Hi all,
I can apply for Swiss naturalisation in Geneva this year and I have already passed the French and the written history/politics exam. I have a couple of questions to the continuation of the procudure.
My background:
I lived 7 years in canton of Zurich before moving to Geneva canton. I have been living in Geneva canton for more than 3 years (thereof more than 2 years in Vernier community and since about 1 year I am living in Geneva community). My workplace is in Vernier. I am not member of any local club/association but I have been thinking about joining a soccer team in Vernier. I have always been employed, paid my taxes etc.
First of all, I am not sure which community I should chose for my naturalisation request (Vernier or Geneva community). Is it difficult to get acknowledged by Geneva community if not a member of a local club/association? Any experience?
My other question is related to the naturalisation questionnaire. There are several questions on integration and citizenship. I know more or less what I want to answer here. But I would be interested to know how "strict" the answers are interpreted and if people already had any bad experience with this questionnaire in Geneva?
I would really appreciate if some people could share their experiences.
Thanks and best regards,
Thomas
Hello Thomas, There's a lot to unpack in your post.
1) You need to live 2 years in the Canton you're in before you can apply in it, and not the commune. so you don't need to worry too much about Vernier vs. Ville de Geneve. "2 ans de résidence effective dans le canton, dont les 12 derniers mois précédant la demande" https://www.ge.ch/devenir-suisse/nat...itions-remplir
2) It is best to apply where you have strongest connection and can show best integration. Though I am not sure if you have a choice between ville de Geneve vs. Vernier because you already live in Ville de Geneve. Anyway, you can always say all my friends live in Ville de Geneve, and I spent most evenings and weekends there, etc. Make sure you join a few clubs, gyms, etc. You will definitely be asked about them, and ideally you can show proof in the application as well. Clubs is one of those tick the box items that remains top of mind because they believe it is a sign of integration.
3) I believe all applications have to be done centrally at the OCPM in Onex, so they can help you with the process there. and you will notice that things are quite centralised and bureaucratic, so much less to worry about vs. when you apply in villages.
4) Regarding the questionnaire, write it in your language with your tone of voice and be honest. It is critical and they will surely ask you questions about it. When I applied, the lady handing me the documents told me to pay serious attention to it, which I obviously did. Just make sure not to say that you want to be Swiss for economic or safety reasons, because this you have with your C permit already. What differentiates C-permit from Swiss is voting on a cantonal and federal level, and this is your contribution that I suppose they want to see.
Best of luck
Hello Wael,
thanks a lot for your detailed feedback! Very much appreciated.
Actually, I understood that in Geneva you can freely chose the commune where you want your naturalisation request to be handled (quite a unique rule in Switzerland). I guess I will chose Geneva commune and not Vernier, since Geneva commune is the center of my personal life.
I will try to join a soccer team in Vernier, which I had intended anyway since some time. The club is not in the commune of Geneva, but I hope it will still be acknowledged as "local". I am thinking about joining a gym in Geneva as well.
By the way, I was member of a sport club during my time in Zurich and I am still member of an association there. I will indicate this in my application but I dont know if this will be helpful in the end. The issue I have is that after living for 7 years in Zurich, I moved to Geneva and the integration process at the local/commune level starts again. In addition, I am single and I have the impression that it does not make things easier for naturalisation..
Thanks as well for the feedback on the questionnaire. Actually when I was handed the documents, I was not told anything about it. So it is good to know that it is really important. From your comments I judge that it goes into the right direction what I wanted to write.
In general, how does the interview in Geneva look like? Is it in front of a commission of several persons who ask questions? What type of questions do they ask?
Thanks and kind regards,
Thomas
Hello,
I have now gathered all required documents and will submit my naturalisation request soon. Due to Covid-limitations it took more time to get the documents, in particular the document from the "état civil".
