Facilitated Naturalization Zurich Process

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1

Hello all

I am about to start my naturalizaiton process, I am planning on doing at the beginning of next year.
I have been married to a Swiss citizen for six years already, hence I qualified for the Facilitated Naturalization, I live in Zurich City.

Has anyone gone through the process recently?

Any input will be much appreciated, in the same way, I will keep the rest posted on my process.

Thanks

2

The only thing that happened is that the police visited me unnanounced.

They rang the doorbell just as we were preparing our family dinner, so we had the perfect scene prepared :smile:

I speak german well enough to have a basic conversation and also understand Swiss German well enough. They asked random questions about current affairs and stuff that has been in the news, what I do at weekends, but were particularly interested in activities that I do within the community, like sports clubs etc.

I didn’t feel like it was a test, it was more like a random conversation with a Swiss person.

Which also means that if I didn’t at least read 20min or some swiss news on a daily basis, or have some “swiss hobbies” like hiking and skiing, I would have struggled with the conversation.

3

I’m so glad the police don’t do unannounced house visits where we live. I’m sure I’d have failed my Citizenship application purely for not having Swiss housewife levels of tidyness.

3 Likes
4

I did not know random visits happen in Switzerland :sweat_smile:
But did the visit substitute the interview? Or was it like additional?

5

Sure glad I got mine back in 2005. A guy from the City of Zurich came to my house . Offered him a cupp’a and had my passport.

6

Only for facilitated naturalization. To check that your marriage isn’t fake.

7

Hello, I would say prepare for long delays. I applied for my facilitated naturalisation in April 2023, with all completed documents. I had my interview in April 2024 and in June I received a letter from Kanton ZH saying they sent my documents back to SEM.

Other people in my social circle got their citizenship in 11 months, also Zurich city residents, so I contacted SEM about the delay and they said it could take 12 months from the date they receive the documents from Kanton ZH.

I hope the process is actually better for you, but I will send them an email again following up this longer than normal processing.

8

Hi @Jay

I am in the same boat as you. In March 2025 it will complete 2y since I applied. I did the interview in June 2024 and since then never heard anything from them.

I was told the entire process should take no more than 18months, but in March 2025 it will complete 24 months! things are so quiet for me… no luck!

Keep us posted if you receive any letter from SEM.

I will update it here when I hear from them too.

Cheers

9

Hi Jay

Firstly, sorry for my late response.

Secondly, could you explain how the interview was? Honestly that is my biggest concern, as my German is not that good.

Cheers

10

Maybe the boat is very full? I also applied coming up for 2 years ago. I filled the forms and paid my money… letters from the SEM in Bern, the Kanton ZH and my gemeinde… a chat with the local admin that turned out to be a Swiss Quiz… I had to ask the SEM where I was at as I needed to renew a permit, they said just pay up already for the new permit and keep waiting… oh to be swiss…

11

It’s crazy how long it takes really. I watched a YouTube video the other day about a German girl applying for US citizenship. The entire process took about 4-5 months.