So the Golden Letter finally came today and I’m officially Swiss! This week was the longest of my life for sure. So it took 19 months and I’m relieved and glad to be done.
I am Zimbabwean by birth and have been an immigrant for over 30 years, living in multiple countries, but citizen of none… I have been in Switzerland for 15 years now and consider this my home. Getting Swiss citizenship is pretty life changing for me. Good luck to all those who are still waiting and thank you for the information and support that this forum has offered!
Yay, congratulations! I know how it is to be a ~lifelong immigrant from a broken country, so very glad you can now call Switzerland your home.
I’m also looking forward to it.
My SEM invoice for 100 CHF arrived today (or yesterday, I’m in the US for a couple weeks and have a friend kindly check the mail for me)! Funnily it’s dated February the 3rd, so it’s technically an invoice from the future.
Timeline so far:
27.10.2024 Pressed the submit button in eEinbürgerung
28.10.2024 Got an Empfangsbestätigung by paper mail from Gemeindeamt ZH (28.10 is the date on the letter, the letter itself was sent by B-Post and came a few days later).
07.11.2024 Got a paper letter from Stadthaus Zürich reminding me that I’ve become eligible for citizenship and that I should apply (thanks Stadthaus :))
14.11.2024 Got a paper letter from Gemeindeamt saying that my file has been sent to my Wohngemeinde for processing the municipal citizenship.
18.11.2024 Got a paper letter from Stadtkanzlei Zürich with an invitation for the Grundkenntnistest on 20.12.2024.
20.12.2024 Did the Grundkenntnistest on a tablet in Stadthaus Zürich, informed that it should be 8-9 months until the final decision from now.
15.01.2025 Application status changed to “Prüfung Kanton”.
21.01.2025 Application status changes to “Prüfung Bund”.
31.01.2025 Got the SEM 100 CHF invoice for Einbürgerungsbewilligung des Bundes.
Congratulations ! Grundkenntnistest test was online on a tablet…You didn’t have to go through the formal interview process? Also what about Zivilstand registration and KDE?
I mean, it was the formal process, they just waived the interview (the test is obligatory). And it’s online only in the sense that it’s a web app on the tablet they give you, you still have to go to the Stadthaus in person and identify yourself.
I did my Zivilstandsamt registration some years ago when I got married in Zurich, and I had a Goethe C1 certificate, so no need to do KDE.
May I ask how long it took to get SEM approval? Its been just over 5 months now since I paid the SEM bill (22 Aug). I received an email last week from the SEM on the back of an enquiry saying that there was a backlog and I needed to remain patient. Hopefully not too much longer…
Mine took six months, during the same time others posted that it only took 2. Not much you can do other than wait. The good news is that if there was something wrong, you would have heard back very quickly.
Hi everyone, I have aquestion on my naturalization process in Canton Vaud. At the moment I am waiting for the registration at the Etat Civil, I applied for naturalization in July 2023.
When I applied I did it only for myself, in that moment my wife and my son (8 years old) were outside Switzerland for an international assignment of my wife. In June 2025 my wife and son will be back to Switzerland, can I add them, or at least my son to the same application if my citizenship will not be granted yet by then? anyone has any experience of adding a person to the application while this is still open?
When you submit the application, the Canton checks for any children who could be included and contacts you about it (actually, unless exceptional circumstances, it requires you to include them). If you did not hear anything then, it seems that your kid was not living with you.
The only case I know of a child being included later was a baby born during the naturalization pricess, it was added and included in the final result. But I doubt this applies to 8 year olds, they have clear residence requirements. Only under 2 years olds have no residence requirements.
In any case, I would be surprised if it would take >2 years to get the decision, typically it is 1.5 years or so in Vaud, so you will probably be Swiss before their return. On the plus side, when your child is back, they will be eligible for facilitated naturalization, on the basis of having a parent naturalized, so they only have to wait 3 years to apply. Unfortunately this does not extend to your wife, she will have to apply with the standard process (not facilitated being married to a Swiss, as the marriage presumably took place before your naturalization).
I always wondered if anybody ever went for a tactical divorce and remarriage to get around this. An amicable divorce in Switzerland is really easy and quick to do and will only set you back 2400 CHF or so tops.
Yesterday evening I noticed that I had a typo in my birth date on my e-Einbürgergung application which is already with the Bund
And that after I’d checked it like 10 times before submitting and have looked at it countless times afterwards.
Thankfully, GAZ wrote back that they don’t actually use that input and get the birth date for the real paperwork from Zivilstand und Einwohner registers, so it’s no big deal. But I was scared for a moment there.
I just received my invoice from the SEM, which I paid straight away. So now back to the forever wait. Here’s an updated timeline in the meantime.
29/11/2023 - Application submitted
14/02/2024 - Status switched to Vorprüfung (Pre-Check)
24/04/2024 - Application sent to Gemeinde
03/08/2024 - Invitation to Grundkenntnisstest received.
13/09/2024 - Grundkenttnisstest passed (49/50). No interview needed.
25/09/2024 - Gemeinde approval granted.
27/09/2024 - Notification of gemeinde approval received.
20/01/2025 - Notification by email of status change from “Prüfung Gemeinde” to “Prüfung Bund”.
23/01/2025 - Notification of cantonal approval received along with invoice for Gemeinde and Cantonal approvals.
06/02/2025 - Invoice from SEM received and paid immediately.
For the people who lives in Zürich City, I know there are places where you can take the Grundkenntnistest für die Einbürgerung few times per year.
Has someone tried to take the test before the application at one of the institution that provide it (Academia Languages), and send it together with all the documents to see whether this will accelerate the steps and the city will waive the requirement?
it is not that expensive, but just curious if I would do it before applying online and send the certificate along with the sprachenpass and all the other paperwork to see whether the city approval would be a bit faster.
Not quite. Depending on which Gemeinde you live in, you may be able to take the Grundkenntnisstest before you apply. However, in Zurich City, you have to first submit your application to the Kanton, they will eventually submit it to Zurich City and then you will receive an invitation to the exam.
This week was the longest of my life for sure. So it took 19 months and I’m relieved and glad to be done.