In the naturalisation questionnaire there is one question which I do not understand (I speak French):
"Si vous résidez chez vos parents, ces derniers sont ils locataires ou propriétaires d'un ou plusieurs biens immobiliers à l'étranger?"
You can answer either with yes or no. My parents live abroad and own a house abroad. However I live in Geneva and not with them, so I understand the correct answer would be "no"? Anyone here who can answer this?
Regards
IF you live with your parents ... I would leave it blank as a response is required only if you live with your parents.
Thanks for the input, I will leave it blank then.
Hello,
It took a, while (9 months after handing in the naturalisation request) but I have had my interview recently. I only had 1 interview since I live in the commune of Geneva, and no additional commune intetview was required. Everything went well in the interview and it only took 15-20min. I was told that my documents will be sent to Bern soon and then back to Geneva for finalisation, which may require another year in total.
Due to professional reasons, I might have to move to another canton at the end of the year or beginning of next year. Does anyone know if this will have an influence/stop the ongoing naturalisation proccess in Geneva?
Regards
According to the official information you are allowed to move. However, this may extend the procedure. See below:
Puis-je déménager avant ou durant la procédure de naturalisation dans un autre endroit en Suisse ?
Oui. En règle générale, il faut cependant compter avec un allongement de la procédure du fait que des investigations complémentaires sont nécessaires.
Source: https://www.sem.admin.ch/
The Q&A you quote is from the facilitated naturalization section not ordinary. It would indeed raise eyebrows if someone applying for facilitated naturalization would move to the other side of the country away from their Swiss partner.
Hi Toni,
Can you give more details about your interview please? What kind of things did they ask you? Im going through this process now and due to working weird hours i cant do anything organised really.
Hello,
thanks for your input to ne6ef and Limegrass.
There is not much information and it is also contradictory. It seems that with the new naturalisation procedure introduced in 2018, the naturalisation process was standardised better among the cantons. And therefore you can move to another canton once your documents are sent to the federal office. At least that is what is stated here:
https://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/zentr...rger-ld.103053
On the other hand, I found some strange info for canton Vaud: "Pour une procédure de naturalisation déposée valablement auprès de la commune avant le 1er janvier 2018, un déménagement dans un autre canton de Suisse est possible. Si une procédure de naturalisation est ouverte après le 1er janvier 2018, un déménagement dans un autre canton de Suisse n’est pas possible."
https://www.vd.ch/themes/population/...aturalisation/
If someone knows more about this for Geneva canton, it would be helpful for me know.
@gata:
The interview went very smoothly, it only took 15-20 min and was online. At the beginning the interviewer only asked for confirmation of some data. She then said she wont ask about my motivation to become Swiss, because this was very well described in my application. She went on to the "social" part of my application and asked for confirmation of things I had indicated in the application (e.g. being part of a soccer club), but no detailed questions. Other questions were: Which events in Geneva do you visit? Which cities in Switzerland have you visited? If I knew some of the upcoming elections in June --> only mentioning was enough, no description was asked. Last question was if I were following some news/topics in Geneva --> I mentioned 2-3 things and described them very shortly.
I had prepared the weeks before the interview by following the news. But actually, I could have prepared much less since I was not asked any details. I found this site very useful for my preparation:
www.lemanbleu.ch
It is basically the Geneva TV news station. They put many clips online, so you can check what seems interesting to you and watch when you have time. Hope this helps..
It does very much thank you! A couple more questions if you dont mind.
Did you use extra space to write your motivation? It says on the application that you can, but honestly i have problems filling up even the space on the form. I want to be Swiss because i plan to stay here forever and its nice to “belong” to where you leave but otherwise i have no idea what to write!
Hi Gata, I did not use any extra space in my questionnaire and eveything was really fine. I remember that I wrote that Switzerland is the center of my private and professional life and also will be in future, that I have already voted on commune level and I also would like to vote on cantonal/federal level, etc..
Thank you so much for that. I think the best tactic is to keep it real and be honest
Indeed. I think you wont have problems actually..