So yesterday I sat the last part of the Swiss citizenship test. It was all quite easy I must say. A couple of tricky questions but I've been putting in a reasonable amount of time in the last few weeks to learn all the material that was provided by the Gemeinde.
Now I just have to wait a couple of weeks for the results and then shortly after (hopefully) will come a meeting with the local councilors.
I've been here for 6 years though my wife only became Swiss last year. She was born here but has always had a german passport on the account of her mother being German. My wife is the only one in her family that has obtained Swiss citizenship although her sister and brother were both born here and have lived here their entire lives...
It definitely helps that we have been living in the same Gemeinde since I arrived here.
Anyways I just thought I'd post this in case anyone wants any tips or would like to know about the process of obtaining Swiss citizenship.
I'm about to start the process of applying for Swiss citizenship, and would be grateful to hear about what it's like.
My wife is Swiss and we've been married since 2008 and living in Switzerland since 2006, so I think I'm now eligible to apply, but I'm not sure how to go about it and how long it will take.
Thanks for posting your experience, this is useful to know as I am about to go through the process myself. I am interested if the whole interview has to be conducted in swiss german or if they just want to see a demonstrated understanding of the language (not fluent).
OH's interview was totally conducted in French- but very informal- talking about how long he's been coming here, where we've visited, friends, family, clubs, etc. He was asked which school he has attended to learn French, and he said 'none' as he has learnt with me, family and friends and self-study. His French is not perfect, but he can understand more or less everything and say anything he wants to say, with a strong English accent and lots of small mistakes- but communication is clear.
But here in Neuchâtel, NO test as such for facilitated naturalisation (OH been married to me, a Swiss, for 43 years ) -they actually asked if we intended to split up any time soon
Brilliant thanks. So they understand that language skills may not be perfect which is encouraging. I imagine they just want to know the applicant has a willingness to integrate. I am trying to get my citizenship as soon as possible, having spent months gathering all the data, they even wanted to know dates of past holidays. I have given up finding past precise dates, and will put down generalised dates, they can see holiday photos if they really want. Once I have any progress I will post any tips I have on this process.
Keep in mind rules/tests will vary from canton to canton, whether one is applying for facilitated naturalization, etc. It appears OP is in Zurich and is referring to their test (we don't have to sit for a test in Bern).
In SZ the citizenship test is the 'Prüfungen über die Grundkenntnisse Gesellschaft und Politik'. (Based on this, used in several cantons if I understand correctly:
Chrisso, is this the test you had to take? If so, may I ask: Did you do the preparatory course, or simply self-study?
As I understand it, in SZ one has to submit the languague (CEFR minimum B1 written and B2 spoken German) and the 'Society and politics' test certificates with the initial application. The personal interview with the Gemeinde committee comes later in the process.
Have any of you naturalized in SZ? If so, I'd like to hear about your experiences.
(No, I'm still not planning on naturalizing, just getting my ducks in a row as I can see guess which way the wind is blowing... )
It will be the citizenship of the Canton of Zürich first of all, and THIS means Heimatort Birmensdorf/ZH . But if Chrisso moves to Urdorf, the place of vote will be Urdorf. You only can take part in local votes and elections where you have your place of residence. I am a citizen of the City of Zürich / Canton of Zürich but cannot participate in StadtZürich elections/votes, but participate in local votes/elections in Glattbrugg
This explains some strange results, as me for example have little knowledge of Glattbrugg still.
No surprises. Many people living in Switzerland don't want the Swiss Passport. 80 percent of my family moved from Macedonia to Zurich and Bern in the late 1960s and while fully assimilated culturally, the majority still have residence permits. Has to do with army duty in CH. No one wants to have a Green Card in the USA lol.
Yeah it was the echo test I believe. Look you get all the learning material divided into gemeinde, kanton and Switzerland. With it comes a 'muster' test which is far more detailed than the proper test. I just learnt it all by myself and managed to get pretty good scores, straight A's.... The oral and written German test was easy but I have done A heap of German schooling. I've did up to c1 in school which I did twice as well as b2 twice. Also I speak German every day at work as well as my apprenticeship. I asked before hand if I should speak high German but she said I could speak Swiss German. The written could be tricky if you don't read carefully but just take your time. On Monday I have the meeting with the council and then just wait on the paperwork to go to bern and back to me I believe. I'm thinking 4/5 months and I should be making cheese with the best of them.
My Gemeinde gave me the Echo booklet but there was no written test; my "integration" interview with the entire Gemeinderat was basically little other than an oral on the Echo booklet plus the usual "why do you want to become Swiss" question(s). In and out in 9 minutes and that was that, job done.
Well, why do you want to become Swiss? I didn't think that was tricky at all. I'm not sure there are any wrong answers anyway, so long as you're sincere rather than parroting out what you think they want to hear
To be honest for me it's as simple as comparing living standards for us as a couple(I earn more back in Oz but my wife earns A LOT less there) and the opportunities for our 'not yet born' children. Also I want to be able to have my say as far as voting and the referendums that take place involving where we plan on spending the majority of the rest of our lives.
I'm doing the whole process now so that we have no troubles coming back after a 12 month round the world trip we're heading on at the end of the year. We actually only found out last November that I was eligible for citizenship.
My thing was, what will they thing when I tell them that the reason for me wanting to become Swiss is partly due to simple economics ??? Sounds bad, no ???
Planning to stay here for the rest of your life = CH is home
And the old voting one (usually true). Just be prepared to know what the current issues are at the time i.e. imagine you were able to vote in the next referendum, not much point if you don't know what's being voted on and what the issues are
"Because I want the Army to give me a gun so that people will respect me", is probably not going to be an acceptable or useful answer. But that's just my opinion.