What questions should a 14yo child expect at the interview in the commune? Is it around school life or deeper into politics/history/geography?
Thanks.
Hi, everyone!
Do minors have to do an interview if the parents are applying? They don’t in Zurich, leastways.
Yes, surprised to hear about a minor having to do such interview/test?
But there is no definitive answer- as the people doing this for the Commune vary hugely. Is your child fluent or fairly fluent in the local language? They are likely to be asked why they think it is important to acquire Swiss nationality. How integrated they are, eg friends, clubs, taking part .... About how local, Cantonal and Federal Government works? About how they see their future here, what their plans/ambitions are. Important local sights, Museums, food. There is no standard answer.
Just depends who is on the local panel at the moment. Our local one currently is VERY different to the previous one. I am on our local panel, and my questions would be vastly different to the ones the others would ask- and my reaction to them too.
In our Gemeinde it was not a 'test' - they just asked them to talk about their school, what they like about Switzerland/their local town - how it compares with their home country, what their aspirations are for the future (study, work, career path).
With our older child it was all handled in Swiss-German, she was pretty nervous but managed very well when she realised it was 'not a test'....
with the second one the Gemeinde respresentative knew my German was not-so-good (originally my husband was going to atttend but they moved the appointment at short-notice and so I went along) - and offered to Switch to English so 'mummy could understand'. of course, we politely declined and the child continued to handle everything perfectly in the local language...
After investing a significant amount of money in our kids through providing them with free education for many years....they are keen to see young people integrated so they will have successful careers and eventually pay back into the tax system...
In Switzerland you become a citizen of your local town - they want to know that you like the place and plan to stick around...
Minors do not have to answer any questions as they are not able to represent however it's not uncommon to hear something along the lines "how do you like current school" or "what sport do you play"- it's to keep conversation going and include young person to it - not to verify anything actually.
asking about hobby/music interest/sport ... and as it happened - sometimes it happens that kids born in CH speak no local language - which is very inconvenient for parents as it raises red-flag on "integration" into local community or Switzerland at all .
Just like every other aspect of the communal citizenship process, it seems every commune does it somewhat differently. In our commune, there is no written test, no matter the applicant age, meaning that a part the interview with the commune is an oral test of geographical, historical and government knowledge.
My teen has her interview next week. She was sent a set of questions to study for ("for young people"), as well as the regular knowledge booklet for adults. I hope she'll only get questions from the set for minors, but I will prepare her for the other set as well, time permitting.
Incidentally, if she were two years older and had already finished secondary school in the state system, she would be exempt from the test, as they presume all of that would have been taught in school. Also, I don't think they ask these questions of kids younger than 12.
From others who have gone through it, I expect questions on integration, school and free time. We'll go through her application together once more, but I am not worried about that part at all - she's been in local schools her whole life and has a lot of Swiss friends. I don't think I will be invited into the interview room with her, but will accompany her and wait outside.
ETA: she is applying on her own. Nevertheless, even if we were applying alongside her, as she is >12, in our commune she would also have to have the interview.
Only for normal naturalization, not for facilitated.
Tom
I think minors only have to do the interview alone if they are applying independently of the parents and even then they can usually take a parent along with them. If they apply as a family the interviews are conducted together.
Having said that it varies so much from place to place it’s difficult to give a definite answer to the OP unless somebody has done it at the same commune.
When my son did it it was pretty much just an informal chat and lasted about 10 minutes.
He had done all his secondary education here and one member of the panel lives across the street and another one worked with my husband so they were pretty familiar with us as a family anyway.
They did ask if he any ambitions for a political career and if his parents were going to apply for citizenship too.
I think the fact that he told them at the start that he was on his way to the village school to help erect the large tent for the school fair probably helped too.
You might sva's threads helpful. He started them with regard to his own child(ren)'s naturalisation:
Yes, being at the local school and involved in local activities is hugely beneficial in this context.
Most people don't realise who is on those local boards. They are not professionals at all. If you belong to a local Political Party and get locally elected, you then automatically join local 'Commissions'- and the way they are allocated in on a show of interest and a rise of hands. And it goes : 'ok, Commission for Fire and Safety, who is up for it?. If one person raises their hand- they are nominated. If a couple or more, from different parties, raise their hand- a discussion ensues, proposals are made and decided on a show of hands.
Same for 'education', 'water/waste and drinking', 'agricuture', and so on. All the ones here on the agriculture board are local farmers- makes sense in a way as they know about the subject. They also get on those boards so they can influence what is decided and look after their own interest.
Those who sign up for the 'naturalisation commission' are either very open and tolerant, or belong to the UDC/SVP - and have a very different outlook. Regional and local in the extreme! It was a real eye opener for me. In my case it went like 'hey you were a teacher and you are a woman- so education is for you, ok!' and 'hey you are sort of a foreigner, so naturalisations if for you, ok'. Head nod- done.
Thank you for all the answers.
She applies alone, as we, parents, are not yet eligible.
She has joined a local school just this year, passed exams to get into VP (was at the international one before). She does have plenty of local friends with whom she hangs out all the time. She has been in a local kids club last year, but now only at the neighbour's club. She speaks quite fluent French.
My daughter was 11 when she had the interview. As she was a child, I had to be in the interview too. It was very friendly and more like a conversation than an interview. Nothing to worry about.
Maybe that is a trick question - see if they consider Switzerland as their home country.
My then 16 year old son had to take the exam with us and then be interviewed with us - so he basically got asked the same questions as us - so ranging from geography, questions about the constitution, history and politics to why did you want to become Swiss and what demonstrates your integration. The interviewer was kind and encouraging to him and really put him at his ease. We were accepted.
My interview was mostly chatting with the local cantonal cop about our common asshole neighbor.
Probably helped that we used to mumble to each other for years in the morning.
Tom