Dr Stefanie Kurt (Université de Neuchâtel, IASH Fellow): How to get Swiss nationality - The 2014 reform of the Swiss Naturalization Law
The Swiss procedure of naturalization is one of the best examples to show the impact of federalism on cantonal and communal legislation. In 2014, the Swiss Parliament adopted the new federal naturalization law which will enter into force on the 1st of January 2018. The debates on the proposal of the Federal Council were emotionally charged, in particular those around the notion of integration. Generally, the main goals of the total revision of the federal naturalization law were to create coherence in the legal integration pathway, to clarify the criteria of integration and, of course, to adapt the law to today’s needs. Consequently and closely linked to the pathway of the legal status, the Swiss parliament introduced a new condition: only permanent residents (C-permit) were entitled to obtain Swiss citizenship. The introduction of the C-permit as a criterion to measure integration had a significant impact on the cantonal legislation. Even though the Swiss Parliament brought coherence to the legal pathway of a foreigner wanting to obtain the Swiss citizenship, this new integration criterion requires substantial changes in the legislation at the cantonal level with respect to the integration policy in Switzerland. Although the new Naturalization Law has not yet entered into force, most of the cantons have to adapt their own legislation, especially regarding the permanent residence requirement. However, the Federal Naturalization Law codifies only minimal standards and the cantons have the option to introduce additional integration criteria. Thus far, only three cantons (St. Gall, Schwyz and Bern) require that an applicant for naturalisation already possesses a C permit. As a consequence, the examination of the integration capacity for all foreigners who would like to naturalize in Switzerland is intensified in advance, mainly visible due to the prerequisite of the C-permit. By the end of 2014 over 60% of the foreigners living in Switzerland held a C-permit, while approximately 30% held a B-permit. Switzerland, as a federal State, has delegated the competence to issue a C-permit to the cantonal level. As a consequence, there are 26 different practices regarding the issuance of a C-permit. This diversity has an important impact on the legal integration pathway of a person, because it gives the right to a long-term stay in Switzerland, political rights (e.g. the right of political participation in the Cantons of Neuchâtel and Fribourg) as well the right of family reunification. At the same time, the Federal Council would like to weaken the affiliated rights of the C-permit with the partial revision of the Foreign Nationals Act proposed in 2015 and 2016. Further the application of the popular initiative on the expulsion of foreign criminals will enter into force on the 1st of October 2016 – consequently only Swiss nationals are protected against an expulsion in case of a criminal conviction. It seems that the coherence in the legal integration pathway will become more “fragile”, even though the goal of the Swiss integration policy is to grant more rights the longer a person resides in Switzerland.