There used to be some really useful threads on the former englishforum.ch regarding those of us who are either pursuing or have successfully completed the facilitated naturalization from outside Switzerland (based on marriage to a Swiss citizen). I think it would be nice to revive that thread to help those going through the very long, thorough and at times confusing process.
Anyone going through it now or has gone through it recently? Post your story including the country of origin, timelines and experience. Iāll share mine too when I get to a more advanced stage. Happy sharing!
I am very interested in recent experiences of facilitated naturalization for marriage to a Swiss citizen (born and) when living abroad (USA). We will apply in nyc. We have been married for nearly 30 yrs, and for the last 4 years are in Switzerland for the summer. Before that we took our kids to Switzerland for 2-3 week summer vacations. Our biggest problem are the Swiss references (we have two but are basically tourists) and participation in our local Swiss club (we did participate when the children were little but havenāt recently). I read the 2009 thread and would love to hear from folks with recent experience.
My experience is recent, so sharing some information.
With 30 years of marriage, full summers in Switzerland and frequent trips there, I imagine you will meet several of the requirements (which is great). Local Swiss Club membership is a nice to have, not a must have, so consider rejoining the club in advance of you sending the application. Iām assuming you speak a Swiss language to at least A2/B1 level? That will also be key since the consulate staff will give you forms and/or communicate with you only in German, French and Italian.
The main issue will be the references, who must be currently domiciled in CH. The forms have space for up to 5, and you must enter the names and local Swiss addresses of at least 3 otherwise you may be deemed ineligible and may be rejected at the consular review stage (they may not even invite you for an interview at all if you send the application in with less than 3).
Assuming you have 3 references and pass the consular interview stage, the SEM will send verification letters to the addresses you share. In those letters, the SEM will ask them for some pieces of information:
Can you confirm their trips to CH?
Can you confirm how many times they visited you personally during those trips or otherwise?
Do you have any general comments on their application and connection with CH?
If you donāt have 3 solid references and the SEM sees that you did not visit your references personally (i.e. know them well), you may be rejected at this stage before the final SEM review and decision. They are very āby the bookā (classic Swiss), so it is unlikely that there will be any flexibility. It is also important to be truthful about references (or otherwise) since there is also a clause in the application that says āif the SEM discovers any false information shared in the application even after decision, the citizenship may be revoked for up to 8 years after a successful applicationā.
Long story short: you must have 3 solid references, domiciled in CH, who are able to provide the SEM with the requisite information. Consider delaying applying until you have met the requirements, or dig deeper into your rolodex to find references who can provide the relevant information.
Iām confused by this post. You say āwe will applyā as if more than one person is applying; but surely your spouse is already Swiss, and therefore the children are also Swiss??
If your spouse was born Swiss, do they not have family and friends who can be references?
I personally think your biggest question, if youāve been married 30 years and never applied, will be - why now?
Thank you for your reply! I say we as my husband is involved! But yes I am applying. Why now? To be honest, I didnāt realize I had the option to apply with a simplified route, and now our youngest is living there so we want to be together. We are a very small family with no extended relatives living on either side. This adds some challenges for us!
Island-Monkey raised a good point about āwhy nowā. Child living there and the desire to be together is good rationale, though the place you may face push back is ābut why do you want to be a Swiss citizen?ā Technically, you can be granted the right to live in CH using the family reunification visa/permit route using your spouse. Citizenship is not required to live there, although it certainly reduces barriers. Just be prepared to share more directly why you want citizenship.
Sidebar: thereās a really interesting (albeit outdated) video I saw on YouTube where officials in suisse romande are sharing their povs on citizenship. Also, a documentary on RTS showing naturalization journeys across the country. Less relevant for facilitated naturalisation from abroad, but still interesting to see and hear directly what officials value when evaluating new citizens.
Congrats, seems like your application was quite fast-tracked indeed.
People always ask which Kanton and which Gemeinde, I always tell them its not about these things, its about individual circumstances, and your case clearly shows that. If it is a clear-cut case then processing is fast, if they need to do additional investigations it takes time, also depends upon other factors such as current nationality of the applicant, and what ties Switzerland has with your home country etc.
Secondly with regards to references as this is an integration question, although I think there is no mention (in the application form) that they need to be Swiss nationals, but I would recommend to add references who are actually Swiss inherited through DNA (by birth) and not by attaining CH immigrant status through naturalization. When I provided my references, I added both references by DNA (birth) and by attaining immigrant status, and only the ones who were Swiss through DNA (birth) were actually contacted, and after my references submitted their recommendations my application was quickly fast-tracked. I saw it moving quickly and received communications quite regularly after the references submitted their responses.
