Is this child Swiss or not!?

- Biological Mother hold's dual citizenship. She is Swiss by first marriage to a Swiss man, and is the citizen of another EU country by birth. After seperation with the Swiss spouse she has married an EU citizen.

- Biological Father is currently married to the Biological Mother and is a citizen of an EU country.

From what I have seen the child in question should be Swiss by birth:
Swiss citizens by birth

Children of married couples are Swiss citizens from birth provided that either the mother or father is a Swiss citizen. The same applies for a child born after 1 January 2006 whose parents are not married. Children also acquire the cantonal and communal citizenship of the Swiss parent.


http://www.ch.ch/private/00029/00033...x.html?lang=en

Swiss Citizenship by Birth
A citizen who is automatically Swiss by birth is:

1. a child whose parents are married to each other and whose father or mother is a Swiss citizen.

http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/...us/swicit.html

only if you filled in the right forms in the right order...

Is it true that if the Swiss parent is not Swiss by birth that the children of said parent are no longer Swiss by birth themselves?

it says that if either parent is a Swiss citizen then the child is too... so the only question should be 'were they a Swiss citizen when the child was born?'

Is the mother a citizen (does she have a swiss passport, or is she entitled to get one ?) - in that case, the child is swiss.

As others say, it's just a matter of paperwork. There may also be a requirement to lodge the paperwork in a set period of time.

The mother is Swiss - She has a Swiss passport.

Parents married, one or both of them Swiss: Kid is Swiss
Parents unmarried, mother Swiss: Kid is Swiss

Ergo: Kid in question - Swiss

This is why I find it odd that the child is being made to apply for Facilitated Naturalization.

The revised Swiss Citizenship Act(enacted 2006) no longer differentiates between "Swiss female citizens by birth, adoption and naturalisation" and "Swiss female citizens by marriage". With the repeal of the special provision for children of Swiss mothers who acquired Swiss citizenship by marriage to a Swiss man, these children now automatically become Swiss citizens by birth..

Was the child born before Jan 1, 2006? If so then citizenship should be automatically acquired by the child. If not....
How do your children become or remain Swiss citizens

2.2. A foreign child born before 1 July 1985 whose mother was a Swiss citizen before or at the time of the child's birth, or a foreign child born before 1 January 2006 in cases of a child from a marriage between a foreigner and a Swiss woman naturalised through a previous marriage, can file an application for simplified naturalisation if he or she has close ties to Switzerland. If he or she should have children, these children can also file an application for simplified naturalisation if they have close ties to Switzerland.

Child was born in 1998.

Then it seem you were told correctly. The child can apply for "simplified naturalization (ie, facilitated naturalization) if they have close ties to Switzerland".

Depends on the canton of the Heimatort.

Been there, done that.

If the mother is not Swiss by birth, but by marriage, the child may NOT be Swiss, in particular if the child has another citizenship via the father.

When I became Swiss, it was discovered that my Swiss kids weren't in fact Swiss (despite having Swiss ID cards since birth), as my wife was Swiss by marriage, but they were automatically Swiss when I became Swiss.

Meanwhile, had I never obtained US citizenship for them, THEN they would have automatically been Swiss!

My kids were born in '90 and '93, in Switzerland.

Tom

I think they fall in the same category as the kid in question: They could have applied for facilitated naturalization. (which of course I think they would have gotten as they grew up here so had strong ties to the country).

But I don't think the rule is at all cantonal but federal.

Nope, cantonal (or even perhaps communal), as citizenship by birth is communal, not cantonal or federal.

Even the commune was shocked that they weren't already Swiss, and the Heimatort apologized to me for the confusion when I spoke to them on the phone, as since they weren't automatically American at birth (but retroactively), they should have been Swiss at birth!

Tom

Ok, I think the main thing here is that fact that the child does indeed have the fathers citizenship by birth - although he does not hold that passport, simply because he is a citizen of the fathers country by birth means that he has to go with the Simplified Naturalization method of become Swiss.

Now - anyone know is Simplified Naturalization is dealt with on a Federal, Cantonal or Commune level?

Facilitated Naturalization is federal.

Is that the same as "Simplified Naturalization"?

Yes. More often then not it is called "Facilitated" rather than "Simplified".

http://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/bfm/...recht/faq.html

"Close connection to Switzerland" will guide the decision making process (decision to grant facilitated naturalisation is in the sole responsibility of the Confederation). I'm not really sure what constitutes "Close connection or ties to Switzerland", maybe others can chime in that

I'm guessing that the family doesn't live in Switzerland currently. But if they do, I'm pretty sure that would satisfy the "Close connection to Switzerland" requirement.

If the biological Swiss mother by marriage(or EU husband) currently don't have "close connections to Switzerland", I think it will be difficult to show that the child has close ties either.

No, it's based on the Heimatort/Atinenza/Lieu d'origine of the spouse (or parent, etc.).

I know, I have it.

Tom