Might it be an issue to be living in a shared flat with other 2 flatmates by that time in order to apply to Swiss citizenship? Otherwise I should have to start to look for a place just for me.
Thanks
I am from EU country, no kids, and by the time I have been living in Switzerland for 10 years I will be around 43 years old.
As long as you have a decent income, haven't claimed social security payments, have evidence of being able to speak the local language well enough, and have evidence of integration into the community, they won't care whether you live alone or share with others. Oh, you also need to prove an understanding of the Swiss political system, and a few other things.
Why should the claiming of social security payments affect a citizenship application exactly?
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/becomin…tizen/29288376
All persons applying for simplified naturalisation must demonstrate that they are “successfully integrated”. This means, for example, that they have no debts and no criminal record, that they are able to communicate in a national language in everyday situations (levels B1 orally and A2 in writing), and that they have not received social assistance in the three years prior to applying for naturalisation.
Note, individual Cantons may have stricter rules.
Claiming social security payments that you’re entitled to won’t affect a citizenship application. It’s only if you’ve claimed social aid that your application will be affected.
Thanks NotAllThere. I live in Zurich. I went through a normal citizenship process in 2013. During the process I became unemployed and received RAV payments, and it did not affect my application.
"social security payments" are NOT "social assistance"
Tom
I was afraid that sharing a flat might not be enough Swiss, and being rejected by that.
As @st2lemans pointed out: do you mean "social security payments" or "social assistance"? I was getting payments from RAV, is that going to be a problem?
No, RAV/ALK payments are not an issue, that is an insurance.
I think the confusion arose because to me social security = social aid. Unemployment benefit = RAV. British vs US terminology?
Anyway, araqyl started it!
@OP RAV isn't an issue.
I don’t think so. I’m British and understood social security to mean RAV, AVS,AI etc and not social aid or social assistance.
I don’t think aragyl is from the US either.
Also, widow pensions and such are paid by AVS, but are not social assistance.
Anyway, living in a shared flat is very Swiss.
Tom
As somebody else said already, RAV is an insurance, so different to what I understand as social security (which is support from the government, not requiring people to "buy" later support by investing while working).
Seems like I don't understand social security, but I'm not from the US ...
ara g yl doesn't exist ...
Fine, so sharing a flat is not going to be an issue.
But probably the naturalization application process is much more tough in a small town (a few thousands inhabitants) than in a "big" city (kind of Bern, Winterthur, Luzern...). Right?
I guess that the interview process is more standardized in a city, and they are less picky.
We live in a very small village. We attend the communal events, use local shops, know our post lady. We know by name our village government and some of their kids. We read the local (Nyon) newspaper and are aware of happenings in our village and in the region.
You can’t do that in a city.
Our interview went very smoothly and we knew we had passed when they opened a bottle of wine. From the village, of course.
As bowlie said, if you're involved in local community events then the process is actually smoother.
As well as walking around town a lot and greeting other locals (including current and past town councillors) I enrolled on the town's volunteer list and have helped out in a few different places - so when my name came up through my citizenship application they recognised it, and I had already spent time working with a few people in the office at the town hall (including the current council president). The first interview was short and relaxing, just going through the required standard questions really quickly and then chatting for a while.
Still waiting for the application to get through cantonal and federal approval, but that shouldn't take too long now.
[QUOTE=Belgianmum;3469750]I don’t think so. I’m British and understood social security to mean RAV, AVS,AI etc and not social aid or social assistance./QUOTE]Probably as a result of hanging out with too many Americans.
Thank you all for your replies.
It is not my case. I moved to my current small town a couple of years ago, I haven't socialized at all here. I spend more of my free time in very near city.
Prob by living in that big city I could fake more my integration in the community by being a member in some clubs...
The chances of being interviewed by my next door neighbor are very high in my small town, and they will realize quite fast that even after many years in this country I am still have a long term visitor mindset.
When I moved to CH I planned to be here for just a couple of years. So I did not spend much energy in get into, but year after year...
Anyway I still have a 2 year window before I could initiate my naturalization application. So I still have some time to get myself deeper in the Swiss vibe.