Switzerland · Simplified naturalisation

Married to a Swiss citizen: five years, three of marriage, decided by SEM

Simplified naturalisation is a federal procedure. No C permit, a shorter residence and SEM decides rather than your canton.

5 years3 years marriedCHF 500

iPhone

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7 day free trial. Your tracker stays on the phone.

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Android

Android, after the iPhone

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

Not on Google Play yet

7 days free, then CHF 35.00 a year in Switzerland. No account, no tracking.

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

The conditions in Switzerland

Five years in Switzerland in total, including the year just before you apply (BüG article 21).
Three years of marriage and living together with your Swiss husband or wife.
The integration criteria of the ordinary route: public safety and order, the values of the Federal Constitution, B1 spoken and A2 written in a national language, work or education and supporting your family's integration (BüG article 20).
No threat to Switzerland's security.
No C permit is needed.

How it runs

You send the application to SEM, which asks your canton for an inquiry report on your integration, as a rule within twelve months (BüV articles 14 and 22). SEM then decides, as a rule within twelve months of receiving the report (BüV article 23), after hearing the canton (BüG article 25).

The marriage must be real and intact both when you apply and when you are naturalised: a formal marriage and a shared life with the common will to keep it. Living apart is possible for important reasons if the marriage continues (BüV article 10).

What it costs

CHF 500 for SEM's decision (BüV article 25).
Up to CHF 400 more for the canton's inquiry report, collected by SEM.
SEM can ask for both in advance (BüG article 35).

Registered partners and couples abroad

A registered partner of a Swiss citizen has the same shorter residence, five years with one before applying and three years of partnership, but in the ordinary procedure, through the canton and with a C permit (BüG articles 9 and 10). Couples living abroad can apply after six years of marriage if the foreign spouse has close ties to Switzerland (BüG article 21).

Questions people ask

We married in 2024 and I have lived here since 2019. Can I apply now?

Not yet on this route: the five years in Switzerland are there, but the three years of marriage and living together are reached in 2027. The Path tab counts the ordinary route meanwhile, because the app does not ask the date of your marriage.

Does my canton still check me?

Yes, through the inquiry report SEM asks it for. But the decision is SEM's.

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.