Facilitated Naturalization - from *outside* Switzerland

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
41
Here is a probably more unusual case for facilitated naturalization.

On the basis of marriage this is possible either after 3 years of marriage if the foreign partner has lived in CH for at least 5 years OR after 6 years of marriage if both partners do not live in CH.

I am Swiss and Dutch.

My wife is Romanian.

We have been married for 5 years. We have lived in Romania during these five years and will move to Switzerland in January.

Would she fall under the 6 year rule, even if this is for people not living in Switzerland or under the 5-years-lived-in-Switzerland rule?

In the latter case it would still take another 5 years for my wife to apply for facilitated naturalisation. In the first case it would take only 1 year.

Timing for us is also important for another strange reason. After 5 years of marriage while living abroad my wife can apply for Dutch citizenship. However, one cannot become Dutch (or even apply for it) if one lives in the country of which one has the citizenship. This means she could not apply for Dutch citizenship while we lived in Romania and she will not be able to do so either once she obtained Swiss nationality because we will then be living there.

As I understood from various sites as well as EF postings, my wife will have to apply for a B permit once we are in Switzerland (which she can enter as a tourist for 3 months) and once she obtains this she will also be allowed to work (as wife of a Swiss).

Therefore Swiss nationality is not so urgent and we could go for getting the Dutch nationality first.

In my experience it can often be handy to be able to choose using an EU or a non-EU passport, so if it can be obtained for her, why not.

Does anyone have experience with facilitated naturalisation having switched between living outside of Switzerland and then in?

42
Hello bmichaelb,

I recently requested similar information from a Swiss Consulate. I was informed that after 6 years I could still apply for the 6 year rule once I am living in Switzerland if I moved to Switzerland before the 6 years are up.

You may wish to check with your most relevant swiss consulate for confirmation. This means however that if you move to Switzerland with 5.5 years marriage, you can apply in switzerland once your 6 years runs its course. It can take up to 18 months for the process to be finalised. There is some paperwork and most likely an interview or series of interviews involved.

Good luck.

43
Success update!! I received my official approval in the mail today. I applied in November 2007, so that makes it about 14 months total. My daughter (Swiss husband's stepdaughter) was included in my petition and she was also approved. Yahoo!!! I'm really so very excited!

44
Congratulations, Sophie_T! Thank you for reporting back.

45
Congrats Sophie!

46
Congratulations!

Thanks for the update, Swissie .

47
Thanks! I think we'll have to celebrate with a fondue party or something soon.

48
From the Office for Migration:

2. Article 28 Naturalization Act

The foreign spouse of a Swiss national who has close links with Switzerland and has lived in conjugal community with the Swiss spouse for at least six years. An application is also possible if the person concerned is resident abroad.

http://www.bfm.admin.ch/bfm/en/home/...uergerung.html

So can I go by the date that the couple moved in together or the date of the marriage? My interpretation is that it is based on the date that the couple has "lived in a conjugal community" which would be December 13, 2003. The marriage occured on April 14, 2004. The couple lived outside of Switzerland from December 13, 2003 to October 10, 2009.

49
Conjugal community means being married and sharing the same household in this case...

50
Thanks for the clarification.

So is it safe to assume that since the couple will have been married 6 years as of April 13, 2010 with 5.5 of those years outside of Switzerland, that the spouse of the Swiss citizen will qualify (and yes, I understand that nothing is guaranteed) for this type of expedited naturalization?

51
Yes, you'd be correct in assuming the person would be eligible to apply for facilitated naturalization then.

52
These are interesting accounts. I recall that many years ago, just after my mother (from Aargau) had her Swiss citizenship restored (they had changed the law on dual nationality; she had lost her Swiss citizenship when, in the 30s, fearing American hostility to anybody who spoke German and anybody who might vaguely be suspected of leftist views, became naturalised American) I was invited to apply for derivative (facilitated) naturalisation. Since I'd lived in Switzerland 3 years and spoke French (my mum spoke Swiss-German but I went to university in Belgium and had lived in Ivory Coast and Algeria for a number of years) language wasn't an issue. Indeed the Swiss vice consul in New York after asking me if I spoke a Swiss language, seemed not to want to speak French: I gathered he didn't speak it all that well.

Some years ago I thought it would be a good idea for my wife to seek facilitated naturalisation as well (we were married in 1967). The (officious) consular officer in London was so unpleasant and negative (largely over her lack of "sufficient Swiss connections") that I had her apply for British nationality instead.

