Hi, my great-grand parents were swiss and my grandmother is now applying for facilitated naturalization (she was not aware about registering before the age of 22 deal).
My questions are:
1. If she fills out the forms correctly, what are the chances that they will go through? We have extremely close ties to our cousins there and are part of the Swiss American Society and we all speak French and know confederation history.
2. My dad wants to get it after she gets it, will he have a good chance if he fills out the forms correctly?
3. How long does it take, I hear about two years.
4. Should my dad apply at the same time as my grandmother, or wait till she acquires it?
5. Since we have close ties to Switzerland, should my grandma just apply for reinstatement.
6. and last but not least, Im only 15, but I really want to get out of this goddamn country, if my dad gets citizenship do i get it automatically?
if it helps at all, i am perfectly willing to join there army.
Hello, I think you have misread or at least misinterpreted the legislation. Here is how it works...
Your grandmother may not need to apply for facilitated legislation!
IF, big IF, your great-grandfather was Swiss and not naturalised Swiss she is Swiss and can go to the local Swiss embassy and claim her passport. She might need to wait and might need to go along with relevant documents or if she does not have them will need to know where in Switzerland your grandfather comes from ie his so called Heimatort. She will then be Swiss. However... Your father and therefore you will not be but... Article 58a of the naturalization act covers your father and you. If she has met the above criteria by having a genuine Swiss father then your father can claim under this act and in so doing must include his children in the application which will also therefore automatically include you. If your grandmother gets the passport and moves to Switzerland then he is automatically entitled to the Swiss nationality on the grounds of close ties. If you have cousins who are Swiss this can take longer.
The key to the whole process is to make sure your grandmother does NOT apply through facilitated naturalization otherwise the process might not work. IF she must apply ie your grandfather was not Swiss then the situation is in the lap of the gods who in this case are the Swiss authorities in Bern.
Just for the record, your Swiss great grandmother is irrelevant...
why is my great grand mother irrelevant, cause in everything i have read, it seems like what usually counts is that the mother is swiss, whats the difference?
Okay, way back then and I am here making the assumption that we are talking pre WW II, Swiss citizenship was an automatic right as long as your father was a genuine Swiss. Mother was added in 1952. Swiss operates on blood line (ius sanguinis) ie you are Swiss if your parents are Swiss. This is the reason I am saying your grandmother does not need to apply for facilitated naturalization she actually always was Swiss. Now I am making here the assumption that her parents never "released" their Swiss citizenship and that they themselves were Swiss at the time of your grandmothers birth. If those conditions are met irrespective where she was born she is Swiss and go off to the embassy and request a Swiss passport. If your Grandmother was born post 1952 then if her Mum or Dad were Swiss then she is Swiss. If her parents were not married but her father was Swiss then she is also Swiss.
The thing about being under 22 does not apply to your situation. If your great grandparents were Swiss then your grandmother is Swiss and your father can then become Swiss and you will be included as a dependent when he gets his citizenship.
I would seriously suggest making sure you have the right documents and then taking a hike to the local Swiss embassy and presenting your case there. I am sure they will be quite reasonable.
I think your reason for confusion which is entirely understandable is that you are looking at how to become a Swiss citizen when you are not one. Your grandmother is by default and according to Article 1 ยง1 of the Swiss national law Swiss... Here a link: http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/141_0/a1.html
Oh and by the way I see that you have already found out your canton of origin. This makes it much easier. You simply go to the canton and they are obliged to deal with it for you. In this case you can all get on a plane and turn up. That is what the place of origin is all about - they need to look after your needs. These days it does not happen very often, but if you can speak French you can drop them a line!
Ok, i was wrong about something, my father told me that his grandparents were swiss, what he said was that his grandmother was swiss and they met there, i misheard, his grandfather was american. does this matter.
If great grandmother was Swiss and great grandfather US and grandmother was born in 1936 then she is not Swiss, as at that time nationality was inherited through the paternal line and she is time expired on now claiming through the maternal line.
damn, i was afraid off that, now i understand she is eligible for reinstatement, simplified naturalization, and facilitated naturalization. What is the best one to go for? and are simplified and facilitated the same thing? Also, can i still go to my canton of origin and have them help me out? I am going there this summer to stay with my cousins for a few weeks.
And IF my grandmother gets citizenship, does that raise my father's chances of getting.
Well, my dad's grandma was a Swissie, so he applied for facilitated naturalization under article 58a, and since I am not yet 18, I was included. Took about 8 months and then we got a letter in the mail from the consulate saying they were approved!