Not sure if they need 3 references exactly, I provided 5 since the form has space to put a maximum of 5, but only 2 were contacted who were Swiss by birth. In some cases I heard people needed to provide like 8 or 9 references, again individual circumstances.
I agree with the comment on the references, that having Swiss citizens who were born and raised there as references is ideal. I put 5 references - 3 born and raised and 2 naturalized and the SEM only contacted the 3 who were born and raised there (coincidence? who knows).
You do need a minimum of 3 though and they have to be currently domiciled in CH, but there is space on the forms for 5.
Beyond the 3 references in CH, one can attach as many additional reference letters as one wants from Swiss citizens outside CH. I attached 2 additional reference letters from Swiss friends not currently living there.
Hi suisse, thank you for reviving the threads. I had lurked on the old english forum and was watching here for recent experiences. Iām not sure if youāre able to pull other threads but there was a thread I found helpful called āAny tips for a Citizenship Interview Abroad!ā (englishforum.ch/permits-visas-government/302185-any-tips-citizenship-interview-abroad.html)
Iāve got a couple of years to go before Iām eligible but I have a couple questions regarding your timeline: Which country did you do the process from? and was your marriage/were you already registered in Infostar prior to submitting your Citizenship application in July 2024?
Whoever started this new community actually did a great job importing all of the threads from englishforum. I believe the one you are referencing can be found here.
To your questions: Iām US-based and yes we registered in year 1 of our marriage (and well before I even knew this facilitated naturalisation process existed haha).
Sharing my process timeline, with excitement, as a newly minted Swiss citizenā¦
Full application submitted to Swiss mission in San Francisco, CA January 27, 2025.
Interview request received January 30, 2025. Interview scheduled for February 13, 2025.
Interview completed on February 13, 2025. Enjoyable interview with a really warm and supportive Consular official.
SEM received application February 2025.
[Marriage already registered in CH 2006]
References in CH received letters mid-March 2025. References submitted end of March 2025.
On May 5, 2025, received two supplementary forms from SEM (via the Consulate) to sign.
[DeĢclaration concernant la communauteĢ conjugale and DeĢclaration concernant le respect de lāordre juridique]
Consulate notified me of approval of my application on Jul 7, 2025.
Consulate also notified me that the Swiss civil status register showed me as a citizen of Switzerland
Thank you so much for that link. I havenāt figured out how to find the old threads.
Thatās helpful, we did the same in our first year too. Iām in Canada so hopefully our timelines will be similar.
A few more minutia questions, if I may: Was it you or your Swiss spouse who contacted the consulate to get the forms in the first place? Were the forms requested before 6 years? Since you were already registered in InfoStar, did you have to resubmit any documents? (Marriage cert, Birth Certificate etc)?
For context on the last question, Canada joined the Appostille convention last year which makes (if I have to) resubmitting my birth certificate a convoluted royal pain due to my particular circumstances.
Was it you or your Swiss spouse who contacted the consulate to get the forms in the first place?
All communication is with the applicant except for when it came to scheduling the interview where both you and your Swiss spouse will need to attend in person so both are copied on communication around the interview scheduling.
Were the forms requested before 6 years?
Before the consulate will send you the forms they will want you to ascertain your eligibility for the facilitated citizenship process via a SEM website [SEM Self-Check Beta Version]. You will likely fail this eligibility self-check process and so you will have to wait till you meet the criteria.
Since you were already registered in InfoStar, did you have to resubmit any documents? (Marriage cert, Birth Certificate etc)?
I did submit copies of documents as requested in the instruction set that came with the application packet. The application instructions are really detailed and asks for specific supporting documents and it includes an enclosure checklist. None of the documents needed to be notarized or appostilled.
Was it you or your Swiss spouse who contacted the consulate to get the forms in the first place? >>> It should be you who contacts the consulate directly. I would suggest doing it in German, French or Italian (whichever language you speak and will use for your application). The forms dont exist in English.
Were the forms requested before 6 years? >>>> yes I requested them in advance of the 6 years and they shared them with me
Since you were already registered in InfoStar, did you have to resubmit any documents? (Marriage cert, Birth Certificate etc)? >>> all documents previously sent to CH do not have to be resubmitted (it actually says that clearly on the checklist). So no need to worry about the marriage and birth certificate, and you can just indicate that they were previously sent on the form.
For context on the last question, Canada joined the Appostille convention last year which makes (if I have to) resubmitting my birth certificate a convoluted royal pain due to my particular circumstances.>>> no need for birth certificate apostille. However, you will need apostille for additional government-issued documents as part of the application (e.g. security/background check by your federal authorities). As Island-Monkey indicated above, these will have to be recent and issued within the last 3 months.
Sharing my process timeline, with excitement, as a newly minted Swiss citizenā¦ 
