BTW - In which Kanton(Canton) and Gemeinde(commune) you submitted the application? I assume you had Cantonal interview almost one year after Gemeinde's one?
Great! Wish you good luck.
Hi, I'm in Lausanne, Vaud.
FWIW, the rest is all there in this thread.
Thanks for doing this diary, I'm sure it will be interesting and valuable to others.
One thing I've sometimes wondered about adult naturalization is that on the form they will ask for every address you've ever lived at, but will they then come back to you and ask for evidence of each one? or a police report from each of them? Not that it would be embarrassing, but in my case it would be a lot of work and might not be possible.
Hi Batcow, I actually assembled a lot of documentation and had it translated because I heard from a friend that he had to do that. But apparently InfoStar has changed all of that. If you've had a major life event in Switzerland (in my case the birth of a child) since 2005, you're already in there.
When my daughter was born we did have to furnish our birth certificates, but not my parents.
There was also no requirement to provide police reports of any kind from outside of Switzerland. Obviously you need evidence of a perfect record and no pursuites within Switzerland.
Geneva
May 2014: Filed application
Oct 2014: Received the questionnaire
Jun 2015: Federal approval
Oct 2015: Interview with the commune
Nov 2015: Communal approval
Feb 2016: Cantonal approval
Now waiting on the ceremony - any ideas how long it's going to take from the moment of receiving the cantonal approval letter? The website states that the ceremony should normally take place within 1-2 months of the cantonal decision, but it's not been almost three weeks and apparently these letters typically give a one-month notice.
Canton GE is swearing in applicants in batches of about 300 people, to catch up on the backlog:
http://www.rts.ch/play/tv/videos-en-…eve?id=6975915
So depending in whether you’re placed in one group or the next might mean a month’s difference. It’s hard to say.
I really appreciated reading about others' experiences when we were going through the process, and the handful of people I PMed were really helpful too, so now here's a summary of my experience of the ordinary naturalisation process in Stadt Zürich in case it helps anyone else about to apply or currently in the process.
We applied as a family, me satisfying the full 12 years residency requirements, hubby satisfying the 3yrs married + 5yrs residency requirements to be able to apply together, and our two young kids, both born here, that came along for the ride too.
Total cost for all four of us together: CHF 3565 (CHF 2400 gemeinde + CHF 1000 canton + CHF 165 federal (150 + 15 nachnahme postal fee)).
Plus 2 x CHF 250 for our german (KDE) exams, since neither of us have ever done a formal german certification before.
Not including the various nominal charges for all the documentation we had to collect and submit with our application.
Our timeline was as follows:
June 2014: Filed application
end Dec 2014: Invitation to submit evidence of German language ability or do a german test (since the gemeinde law changed in Jan 2015 to require certification of language ability. Previously this was assessed purely during the interview.)
between Jan-Apr 2015: my husband and I each did the german test (KDE) - dates were limited and booked up well in advance!
early June 2015: Interview at gemeinde
early July 2015: Gemeinde approval
end Sep 2015: Cantonal approval
mid Oct 2015: Federal approval
end Nov 2015: Final confirmation -> Swiss!!
Last week we attended the Einbürgerungs apero hosted by the city for all those newly Swissed in 2015 - was a great feeling
Hi Jot
Thanks for the details. One question though, did have to attend a ceremony?
Hi rabba, there is an interview that forms the basis of your approval from the gemeinde, but I assume that's not what you mean? Otherwise everything else is done by post in Zurich city, there is no ceremony, just a letter with the official document informing you that the process is complete and you have become Swiss.
Following that there is an annual celebration apero, but that is just a nice welcoming gesture on the part of the city and attendance is entirely optional.
Received the approval letter from the Commune of Lausanne - 2016-03-19
Ya know ... Swiss Citizenship activity is a bit like waiting for a bus. Nothing happens at all for months, then two letters in the one envelope.
What were they thinking ... better save one A class postage after all the CHFs I've forked over?
What were they thinking (2) ... Post left me their note telling me I had a poursuite? Huh?
Turns out I just had to pay 115CHF to be handed an envelope with one Federal confirmation, and one Kantonal confirmation. Typically, the Kantonal one was dated 1 April. No joke. Just for the record, Federal was 29.2.
So .... I think that's it. I was expecting another interview, this time with the Kanton.
Swissification? (Ja) Good. Out of the door, line on the left, one red book with white cross each.
Just wanted to give this a quick bump and check if anyone's heard anything about upcoming naturalization ceremonies in Geneva? It's now been almost three months since I received the positive decision from the canton, and I haven't heard anything with respect to the ceremony date.
