During my interview with the village municipalities (Gemeinde) I was asked to describe my neighbors and explain why I did not provide any references from them (which was indeed the case). I also had questions about my country of origin and about some of the latest legislative changes in Switzerland (very general, basically, about the most recent voting results). Just to be prepared…
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Still on the hunt for the beloved restoration of EF diary naturalisation thread… there was some gold material on there…
In any case I will include my Vaud experience so far:
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Applied beginning of June 2023 with all papers needed
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Recieved the notification 1st part of phase was done end of oct’23 -Paid bill
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Did the interview and test in April 2024, very smooth interview (15mins)and test i got 47/48: the exam monitor gave me a “BRAVO”
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Recieved the “Avis de Cloture” beginning of May 2024(this month), that i can move anywhere in the country. They can only take max 3 months with this municipal decision apparently…
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Then it goes federal… The gentlemen after the test said i could get naturalised this year or next… Was very vague… I’ve heard anywhere from 6-11months after the test is done…
I generally discount time from COVID on this as anything that was applied between end 2019 to 2022 or so seemed to have been delayed…
Anyone else have Vaud stories on this?
Thanks
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Hi all, I live in a commune close to Lausanne (VD). My story is as follows:
- 11/2022 send the application to the canton
- 01/2023 acknowledgement from the canton, bills, forwarded to the commune
- 02/2023 commune requested a motivation letter, CV, and other documents, invitation for the knowledge test, bill
- 06/2023 knowledge test
- 11/2023 interview with the police, very quick and friendly, they just confirmed that my information in the CV, etc. is correct
- 02/2024 received the Bourgeoisie from my commune
- 03/2024 confirmation from the canton and information about next steps, it said that it will take up to 8 more months
- 05/2024 SEM bill
- still waiting. Would be great to finish it this year.
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Dear Petitsuisse,
My timeline is very similar to yours (LU), I just submitted papers and application a month or so earlier than you. I did get my SEM invoice beginning of April 2024 and immediately paid it. On May 17 I got a letter from the Canton (Compliance with the CH legal system), which I was required to sign and send back to the cantonal authorities. The letter did say that I am currently standing “shortly before being naturalized”. Googling says that the process from here can take anywhere between 2-4 weeks (depending on the availability/gathering of the cantonal government, which shall yet positively vote/accept the final naturalization of the candidate). In your case, getting a SEM bill means that your papers are being processed at the Federal level and will soon be returned to your cantonal authorities for a couple of final steps. You are (approx) between 6-8 weeks to becoming a Swiss citizen.
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Hi @Phenix thanks for this… Is that synonymous across Switzerland regarding your point on the time between the SEM bill and the naturalisation? I am in vaud…
thanks
More or less yes, Touspourununpourtous. As the member of the previous Englishforum observed, it rarely took more than 2 months after SEM bill to process the final naturalization papers.
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I am not so sure about this. I paid the SEM bill in beginning of April, so it is already almost 2 months now and I have no feedback whatsoever. The document I got from SEM said that it can take up to 8 months for them to decide, after I pay the bill, and then we have between 1 and 3 months at the cantonal level for the final approval. So the 2 months for everything being finalized after getting the SEM bill seems very quick to me.
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DarkOrion, yes, the authorities have to inform you about the worst case scenarios (in case some papers are missing or if they must double-check certain important documentation from your side). I.e. it can take longer in case of various complications. I am basing my assumptions on what I have learned from the real life experience of the EF members and their posted timelines (which I was watching since May 2023).
Also, for instance, Kanton Luzern (on their official website) states, that papers within Bund (Federal level) and Kanton (cantonal level) are circulated 4-6 months (note that 6 months is the mentioned “worst case” scenario). It means that as soon as you local municipality hands your papers over to Canton, it shall take 4 months+.
If this is the case, I should be getting my approval pretty soon then. Do you know if you get a letter from SEM saying that they approved it or if the decision goes directly to the Canton and you are then informed by them?
DarkOrion, in most cases (in German-speaking cantons) SEM does not inform you about the process flow or outcome of their checks or approvals. They just issue a so-called “federal naturalization license”, which is then the base for Cantonal municipalities (it is called here “Gemeinde Abteilung”) to take a decision on granting the cantonal citizenship. Cantonal citizenship ultimately grants the overall Swiss citizenship (automatically).
I checked the document I had received from my Canton (Zurich) before forwarding the application to SEM. It does indeed say that if SEM needs more documents they will contact me directly, if not they will send the approval directly to the canton.
It says however, that as soon as the canton receives the SEM approval, they will inform me by post. It also says that they will need a bit more time after SEM approval for final checks and then they will inform me of their final decision. It is not clear if both of these steps are combined into one and they simply send one final approval or if you get two separate notifications.
My SEM approval took just over 6 months…and during that time a couple of others got theirs finished in 2 months. You cannot predict at all.
But what I do know is that a delay is not a bad sign. If there is an issue the SEM will contact you very quickly, usually within the first 2 months.
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Thanks for the info, Litespeed.
Have you been requested to sign the “Compliance with the local legislation” form just before the positive decision from Canton ? Can this be considered the last ultimate step in the process ?
In my canton (BS), there is no confirmation of SEM approval.
Also, there was no “Compliance with the local legislation” form to sign.
It really looks like all cantons handle the process differently (also in terms of communication)…
P.S. This is the official webpage of Canton Lucerne:
https://gemeinden.lu.ch/Fragen_und_Antworten/Fragen_zum_Buergerrecht
There is does state that signing the “Beachten der Rechtsordnung” Form is an ultimate stage of the process, at least in the canton of Lucerne.
Yes, and if I remember correctly, it’s in the SEM recommendations to cantons.
I don’t recall signing anything between submitting my application and signing my passport.
Maybe this complete HandBook on the naturalization process in Zurich (with all relevant references to the resp. laws) will be useful for someone:
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The timeline for 2023 for Vaud was : 5 months after the SEM bill, you will simply receive an invitation by post to a ceremony in Lausanne, to be held about 1 month later. You get all the formal documents then. You can then apply for id-passport 3 days after the ceremony.
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Don’t forget to take your permit, they expect you to return it then.
Our ceremony was in Rennes, pre Covid, as there were almost 200 of us.
We think our final approval was delayed to coincide with the ceremony which was, at that time, only done once a year.
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