Ordinary Naturalisation in Switzerland

it took 10 for me.

Greetings and cheers to all !
Got my Golden Letter (with the official Citizenship Certificate!) today. The Certificate states that myself and my kids got the following citizenships:

November 22, 2023 - local municipality citizenship granted,
May 10, 2024 - federal citizenship granted,
June 13, 2024 - cantonal citizenship (and, thus, Swiss citizenship) granted !

Here is my timeline (canton Luzern):

June 2021 - submitted initial application.
August 2021-Nov 2022 - was submitting various additional documents, including personal situation change, employment change, etc. a total of 38 various types of documents were submitted (including apostilled and notary-certified copies).

December 2022 - got an appointment for Gemeinde (local municipality) interview in May 2023.

May 2023 - the date of interview shifted to August and then to September 2023 (as they needed a minimum quorum to be available)

September 2023 - Gemeinde Interview (ran successfully, though in local dialect, but manageble)
We were told immediately that the next step is the local community voting on our citizenship application in November 2023.

November 2023 - successful voting during the local community meeting (around 50 active members were present, 100% voted positively). We were told that the next stages could take up to 9 months.

March 28, 2024 - bill from SEM (CHF 100, paid immediately),

May 15, 2024 - letter from the Cantonal Authorities, which I have to sign and send back. The letter states that neither myself nor my kids have committed any crimes in the meantime and there are no recent changes in our family situation.

June 18, 2024 - The Golden Letter (with the Swiss Citizenship Certificate) arrives with Post B (dated June 14, 2024. The certificate states that we were awarded Swiss citizenship on June 13, 2024. So we have already been Swiss for almost a week time without realizing it ! The letter was accompanied by the instruction for Swiss ID and passport applications, which stated that we could apply immediately, which we (of course) did. There was also a CHF 350 invoice for cantonal authorities expenses, which I paid today as well.

June 18, 2024 - applied for the Swiss IDs and passports. Awaiting the appointment dates and preparing to celebrate :tada:!

With this I wish all of the fellow members here (who are in the process yet) a lot of patience and resilience- this will all be greatly rewarded very soon! :switzerland::sparkling_heart:

P.S. Yeah, I know, it does take a long time - in my specific case the whole process took >1100 days (more than three years), but it was all worth it…

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Congratulations, @Phenix ! :sparkler: :clinking_glasses: :switzerland:

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Many thanks, LiquidPaper!

Meanwhile I got a call from the cantonal Passport Office re my online appointment (which I made online yesterday) and they informed me that our names were not yet in their “system” and I would need to wait at least two weeks before I can apply for our IDs (even though the golden letter and the accompanying info letters did not mention any waiting period). The lady also told me that processing our IDs would then take another two weeks… But by now we are all used to waiting and testing our patience, so no worries ;-).

Oh yes, this happened with my daughter as well, they do need a bit of time to update their lists. It all works out, the issue you have - and she had at the time - was that it was close to summer vacation time and a lot of people wanted to get their biometrics done.

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A short update: on Friday, June 21, 2024 (just three days after receiving the Golden Letter) I called the Passport office of my Canton and told them I needed to travel soon (for a vacation) and that I needed my new passport a bit sooner - and was able to get an appointment for the three of us on the same day (!), Friday June 21. Spoke in German, joked, made the lady laugh on the phone - … and it all worked ! She told me that the passports :switzerland:would arrive on the coming Tuesday-Thursday time window. So we went there, it took a total of 20 minutes for all of us (pictures and fingerprints), quite fast and efficient process !

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Seems Zug has modernized its process and joined the digital age. They recently announced eEinbĂźrgerung

Would love to hear from those in Zug, if they have already experienced the new process and how its going? Is it just the application that is being filled online, or, also the communication letters about next steps coming this way? Timelines improved/reduced? Please, let us know your experiences… I will soon be able to start my journey and am looking forward to good data points…

Danke,

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I applied online in the city of Zurich in April 2023. I am holdng an EU passport. I already had the language certificate available when I applied, and I pursued higher education in Switzerland.

On my side the application seems to be stacked in SEM for a bit more than 4 months. In the past I ‘ve seen this step taking in most cases approx. one month. However, when the application was sent to SEM I have been informed that this step might take 8 months, so I am prepared for delays.

For a friend of mine, who applied 2 months before me, it took 4 months and for another friend who applied a few days before me, it is also in SEM.

I assume this is due to the high volume of applications before the new naturalization law applied in July 2023.

Until the application reached SEM, the longest I had to wait from one step to the other was 3 months. The fastest was the approval from the city of Zurich, less than a month.

I think we are close to the end, but still some time to go. Even after approval from SEM the process suggests final city approval, few weeks waiting time, appointment for passport etc.

I was hopping to properly celebrate the 1st of August as Swiss but it might have to wait one more year :slight_smile:

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I also applied in April 2023, canton but not city of Zurich. My application is also at SEM since 3 months now, so we are at the same stage, it seems.

However, after SEM, I was expecting about 2-3 months in the Canton, where did you read that it is a matter of weeks (apart from passport I mean)? So I had set my expectations lower, by the end of the year I think is more realistic.

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You have the canton approval already right? At least in the city of Zurich both citizenship approval recommendations (Gemeinde and canton) are already granted. I think the next step is to send the application to the canton to simply fwd it to the city so they can register you. I thought it is matter of weeks but I might be wrong.

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Mine took 6 months at the SEM back in 2021, where as some during this time only took 2 months. As I’ve said before, if there is a deal-breaker, you would be informed very quickly…otherwise it is just slowly moving on the loooooong conveyor belt they have there :wink: Patience is a requirement of the whole process.

It took 2-3 months for me at the Canton level after the sem approval (ZH). They tell you to expect 6 months.

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Yes, I have both Gemeinde and Cantonal approval.I am waiting for SEM (up to 8 months, 3 already gone by) and then Canton finalization (up to 6 months, normally 2-3) and then 3 weeks for the passport.

That is the timeline I have in mind, so I hope the process will be over by the end of the year.

I just applied in canton ZĂźrich recently, why my on-line application status is still 02Einreichen?
Does any one have the same experience? I already got a confirmation letter from canton Zurich but not sure how often I should go to the platform to check status.

Usually, it is about 3-4 months for each step, at least based on my experience.

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I submitted my application online in Kt. Zurich as well. Status is 02 Einreichen. But I haven’t received any letter yet. I just got email with auto confirmation the application was submitted.

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Curious… those of you that are already using a “online” application: is the next steps letters send via normal post still, or also electronically via email, bills, etc… Would love to hear about anyone with experience here in Zug for the new process…

Update for my Vaud naturalisation process.

Just recieved the preavis favourable de bourgeosie- making me a citizen of the commune I think… They say that they made this decision late May but only sent the letter to inform me end of last week. This was after i received the ‘Avis de cloture’ first week of May. So not so bad timewise.

They’ve told me now to wait to hear from the ‘Secteur des Naturalisations du Canton’… Have no clue on how long the steps forward takes as per standard with everyone in this process :slight_smile:

Happy to hear anyone else on vaud at all?

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Snappy and already two days later le Service de population sent me a letter to confirm my civil status.

Hi there! Today my child’s invitation for a naturalisation ceremony in August arrived (applied autumn 2022).

For some reasons, she cannot attend on that date (damn!). If she replies “no” to the invitation, how long will she need to wait for another ceremony? We are in Lausanne.