I've read a number of posts on how to become Swiss, but haven't seen any on why. I currently have Italian citizenship, acquired through marriage. I'm ex-US, having renounced. I was born in Zurich and lived here the first 6 years and returned later for 6 years in Geneva during my high school years. Now I'm back again for work and I've been in Zurich 2 and a half years. I intend to stay in Switzerland. Is there an advantage to obtaining Swiss citizenship or can I continue to stay here indefinitely as an Italian?

It's a personal or practical decision for some. I like to have a say in the country I live and pay taxes, obtaining Swiss nationality allowed me the option.

How long do you have to stay here to apply for citizenship?

However you loose the right to decide how your assets are distributed at your death.

I've never thought about that. Both me and my partner don't have kids or parents left, what will the law dictate? Perhaps we should look into it.

5-12 years depending who you marry and where you live.

my kids are born here and I want them to have the option of staying here even if I leave the country with my wife. As I settled here and plan to stay here at least till retirement I wanted also to have the right for voting.

Any brothers & sisters?

Yes, but without going into detail both my partner and I will probably out live them.

My partner is Swiss so I suppose our joint assets would go under Swiss law even if I hadn't taken Swiss nationality. Neither of his brothers have had kids and we only have two nieces from my side of the family.

Food for thought.

The biggest issue to a surviving spouse if there are children, the surviving spouse only gets 50%.

If your not married & your spouse has children, it's not good news!

Of course in the UK you can do whatever you want! Swiss fixed property always follows the Swiss system, however if it's heavilly mortgaged it may be more or a liability than an asset. It's not only assets that get passed on, the debts do too!

Oldhand, this is one of the things stopping us from applying for Swiss citizenship. We have no children, so intend to leave our estate to charities.

Under Swiss inheritance law, however, when there are no children the surviving spouse can only inherit a maximum of 3/4 of the decedent's estate, the remaining 1/4 goes to either the parents or siblings of the decedent.

So... say you and your spouse own a house together. Since joint tenancy with rights of survivorship is not available in Switzerland, each person owns half the house (or half shares in a Kaufergeschaft, if you've gone that route). One spouse dies - and the decedent's parents or siblings can then force the remaining spouse to sell the property so that they get 'their' share.

When you and your partner have pooled resources and worked together over decades to build a home, a company, a life - it's a raw deal that family members can sweep in and take it away.

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No, we want to ensure that the remaining spouse is provided for, and able to live out his/her life in our home. And after we both are gone, we want our estate to do some good in the world - rather than disappear up nose of the family member who would stand to inherit under Swiss law.

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Swiss inheritance law is something one should understand while considering citizenship.


ETA:

There is a nifty chart on page 32 of this brochure, explaning who gets what under mandatory inheritance:

http://www.bj.admin.ch/content/dam/d...eherecht-d.pdf

I agree that this can be a major issue for some folks. I'm pretty sure though, that the "Pflichtteil" is only 1/8 for surviving parents and that there's none at all for the siblings.

My understanding - and I could easily be dead wrong - is that it depends on whether there is a will utilizing the 'frei verfugbare Quote' or not.

1/4 to the parents/siblings, 3/4 to the spouse if there is no 'frei verfugbar Quote'.

If the frei verfugbar Quote is invoked and there is a spouse and parents, it's 1/8 to the parents, 3/8 to the spouse, 1/2 frei. Or if there is a spouse and siblings, 3/8 to the Spouse, 5/8 frei.

(From the link above - assuming it's still up to date.)

But I'm certainly no expert.

Great to read all the comments on inheritance. Besides inheritance and voting rights, are there other, perhaps more minor advantages or disadvantages to consider on becoming Swiss? I'm inclined to leave the question for now and make my decision at some time in the future, taking into consideration the plusses and minusses of retaing Italian citizenship.

Say the EU dissolves, member countries like Italy get booted out of the EU or serious changes occur in the EU-Swiss bilateral agreements (all theoretically possible considering the current economic environment). Holding citizenship guarantees a right to settle.

Also, its always advantageous to hold multiple citizenships. You never know where things in this world may head to like war, social unrest, revolutions, etc. Switzerland has had the fortune to avoid them all since the 1815 (externally) and 1847 (internally).

The EU is unlikely to be desolved just the recent Euro currency. The OP presumably has a C permit if he is thinking about a passport, so can stay for ever in any case.

Yes, but as the OP is Italian, there are no changes, as Italy has the same rules as Switzerland regarding assets distribution before and after death.

Tom

5/8, actually,

1/4, plus 50% of the remaining 3/4.

Tom

I think the existing solvent and developed EU countries will ultimately create their own club and reach separate bilatetal deals with Switzerland. Call this new club whatever you want, the EU in it's existing shape and form is not viable. In 1945 we saw the Iron Curtain split Europe. Sometime this decade we may end up seeing the Protestant Work Ethic curtain split Europe once again.

A C permit gives the right to settle indefinitely provided the holder doesn't leave the country for more than 6 months or a maximum of 4 years (if approved). A passport gives you the right to move out and move in at will.

Just in case, here is the visa index. It surprised me that an Italian passport is slightly better than a Swiss one.

https://www.henleyglobal.com/citizen...-restrictions/

In the plus category, stability - the peace of mind knowing that I could stay no matter what, that my investments here would not be at risk - would be my number one factor.

Now, I am non-EU, so my concerns probably won't affect you. As an EU citizen your right to reside here is pretty solid.

I have a C permit, but that still doesn't really give me the level of stability I'd like to have. I know am welcome here as long as I continue to be a good taxpayer. However given the current economic climate and political Zeitgeist, after we retire - and thus are no longer such 'attractive' foreigners - I would not be surprised to find that the next permit renewal might be difficult. (I know of one such case.)

A C permit gives you permission to stay. Permission can always be revoked. Citizenship would give you the absolute right to stay.

But while there are pros and cons that need to be thought through, for me it boils down to one thing: citizenship is truly a matter of the heart, not one of practicality. At present, I don't feel 'Swiss enough' to consider applying for citizenship - and conversely, as I grow older my ties to my own country, the old ties that bind, seem to be growing stronger. Will that change in the future? Who knows.

YMMV.