Now we're moving to Switzerland for retirement and she will arrive as the EU spouse of a Swiss citizen and the only condition that applies is our income and assets and the likelihood (nil) of our needing public assistance.

The more interesting issue for me (especially in view of just-passed HR 3590, the US health care bill) is how they interpret the rules on foreign health insurance held by retired diplomats and employees of international organisations http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/fr/home/...ns/inshea.html in respect of FEHBP insurance, as my plan covers 90% of most costs, worldwide.

53
Sophie, Thanks for sharing your story. Congrats on your success!

Tomorrow I will be married for six years to a Swiss woman (I'm a US Citizen). I have contacted my Swiss Representation (Chicago Consulate) already to ask about procedures. I was told to request, in writing, the forms and that an email to them would be sufficient for a written request. I did that last week and haven't heard back. I'm impatient, I know, but was this your procedure as well? Did you go through the Chicago Consulate, by any chance?

I was told that I would need to "be invited" to the Consulate for an appointment. I didn't realize this before I purchased flights for my wife, daughter (Swiss and US Citizen) to travel to Chicago next week for two days. I had assumed that we could simply appear at the Consulate after six years of marriage, and fill out some forms.

I guess it will just be a nice two-day vacation to Chicago.

I am also concerned about my "close ties". My inlaws (living in Canton Thurgau) have written a support letter on my behalf stating my visits, etc. I also will have similar affidavit letters from my sister-in-law and a couple of friends- all who live in Switzerland- stating my "connection" to them and my visits with them in Switzerland in recent years.

Linguistically, I can (barely) get by on my own in High German if I need to. But my wife has spoken to my 2.5yr old daughter in Swiss German since my daughter's birth. So I have been "listening" to Swiss German daily for that long. So I am "familiar" with it, but don't claim to be able to speak it.

I want Swiss Citizenship so that, when our family visits Switzerland for periods of two or more weeks at a time, I have at least the option to find temporary work. I am a musician, singer, etc. and would like to perform, offer workshops, etc. while in Switzerland. Also, we'd like the opportunity to conveniently move to Switzerland permanently in the future.

I would appreciate your opinions on my upcoming application.

Anyone on this thread who has thoughts or advice for me... please share!

-Marcus

54
Hi Marcus,

I'm sorry I can't remember how long it took to receive the paperwork from the consulate. It wasn't very long though, I'm sure. Mine was handled through the Atlanta consulate.

Your ties to Switzerland sound plenty strong to me. Mine were similar. I can "just" make myself understood in French. My interviewer and I exchanged a few phrases. The rest of the interview was in English. I like to keep up with the Swiss news, so that was easy to talk about.

Perhaps if you email them again and politely let them know you'll happen to be in Chicago they might make an exception? I tried to be overly polite in all of my communication with the consulate. They, in return, were also always very polite and nice. They seemed to be very available when I made my appointment. That is the South though! Perhaps Chicago is different. Good luck! Try not to worry. It really was mostly just paying money and waiting.

55
Hi everyone.

My husband and I just received the application form for the facilitated naturalization. He is a non-EU National and we have been married for 6yrs. From those 6 years we have lived almost 4 years in Spain and prior to that we've live in the UK.

It states that we should be in a a Club for Swiss living abroad. Now our problem is that the closest "Club" is more than an hour away, therefore we never joined and also mainly for the older generation...

Do you think they will dismiss this and just focus on our References we have in Switzerland.

Are there any other proof of "close ties" we can provide apart form that?

Kind Regards

56
The usual ways are:

Trips to Switzerland (at least three in the last ten years). Ability to communicate in one of the four official languages. Knowledge of Swiss history, geography, politics and current events. Letters of recommendation from Swiss people living in your country. Names and addresses of Swiss people living in Switzerland, who will eventually be contacted to enquire about you. Membership in a Swiss club / having your kids studying in a Swiss school / working in a Swiss company (overseas). Hope that helps. Good luck to your husband!

57
Foreigners should not learn to speak Swiss German, please don't, it's awful, but learn to understand Swiss German...

58
Many Thanks for your Info.

I see from those 6 points that my husband fulfills some points, however not all...

I guess we will just have to apply and see what happenes.

Fingers crossed!!!!!!

59
First five are pretty much mandatory (all of them). But go ahead and give it a try!

60
As I said it's point 6 I am worried about since we have not got a swiss club near by. :-( He doesn't work for a Swiss company eighter, does however sell medicaments from Swiss companies since he is a Medical Doctor. Maybe that counts for something... ;-)