I am a Swiss citizen living abroad. My spouse of 10+ years would like to acquire Swiss citizenship. While we are closely integrated (in Switzerland and here), language is the biggest issue followed by details of the government. I would appreciate any input on books and other resources that will be most helpful for the interview for the latter part, i.e. government, politics, live, etc.

For facilitated naturalization there is no interview covering government, politics or anything else about Swiss life, just a minimum of 3 years of marriage.

But.. Article 27 of the Naturalization Act says you, as a Swiss must have lived a minimum of 5 years in Switzerland and your foreign spouse must have lived here in Switzerland for a minimum of one year (in your case Article 28 might override the Swiss residency requirement for your spouse).

source: http://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/bfm/...uergerung.html

I would just apply and do the best you can. How rigorous the interview is seems to vary quite a bit. I had a 5 minute phone call to 'access' my language skills. All they did was ask about my integration in the community. I was honest and said I wasn't in any clubs but that I knew some neighbors a bit since we have kids the same age.

I applied under article 28 after living in Switzerland about a year and a half. I also had previously heard from others in the US who had never lived in Switzerland so it's definitely possible.

Dan

Dan

Thank you! That's a helpful link. It seems that indeed Article 28 will apply. Also I was born and educated in Switzerland and spent a quarter century there. We regularly go back, my parents & siblings sometimes visit, we are in a Swiss club here, etc.

How are they checking "Compliance with rule of law" and "No danger to internal or external security"? I assume there are some questions in the application (which I will search for). Do they do background checks, fingerprints, etc?

As for integration, language might be an issue if whoever makes the decision determines this is important. As for the political system, etc my spouse knows the basics but I still think some more knowledge would be good. So if there are any particular books I certainly would appreciate some recommondations.

In the US you can request a statement from the government that says whether you have a (serious?) criminal record or not. Maybe from the FBI? I had to get it for the Swiss Embassy/Consulate in the US, when applying for the visa. So that would probably be it.

I used this as a guide to study by in case they would ask: http://dan-reports.blogspot.com/2009...rungstest.html

In the end the only questions they asked were-

Sind Sie in Vereinen, Organisationen oder Kommissionen?

Haben Sie einen Kollegenkreis?

Why do I want to become a citizen?

A logical question is -why does your spouse want swiss citizenship?

There's a few threads on the topic here already. Do a search for facilitated naturalization (and also try naturalisation).