I contacted my local consulate and they told me I should submit a formal request, in letter form, to the naturalisation department.
Has anyone gone through the Facilitated naturalisation process for their spouse as a Swiss registered abroad?
The OP in this thread did it for his wife from South America.
You can send a request for the forms here http://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/bfm/fr/misc/conform.html?contactid=0332&backpagepath=/content/bfm/fr/home/die_oe/kontakt (This is the actual site for naturalization http://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/bfm/...rgerrecht.html )
I'm assuming you have to make the request in any of the 3 national languages. (I requested mine in French). I just requested paperwork for naturalization, explained why I would be eligible for facilitated naturalization, with my name, address, email address etc. Then you'll receive all the paperwork by mail, in the 3 national languages. There are certain questions about where your spouse is living, here in Switzerland or abroad.
For others interested in what the process looks like from the US, I just received my information packet from the Consulate in New York. There were 7 documents in the e-mail I got:
Déclaration concernant la communauté conjugale Autorisation pour l'obtention de renseignements Déclaration concernant le respect de l'ordre juridique Fragebogen / Questionnaire / Questionario Instructions importantes Demande de naturalisation facilitée Art. 28 LN NATURALISATION FACILITÉE POUR LES CONJOINTS ÉTRANGERS DE
RESSORTISSANTS SUISSES DOMICILIES À L'ÉTRANGER (Just information)
In addition I need to submit an FBI Criminal history record.
They provided more details than I've seen in other posts about what they'd expect in an interview: Proof of at least 3 journeys to Switzerland in the last 10 years Knowledge of the Swiss political system/geography/history Contacts with people living in Switzerland and/or the ability to communicate in one of the Swiss national languages Will take about 45 minutes
Cost will be 710 CHF, currently $710.
I'll report back on my progress.
WoW. I applied for Facilitated Nat. in 2014 and had my interview in Oct. 2014 in Atlanta, GA. Then in 2015 November I moved to Switzerland to live with my Swiss wife who moved to Switzerland six months before me. We were married in Switzerland in 1995 and lived in Bauma for two years, 95-97. I now live and work in Switzerland near Saint Gallen. I still do not have an answer from Bern.
I had no information as to what to expect during the interview which lasted for 1.5 hours in Atlanta. I went in completely blind.
Have you sent a letter to the FOM? They might have been sending letters to you in Atlanta, not realizing you were here.
1.5 hours? Sounds like an ordeal. What did they subject you to during that time?
Just a follow-up in case there's interest. I sent in a very thick packet of documentation (> 50 pages) as part of my application in April. Normally it might not be that long but I had about 15 trips to document and the passport that documented most of them was lost in a fire so I had to dig up alternative or circumstantial evidence for them. I got an acknowledgement via e-mail a few days later with a request for a reference letter from a Swiss not living in Switzerland. Luckily I was able to find someone I've known for a while but haven't seen often who wrote one for me.
My case was just about ready for the interview stage when I heard from the Vice Counsel in NY that she's leaving the US and that someone else will be picking up my case. It's been a week and I haven't heard back yet, but I understand that the wheels don't always turn quickly. We're leaving for a trip to CH in a couple weeks so I'm guessing that mid or late June is the earliest the interview will take place.
That is incredible. My son had his interview (Swiss ancestry, etc.) in San Francisco 2 years ago; the consulate is across the street from his office. Interview lasted literally 2 minutes. Son started off in French (he was educated in French lycées through age 12, as are his own children in SF). After 1 minute consular officer took a phone call, cut him off and said his boss wanted him: interview over. A year later he (and his 3 children) had their passports.
I doubt my son studied for the interview. He rarely studied for exams in Uni either. On the other hand he now earns at least 6x what my highest salary ever was, maybe more.
An update: Of course things took longer than hoped, but my interview is scheduled for August 8 so I'll be heading to New York in a couple weeks for whatever it turns out to be (5 minute chat, 90 minute grilling or something in between). I'll post back soon after the interview while the experience is still fresh in my mind.
So my interview was yesterday and here's what I can report. First, it appears that there's been some standardization made in the process. Since the beginning of the year, perhaps a bit longer, there's now a multi-page "quiz" that candidates need to fill out as part of their interview process. I can't remember all of the questions but here are ones that I do (asked and to be answered in German, French or Italian)
How many cantons are there in Switzerland? Name two of Switzerland's rivers. Name five large Swiss cities. What is the population of Switzerland to the nearest million. How many members are there in the Conseil national? This is the only one I got wrong -- confused it with the Conseil des etats Name three famous Swiss (from sports, entertainment, politics, etc.) Who was a legendary man associated with the formation of Switzerland who had a story involving an apple and his son? Which cantons were involved in the origins of the Confederation? What are the national languages of Switzerland? Describe what a popular initiative is? On which date does Switzerland celebrate its national holiday? List a few recent significant events in Switzerland? (Festivals, national disasters, etc.)
The rest of the "interview" was really just a discussion with questions about things from my application. This was in French with a little bit in German. In addition to providing some clarifications about my application it served the purpose of demonstrating that I could speak the language. This was actually a pleasant conversation that took a few interesting twists. We talked for about 40 minutes and then wrapped up with my paying the naturalization fee, a fee for time spent in the interview and postage. The total cost was $710. Interestingly, the receipt form was multilingual, in German, French, Italian, English and Spanish and was filled out in English.
Beginning to end, including the time I spent taking the quiz, the whole thing lasted an hour.
The next steps are that the Counsel I met with will write up a report and send it to Berne along with my application. She said that it could take up to 4 or 5 months before they contact my friends and my wife's family members I listed in my application, and then an additional 5 or 6 months before I get a decision. So with luck I'll be able to celebrate next August 1 with a red passport in hand.
If anything noteworthy happens I'll provide updates, and I'd be happy to answer any questions about my experience.
A year (or so) later, a follow-up. No word from the SEM, either to me or to the people I listed as references. So I followed up today with the Swiss consulate in New York to see if I can get some status update. I figured waiting a year was exhibiting appropriate patience....
Thanks for the update. I'm going through this process (also from abroad) next year so it'll be interesting to hear how long it takes!
Thanks for your update.
I'm in a very similar situation. I applied for facilitated naturalization July 2016, in San Francisco, USA. It's been over a year and my references in Switzerland have not been contacted yet. The consulate recently informed me that the process may now take up to 3 years.
I'm thinking they must be having a big increase in applications before the new citizenship law goes into effect January 2018.
Let us know what the consulate says in your case, best of luck.
I heard back this morning with a note that the process is expected to take one and a half years in general, with a link to this information (in French):
https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/fr/home...verfahren.html
I've never come across that page before in my searches and it doesn't match what I was told last year, but apparently this is what we can expect.
Thanks for the information and link...that's a lot better than the 3 years they told me!
Another update. Whether by coincidence or as a result of asking about my status, two of my family references in Switzerland have been contacted by the SEM and asked to provide information including trips to CH for the past 10 years. So there is hope after all. I submitted my application in May 2016 and had my interview in August 2016 so the 18 month timeline they're suggesting may be realistic. (Or it just could be because I "poked the Bär", perhaps necessary to get action in Bern... )
Thanks for all the info. I have my interview next Wednesday (13.09.2017). I will keep you posted as to how it all progresses.
Good luck!