In about 3.5 additional years of living in Switzerland I will be eligible to apply for swiss citizenship thorugh ordinary naturlaization. Me and my girlfriend (US citizen) planned to get married this summer. Now i found out that one is only eligible for the simplified naturalization if her/his spouse (me) was Swiss at the time of marriage. Now we are considering to put the marriage on-hold for her to be able to obtain citizenship without the requirement to live 10 years in Switzerland, which we currently do not intend to.
The only current downsides i can think of would be in case of a fatal accident or illness the partner would not be eligable for widow's pension by AHV which requires 5 years of marriage or a child.
Have i overlooked something and can you think of any other possible other disadvantages that i could look into?
Well, you might not get citizenship then it would have been a waste of a wait
How long are you willing to wait? You can apply in 3.5 years, then it will probably take another 18 months to 2 years before you are approved, so that's a 5-6 year wait on getting married. Then she has to wait another 3 years before she can apply (if still living in Switzerland otherwise it's 6), so that's 8-9 years - so if she's already been in Switzerland a few years, the 10 years will probably come around quicker, no?
Also keep in mind that spouses can apply separately i.e. you can apply in 3.5 years when you are eligible and your spouse can separately apply later when her 10 years have passed.
It makes more sense to apply together for two reasons: (i) it is cheaper, and (ii) your application will appear stronger as you can show that both of you are integrated in the Swiss society (vs. apply without your spouse).
Having said that, I know of several cases where only one spouse applied (and the other choose not to do so for whatever reason even when fully eligible) and successfully got their Swiss citizenships.
I don't see the point in delaying the marriage. She can't move here as a US citizen without either being married to you, sponsored by you on a concubine permit, or if she found a job on her own in which the employer sponsored her and proved there's no Swiss or EU that can do the job.
The two scenarios you're considering aren't drastically different anyway.
Scenario 1: Marriage and moving to Switzerland now. She'd be eligible to apply for regular naturalization in 2032.
Scenario 2: Marriage in late 2027, assuming your naturalization timeline went quickly. Then you'd still have to be married for three years and her living here for five years before she can apply. The earliest she could apply under this scenario is 2030, assuming you went the concubine route to get her here before 2027. If she didn't move here until after marriage, then it would be the same year as regular naturalization (2032) but without being together all that time.
My now-husband and I did the two continents thing for two years and it was very hard. I can't imagine delaying five or more years.
Thanks, good question, the reason is simple: The US is one of the only 2 countries in the world that tax you based on citizenship, so as an US citizen you have to pay Taxes wherever you live.
Thank you for your very considerate answer. We have been actually also doing the long distance thing for 2 years and it is hard, So we will definetly not live apart anymore. You brought up some very valid points and considerations.
However our situation is a bit more "non standard" as we both work as self-emplyed digital nomads and are not tied to any physical location and we don't plan for now to live in switzerland together. (Yes i need to so i can become a citizen) but there are some options how I can manage still manage it and get the citizenship such as keeping your C permit by being sent abroad through your employer. So maybe at some future point when we have kids would we consider moving to and building a "base" in switzerland. But that will be earliest in 10 years. For now the definite plan is to travel and live abroad for some years, so it would allow her to obtain the citizenship, - no matter what - even if we decide to settle down abroad finally. And then she could get rid of the US one eventually (so that she does not have to pay US taxes anymore based off of her citizenship.
My only worries are at this point any financial, social or family aspects that could turn out as a disadvantages for not being married the next 5 years lets say. And also potential disadvantages for one partner in case of getting kids, dying, etc. But for this i also found out already that there are concubinate contracts, where you can at least secure the legal aspects for those cases..
In that case, it will be an issue. Unless you are a US person, your money should not be taxable by the US, even if you are taxed together in Switzerland, should you marry and she move here.