On their website, it states that ceremonies should normally take place within a month or two of receiving the letter - so I'm starting to get a bit jittery.
So, I just got my letter and my swearing-in ceremony will take place on June 28. Anyone else here getting naturalized on that day as well?
For the benefit of other users, here's an updated timeline of my naturalization process:
Geneva
May 2014: Filed application
Oct 2014: Received the questionnaire
Jun 2015: Federal approval
Oct 2015: Interview with the commune
Nov 2015: Communal approval
Feb 2016: Cantonal approval
Jun 2016: Swearing-in ceremony
Jul 2016: Passport and ID (expected)
Well, I just had my ceremony (yay - I'm now legally Swiss!).
In terms of timelines, we were explicitly advised not to contact the passports section for two weeks - it being the time they need to enter me into the grand register of all Swiss nationals.
Which means you can expect to obtain your passport within about one month - two weeks wait after the ceremony, then a biometrics appointment, then passport issuance within 10 days.
I'll let you know when I have it. Meanwhile, here is the updated timeline:
May 2014: Filed application
Oct 2014: Received the questionnaire
Jun 2015: Federal approval
Oct 2015: Interview with the commune
Nov 2015: Communal approval
Feb 2016: Cantonal approval
Jun 2016: Swearing-in ceremony
Aug 2016: Passport and ID (expected)
Hi George, depending on the Canton, one may also have the option to apply right away for the ID card in isolation in your Commune and later for the Passport.
This is the case in Kanton Zürich, but may not apply everywhere.
Upon receiving my invitation to exchange my Ausländerausweis for my Schriftenempfangsschein, what I could have done was apply for the Swiss ID at the same time (with a photo), rather than wait to do both at the Passport office. (It also would cost more than the Kombi Pass+ID option at the PassBüro).
As I was naturalised in April I ran up against the summer rush...but had it by end May.
My timeline was as follows:
June 2012 Applied.
July 2012 Received confirmation all was in order and application was going from Cantonal Gemeindeamt to Gemeinde.
Aug 2012 1k bill from Gemeinde with invitation to arrange visit of Police (unmarried, no kids), and notice of Test, and Questionnaire.
Met local Police for 15 mins chat.
Sep 2012 Attended Test.
Nov 2012 Got phone call inviting me to choose slot for interview with Gemeinde with Test result.
Dec 2012 attended interview. Local citizenship published between Xmas and New Year's Eve.
Jan 2013 received Cantonal citizenship with 500 Fr. bill.
Feb 2013 received Federal Citizenship with 115 Fr. bill in PostOffice.
Mar 2013 received Swiss certificate from Kanton Zürich. (no charge)
Apr 2013 received invitation to pick up "Schriftenempfangsschein" in exchange for surrendering C Permit for cancelation. (no charge)
May 2013 Received Passport 3 days after visiting PassBüro (surrendering canceled Permit C), with ID Card a day later containing the same digital photo.
Times change and so do Passports. Check this out under new rulings. Canton ZH - I had to go to Zürich for new ID and Passport.
And here's the updated timeline of my fourteen-year journey, which has now finally come to a close:
May 2014: Filed application
Oct 2014: Received the questionnaire
Jun 2015: Federal approval
Oct 2015: Interview with the commune
Nov 2015: Communal approval
Feb 2016: Cantonal approval
Jun 2016: Swearing-in ceremony
Jul 2016: Biometrics appointment (and passport three days later)
All in all, the procedure took just a bit over two years - however, I now know first-hand of cases (in GVA - your mileage in other cantons will vary) where the whole process - start to finish - took slightly less than a year.
All in all - fier d’être Suisse
Congratulations!
Canton Zurich, Gemeinde Affoltern am Albis.
Have German (A2 Written, B2 spoken) test at the end of this month and the ‘Swiss knowledge test’.
Trying to get my German upto scratch.
For the ‘Swiss Knowledge’, they proved what I assume is a sample quetionaire and tell you where to find the answers in the Echo booklet www.echo-ch.ch (ordered the English copy which cost 16.90 plus 7.00 to post OUCH). Not sure if I should have gone for the German version as the questionnaire and answers are in German.
The tests are run by BZD Dietlikon. www.bzd.ch
BZD also run language courses and ‘Swiss Knowledge’ courses.
Can maybe upload copies of docs etc… to dropbox if people are interested (and if this is allowed…)
I submitted my ordinary application in the canton of Vaud.
Application submitted: 09.2015
Police interview: 09.2015
Commune interview: 12.2015
Communal approval: 01.2016
Cantonal approval: 05.2016
Federal approval: 10.2016
I have yet to receive a convocation to swear the oath, but other than that all the formalities are now done.