Reinstating Citizenship: A Brief Overview for the Swiss Abroad

The number of Swiss nationals living abroad has increased, according to the statistics on the Swiss abroad compiled by the Federal Statistical Office. In 2021, there were 788,000 Swiss nationals registered at Swiss representation outside of the country, with 75% living outside of Europe.

“Regardless of the continent in which they lived, the majority were aged between 18 and 64. Reflecting Switzerland’s multicultural nature, many of them also had more than one nationality, according to the results of the statistics on the Swiss abroad from the Federal Statistical Office,” a press release issued by Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs stated.

The data also showed that migration patterns are changing, and more Swiss nationals live in foreign countries for a period of time, subsequently returning home to Switzerland.

Significantly, the majority of Swiss nationals living abroad hold two or more passports, which increases the possibility of losing Swiss citizenship. While it is possible to lose the Swiss citizenship for other reasons, such as criminal offences, it is more likely to be revoked when Swiss parents residing outside of Switzerland miss the deadline to register their children with the Swiss representation abroad. These children therefore lose Swiss citizenship after the deadline to register them accordingly passes.

Reinstatement of Citizenship

As entry requirements in many countries have recently grown increasingly inflexible due to national COVID-19 restrictions, people with ties to Switzerland but without Swiss passports may have found themselves in situations where they were not able to enter Switzerland coming from their place of residence abroad.

These experiences raised questions around re-obtaining the Swiss passport after missing the regular deadlines. The changes to the Swiss citizenship law from 2018 present two options to reinstate citizenship, from abroad and from within Switzerland:

Application Abroad

In cases where the Swiss citizenship was held and subsequently lost, a 10-year deadline to re-apply is granted. It is interesting to note, however, that simply having held the Swiss citizenship during this 10-year timeframe does not grant a claim to the Swiss citizenship. Instead, they need to show sufficient emotional and factual ties to the country, and are expected to have a certain degree of knowledge about Switzerland, as well as abiding by the values of the Swiss constitution and culture. In addition to the submission of relevant documents, these requirements are tested in a personal appointment at the Swiss representation abroad.

Application in Switzerland

The loss of Swiss citizenship can also affect foreigners residing in Switzerland and holding a second or third passport. The same 10-year deadline to re-apply needs to be considered, but in these cases, an application abroad is not necessary and ties to Switzerland do not need to be showcased. Instead, successful integration is the relevant measure of eligibility (amongst others). The application for re-obtaining Swiss citizenship can be submitted in-country even after the 10-year deadline has passed – the person would need to have held a Swiss residence title for at least three years to be eligible to re-apply. There are no additional requirements for the application submitted after expiration of the 10-year deadline.

With the percentage of total Swiss citizens living abroad increasing from 9.2% in 2001 to 10.3% in 2011 and 10.8% in 2021, it is clear that maintaining dual citizenship will continue to be a growing discussion topic in the community. While it can feel frustrating as an affected person to realize that there is no claim to their Swiss heritage once deadlines are missed, it is not impossible to correct past errors and reobtain citizenship if certain criteria are met.

Need to know more?

For further information and advice on this topic, please contact Senior Immigration Consultant Konstantin Schmid at [email protected]. This blog was published on 19 September 2022, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes.

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