How long after the municipal decision did they send the SEM bill?
Thanks
The process has changed since. We got communal approval quite quickly but took a few months each with Canton and SEM.
In my case (Luzern) the municipal approval was granted on November 22, 2023 and the SEM bill was sent to me on April 3d, 2024. So 4 months after.
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The canton of VD writes to you when they send your application to SEM, you will receive the SEM bill one month later.
From municipal decision to SEM it is difficult to say, as I donât know at what stage you refer to. Eg, the time you receive the Avis de cloture ? (they havenât made a decision then, they just have all the info needed and you can change canton). The interview with the committee, if your town does it? (it is just a recommendation, not a decision). Ultimately, the mayor or mayoral council makes a formal decision signed by them and in the name of the municipality to give you the communal âcitizenshipâ (bourgeoisie in VD), this is then send to the Canton who (after rechecking everything eg if you havenât been arrested etc) makes also a formal decision in the name of the Canton (Conseil dâEtat) to give you the Droit de CitĂ© vaudois (ie VD BĂŒrgerrechte), and then it is send to SEM. When they receive the authorization to naturalize from SEM they invite you to hand you over a document, the natirization is effective from that day.
Best guess from VD municipal decision to date of becoming swiss : 8-9 months
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Thanks, this is really good info! I did the interview and the test in April this year⊠Indeed I have only received the avis de cloture on the 7th of May⊠Judging by @petitsuisse 's Vaud timeline it looks like theyâre getting more rapid than previous years indeedâŠ
@Touspourununpourtous Your process is very fast. Good for you! We might finish it at the same time.
Mine was mostly delayed at the communal level. They only naturalize about 20-30 people each year and have only a few slots each year for the test. I did it on paper with only one other person. They corrected it by hand and asked me additional questions, but I had no mistakes in the test, so it was straightforward.
What I do not understand is why I had to wait 5 months between the test and the police interview. It could have been done at any time because it was carried out with a regular policeman that I know from around. I think they delay everything on purpose to test your perseverance to become a Swiss citizen and filter out people who need to move.
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@petitsuisse yes i saw that on your timeline, almost a 5 month gap between your test and your meeting, i also found that strange looking at itâŠ
Iâve heard the smaller the commune the longer it can take because of exactly what you have described indeed. But it seems after you got the bourgeoisie, it went quickly all the way to the SEM billâŠ
Indeed my meeting and test were on the same month⊠I didnât meet a policeman though, just some friendly council person who wizzed through my papers in 10 minutes - was great! i thought it was going to be a grilling, but instead just a friendly chat over the documentsâŠ
It could indeed be very possible about the reasons for delayed time you mentioned⊠after studying the English forumâs old Diary of naturalisation thread, when it was open: It had posts from 2015 where people in vaud and other cantonâs had waited near 4 years!! Was definitely tricky back thenâŠ
But it seems since the new law passed etc, it looks quicker⊠especially now since the COVID backlog seems to have disappeared, i had friends who naturalised that got caught up in that alsoâŠ
My friend (who got naturalized a couple of years ago) says the following: âThe more time passes, the more likely it is that a person may commit some kind of offense and end up in the StraffRegister, and then one can say goodbye to citizenship. So the system is designed in such a way that it is the passage of time that filters out all the âunreliable human elementsâ in the naturalization processâ.
So, based on the above, his piece of advice was to
keep a real low profile, be quiet, extremely polite and humble to everyone and really behave throughout the entire âwaiting timeâ. This is the last test (or call it decency exam) in the process. And yes, it does last virtually forever (it requires a lot of time by definition).
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Do they ask kids for interview as well? My kid is almost 8 year old.
Thanks
Not only did they interview my teenage children, but they also asked them to write their own autobiographies.
Teens for sure; I think it depends for smaller kids. An 8 year old might be invited with the family, I donât think a 3 year old will be.
As far as I know they donât âinterviewâ children under 12 but they may ask them to be present when the parents have their interview.
Over 12s could have an interview but there is always the option of having a parent present during the interview.
This varies widely between cantons so it will depend on your location.
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I just realized that the âgood old threadâ has mostly been recovered:
http://swissforum.co.uk/t/normal-naturalisation-applicant-diary/1514/2226
Reading through all the posted stories and experience of other people going through the same patience trials and procedures is both very exciting and humbling. The thread helps many new CH citizens fight their anxiety and I am no exception to that. Please keep it alive and updated, many thanks !!
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The original 2013 Naturalization thread with over 2000 replies can be found here: Normal Naturalisation - applicant diary
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Yeah, I applied at the end of Nov 2023. The status was âSubmittedâ until mid Feb 2024. Then the status was updated to âPre-Checkâ. In mid April 2024, my file was sent to the City of Zurich. I reached out to them and they advised that they would send me an invite for the test in 3-4 monthsâ time, which would put it at July/August. That being said, I didnât have to take the KDE because I submitted my telc B2 certificate so I donât know how that impacts your timeline. Good luck and hang in there!
Many thanks @tdbrock . If I understood correctly, since April you have not heard from the city of Zurich about taking the basic knowledge test? I suppose you submitted your B2 certificate by end of April(?). Good luck!
Doesnât it take 9 months+ in Zurich to be scheduled for the interview?
how old was your B2 certificate? I read that all documents must not be older than 3 months, but someone also said that German certificate does not really expire, so I wonder whether I can use the German certificate I got 3 years ago when I applied for the C permit.
I got my B2 certificate in ~2013 or so. It was perfectly fine for my application in 2023.