I have applied for Facilitated naturalisation in May 2025 in ZH. I am married with 2 kids since 2018. I got the invitation for the interview in March 2026. I can speak German (Level B1) but considering the topics that needs to be covered during the interview I feel B1 is not sufficient to cover those topics. Could you share your experience of how the interview was?
I looked at previous threads and I could not really find out on What kind of questions I can expect? Could anyone of you share your experience?
Thanks for any help and suggestions you could offer.
When I went through facilitated naturalisation (also ZH) there was no interview, but that was quite a few years ago. The most that happened was a couple of the local plod showed up unannounced, asked me to name a couple of Swiss newspapers, and a couple of other perfunctory questions. They refused my offered coffees then popped off again.
I heard these cases. But I think they tend to prefer interviews a lot more lately (saying this purely from looking at the posts on different platforms). How long the whole process took for you?
Canât fully remember because it was ages ago. I think I submitted the application around a spring time then the âCongrats, now youâre Swissâ thing came through just after the following Xmas (late Jan, maybe?) along with a bill for about CHF 750.
Probably best to get more recent input from others, though.
@Zuri : Given your family situation, i think you will be fine as long as you break up your answers into simple german sentences to convey the message. They will recognize it. For more complicated questions like âWhy do you want to be a Swiss citizen?â, I think if you ask them to answer such an important question in english, dont be surprised if they allow you to answer in english. Just my thoughts âŚ
Thank you Tom, that is encouraging. Although I feel I can answer most of the questions related to me and my family in German. However, the problem I feel is explaining the political stuff in German language.
Depends on where one lives. Out in my neck of the woods, saying bad things about the SVP means you have no clue about the local community (heavily into farming).
@Zuri They donât expect you to give a dissertation on the politics of Switzerland or to get into your personal political views. Itâs only to see if you have a clue as mentioned above. Some useful things to know could be:
explain the âmagical formulaâ of the four major parties or at the very least be able to name them
mention the current president of the Confederation is and his party, and maybe
comment on how nice it is to have direct democracy where citizens can collect signatures to vote on just about anything.
You already know your Gemeinde president and her party, so youâre a step ahead!
I wasnât asked anything related to politics in my interview. I was rather disappointed, as I had studied in advance!