Switzerland · Knowledge

The knowledge check: no national test, four federal areas

The federal rules ask you to be familiar with Swiss life. Your canton decides how to check it: a written test, an interview or both.

No national test4 areasSet by your canton

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Android

Android, after the iPhone

The same tracker, the same 418 questions, the same Swiss rules.

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This is one piece of it. See the whole journey on belongswiss.app

What familiar with Swiss life means

Article 2 of the Citizenship Ordinance, which gives BüG article 11 its content.

Basic knowledge of the geographical, historical, political and social conditions in Switzerland.
Taking part in the social and cultural life of society in Switzerland.
Keeping contact with Swiss people.

The test is your canton's

The ordinance lets the cantonal authority require a test of the basic knowledge. If it does, it must make sure you can prepare with suitable aids or courses, and that the test can be passed with the language level naturalisation asks for (BüV article 2).

There is no federal question catalogue and no national pass mark. Cantons use written tests, interviews or both, and many ask about the canton and the commune where you live. Some ask you to pass their test before you apply, others invite you once you have.

What Belong Switzerland covers

The Practice tab covers the four federal areas, geography, history, politics and society, in Swiss Standard German with an English study line. It does not write your canton's or your commune's questions, and it has no mock, because there is no national paper to copy. Ask your canton for its material and study it alongside.

Questions people ask

Does a pass replace the language proof?

No. Language is a separate integration criterion with its own proof (BüV article 6).

What if I cannot sit a test?

The ordinance's rule on personal circumstances (BüV article 9) covers the language and the work or education criteria, not the knowledge check. The ordinance does require that a cantonal test can be passed with the language level naturalisation asks for (BüV article 2). If a disability or illness makes a test hard for you, ask your canton how it accommodates it.

There are 418 practice questions in the app.

418 questions on geography, history, politics and society, drilled area by area in the order the Citizenship Ordinance sets them, with a mistakes deck and spaced repetition. There is no mock test, because there is no national paper to copy.

Written by Belong Switzerland around the four areas of BüV article 2. They are not any canton’s official questions, and the questions on your canton and your commune are not ours to write.