This week, Switzerland’s Federal Council announced it was against a popular initiative to make it easier to become Swiss. The team behind the initiative hopes to convince a majority of Swiss voters to allow foreign residents to apply for citizenship after 5 years of residence, regardless of the type or permit held.
Currently, 10 years of residence with 3 years on a C-permit are required before an application for Swiss citizenship can be submitted. In addition, evidence of mastery of the local language, success in a local knowledge test, no criminal convictions, no delinquent debts in the register, and no recent recourse to social welfare are also required.
The organisers of the vote would like the residence requirement reduced to 5 years with no requirement for the applicant to have held a C-permit. They argue the current strict policy is anti-democratic because it makes it unreasonably difficult for the roughly quarter of the population without Swiss citizenship to gain the right to vote.
The Federal Council said it is against the initiative because it would interfere with the rules cantons and municipalities apply to naturalisation. Gaining Swiss citizenship requires approval at all three layers of government: federal, cantonal, municipal. Different cantons and municipalities have different requirements. Setting new rules at a federal level would cut against the independence of cantonal governments.
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Government press release (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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