I am person of Indian origin and currently staying in Switzerland on L12 work permit. I have one doubt on child birth in Switzerland. My wife is pregnant and if my child is born in Switzerland,
Is there any benefits that we will get from the Switzerland government?
It would be really great if any one clears my doubt.
Certain Cantons give a lump sum on the birth in Switzerland, it might be about Fr 200,-- and will come via your employer. You will also get the child allowance about Fr 150,-- to Fr 200,-- per month, again via your employer. It is paid by the employers' federation and the amount varies with Canton and "age" of the child.
My curiousity has been roused: what is the citizenship rule regarding babies of foreigners, being born in countries surrounding Switzerland? For example, is there an EU ruling on this? If the original poster`s partner ( or any other foreigner) wanted to pop over a border to give birth, would the child be eligible for citizenship of that country?
No, as far as I know, the only country in Europe having something similar to American "citizen by birth" is Spain. All other countries gives citizenship based on citizenship of parents-
The child of a foreigner gets the german passport if at least one parent has stayed (legally) for 8 years or longer in germany and holds an unlimited residence permit. I don't know about other states in europe though.
France also gives citizenship to children born there. However there is a residency requirement for the parents. Ie. you can't just pop over & give birth for your child to get citizenship. but if the parents are residents then the baby has rights of citizenship.
Wikipedia has a list of jus solis countries and "modified jus solis" countries.
It is relatively clear that the child (children) do not get Swiss citizenship upon birth in Switzerland when both parents are non-Swiss. My question would be when is/are the said child (children) eligible for applying/receiving Swiss citizenship.
Does anyone know how one obtains this lump sum? Does the employer automatically apply for it as they would maternity pay, for instance? Or must the employee initiate this with the employer?
If you are the employed father, then a claim is made via the father's employer.
As a mother, you could try claiming via your last employer, assuming you are still on maternity leave. It is usually paid to the person that receives the monthly child benefit,
For my 2nd child born in Vaud, we didn't have to do anything special for the lump sum (we got 1500 for the birth). I am assuming that the employer actually had nothing to do with it, because my husband's last employer was so incompetent, its not possible that they were involved in such a quick payment. We got the lump sum, and the employer never applied for the monthly allocation. I think it comes from when the child is registered in the city that you live in, then you will get the payment.