Hi folks! I'm new to these forums. Anyone know anything about swiss naturalization law? I signed up to see if anyone could answer this query,

I'm an American from New York, but i was whisked away to Geneva around the age of 5/6, I went back & forth but settled for good around the 1st grade.

I got a "Permis C" and lived in Geneva until I was 14, when I returned to NY. I'm 24 now.

I don't know why my parents never made a move for me to get swiss citizenship, and now I'm wondering if all my chances are lost. My mother has been a swiss citizen for many years through marriage.

I've read some of the literature but couldn't tell which law applied to me really.

If anyone has any info please school me I'll be forever thankful.

I cannot help much - in the good old days all I had to do was go to the Consulate, swear that I was still single! produce birth certificate and family details including everyone's maiden name etc. display the information in all the right places and then marry my Swiss husband. Bingo, I was Swiss. Not as easy these days...
This bit of Swiss Law will give you something to read though until the knowledgable folk have recovered from their Christmas/New Year festivities!

Does that mean your father was Swiss? If you're in New York now, I'd have thought the Swiss embassy should be your first port of call for information

In New York, it would be the Swiss Consulate:

http://www.eda.admin.ch/newyork

It is not clear from your post whether your mother was Swiss before or after you were born. If she was Swiss before you were born, I would assume that you would have the right to Swiss nationality. If only after, it might be another question. The Consulate should be able to answer the question for you.

It would be ideal if your mother asked the question since she is already Swiss.

Hi thanks for the input, I live in Warsaw right now (poland) and I will call the embassy here, but it's worthwhile to ask on forums where people sometimes know more than the person picking up the phone at the embassy, and can also share personal experiences.

My mother became swiss in 88, after my birth (1984). My dad was not present at my birth and I have never met him, I don't even have his last name, but he is from Haiti I believe.

Does the fact that I had a C permit for a while count for anything, and is does the fact that I'm 24 mean I'm too old? I'll ask the embassy of course but If you guys know any details that'll be good too!.

I've just learned that I would have to apply for citizenship in New York. You can only do it in your country of residence, that sucks! But the good news is that I qualify for "facilitated naturalisation" (or something similar)

That is in fact good news. The "facilitated naturalization" means that there are no big "hoops" to jump through and if you can prove ties to CH (this normally means family, living in, visits, language etc) the "testing procedure" is quite light. You will have an interview at the consulate in NYC. Hopefully you can still speak one of the official languages. If not, time to brush up your skills because the interview will normally be in one of the four languages (your choice which one).

Keep in mind that if you are male, you will probably get caught up in the military service question. Best to ask this at the outset so there are no surprises.

Yeah the military service issue was one of my first questions, the woman said I wouldn't have to do it if I lived abroad.

But I don't get if the facilitated naturalisation thing means that they still have to put it through some kind of popular vote, I forgot to ask that.