important if you apply in a canton with a high volume of citizenship applications, like Geneva, Vaud, and Zurich, because the wait there will be all that much longer if authorities inform you that such or such document is missing and you still need to send it in.

How should you apply to ensure the smoothest possible process?

This may sound evident, but many applicants may not know where to send in their application.

It should be submitted to authorities in your canton of residence.

What documents should you send in with your application?

All cantons require you to submit a copy of your C permit, and proof of language proficiency acquired from a registered language school in Switzerland.

Other requirements may vary from canton to canton, but they are also likely to include (as, for instance, in Geneva):

  • An extract from the Swiss civil status register, not older than six months
  • A certificate from the tax administration, dated less than three months;
  • A certificate from the prosecution office, less than three months old;
  • A certificate of successful completion of the test validating knowledge of history, geography, as well as Swiss and cantonal institutions.

It goes without saying that if you send in your application but one of the necessary documents is missing, then your application will be put on hold until you provide what’s needed. That will delay the whole process.

So it follows that the best way to ‘speed up’ the entire procedure is to practice the Swiss qualities or organisation and preparedness.

READ ALSO: When can I start counting my residency in Switzerland towards citizenship?

SHOW COMMENTS