Aargau needs two references.....

It's not a requirement on the Kt. ZH application form.

Küsnacht

Just a correction. You've not applied for a Swiss passport. You've applied for Swiss citizenship. Only citizens can apply for passports.

https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2016/404/en

Swiss citizenship law first line.

"The following persons are Swiss citizens from birth:

a. a child whose parents are married to each other and whose father or mother is a Swiss citizen;
b. the child of a female Swiss citizen who is not married to the child's father."

You may or may not be already naturalised before the birth of your child and there isn't much anyone can do before the birth of your child.

However you should consider writing to the cantonal naturalisation office informing them of your wife's pregnancy as a courtesy and then immediately follow up on that upon the birth of your child, assuming you are not already naturalized by then.

A change in family composition is a material change in your life status and you need to inform the cantonal naturalisation office upon the birth of your child. This is also one one of the conditions which one signs on the application form (is written on the GE application form).

Thanks Voyager! I am aware of Swiss Citizenship law. However, I am looking for someone who has been in the similar situation.

If your child is born after the golden letter it will be Swiss with all cow bells and chocolate whistles. (As others have said, it is citizenship, not passport. Do not equate those two. Passport is irrelevant.)

If born before the application or even the SEM approval can be amended to include the child. Art. 13 Abs. 4 SCA

In the worst case Art. 24 SCA would apply
or it would be naturalized with the mother.

https://ge.ch/grandconseil/data/texte/PL12305A.pdf

Revision of GE naturalisation law currently under discussion in the cantonal parliament.

There is mention on page 267 of a ".. situation (that) recently arose in a case where a child was born during the procedure and was not included. The administration therefore prepared a draft 'annulled and replaced' in order to include the child in the naturalization procedure.

Thanks for the reply everyone. So I called the Kantonal office, and they provided following information.

Once my child is born, newborn would become part of our application. We only need to send birth certificate. The application will then again go through the Gemeinde and then back to Kanton. So our application will be bit delayed but the newborn will be part of it.

I am very close to having lived for 10 years in CH (B/C permits), and I am starting to think about naturalization. I come from an EU country (one that didn't require any German skills 4 years ago to get the C permit), so I do not speak any German (I know...), but I started intensive classes two months ago, and I am on track to get my B1 around the time I hit the 10 year threshold.

I live in Canton Zurich but not city of Zurich, I live in the silver coast if that helps, a small town of about 5k residents. I know about the B1 language requirement which hopefully I will have by then. I also know that in canton of Zurich, the basic knowledge test has been standardized (KDE: https://www.zh.ch/de/migration-integ...ntnistest.html) so this is the test to check for integration in swiss daily life, politics, etc.

What I cannot find (due to my poor German skills) is if the KDE test applies everywhere in Canton Zurich and if an in-person interview is also part of the process or this is skipped if the KDE is taken.

AFAIK, the Interview holds even if you take and clear the test.

KDE is specifically to test your German skills, and the interview is to test your knowledge of Switzerland. They are 2 different tests, and as far as I know they are even conducted on 2 different dates.

As akak says the KDE (Kantonaler Deutschtest) is a test for German language skill. The KDE is accepted Canton Zurich in addition to the FIDE approve language certificates (Goethe, Telc, SDS, etc).

In addition, there is also the Grundkenntnistest (that is what you linked to). Only some communes request the Grundkentinsstest, check the webiste of your Gemeinde for further details. For example Oberrieden does not do the Grundkentinsstest, they will perform a thorough interview. In addition, if you have to do the Grundkentinsstest, there will still be an interview which is focused or on your motives and you as a persoen, however you might be asked questions which were covered by the Grundkentinsstest as well. To not forget what you have learned.

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On Strike - ChatGPT knows more than I, so use it (or doesn't it?)

In nearly all cases where a knowledge test is required, it is as a pre-requisite filter, required either before your application or before your communal interview, ensuring the interviewers are less likely to be wasting their time.

In other words, failing or not completing the test will always have an impact on your application. However you can still pass this test and fail the interview.

As I've mentioned before in this thread, if you have to sit the knowledge test, be sure to focus on the Kantonal and Gemeinde information, as a higher pass mark is set for these sections.

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So sayeth the 'Speed
* I do look like my avatar

Thanks for the clarifications. It seems that each Gemeinde has its own rules, so it may be necessary to sit for the knowledge test or not. I recently heard that there was a decision in Kt. ZH to standardize the test and select randomly 50 out of a pool of 350 questions (with a passing mark of 30/50), but it seems this is not the case yet.

What I can't understand is the compatibility of the language requirements test and the difficulty of the knowledge interview in terms of technical jargon. The minimum requirement of A2 written & B1 spoken does not seem to be enough for the technical info that is going to be asked. So either the B1 is not enough or the interview adapts to your German skills. I guess the first one applies and most probably you need something like B2 and practice on the technical jargon, right?

For example, I checked the material and the 84 page pdf provided in the link given by aSwissInTheUS (https://www.bk.admin.ch/bund-kurz-erklaert). I am close to completing A2 now, and it seems that the content and the vocabulary are far above B1.

And on top of that, I heard multiple stories of people being rejected because they don't like to hike or because the don't know the name of the village's butcher and stuff like that, which adds so much pressure on the whole interview process. Being asked about your gemeinde is understandable, but being rejected for the above reasons seems absurd to me.

The cornerstone of normal naturalisation in Switzerland is integration. That means understanding, accepting and participating in the culture. Accepting that all towns are different and autonomous, right down to the tax rate. Accepting and speaking the local language.

The whole process is designed to filter out those not seriously integrated. So the interview is more of an attitude test than a knowledge one. To be honest, if you have reached 10 years here and not reached A2, your effort to integrate is questionable.

I hate to go all Yoda on you, but you need to stay positive. People who didn't know the name of the butcher were probably not refused for that, rather something else that didn't add up. Hang in there.

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So sayeth the 'Speed
* I do look like my avatar

You are definitely right. I just never thought I would stay here that long and never thought of it as necessary to learn German. I speak French at level B2, but this is useless in this case. You can always find excuses like work commitments, etc., but then life happens and things change.

Language-wise, I am putting the effort now and I don't think that the B1 test will be difficult to be honest, I have plenty of time to prepare. I was wondering about the german level of the knowledge interview though because this kind content I don't even know in detail in my home country and in my native language (I would fail such a test in my home country, I am pretty sure), so the difference seems to be disproportional. As for the 'special' questions, I am sure that they were not the reason to reject the applicants, however as an external getting ready for such an interview, these questions only increase the stress levels. In any case, I stay positive, I will put in the effort and let's hope for the best!

Passing a B1 test is not hard; my OH did it in a year from A1, not studying an extraordinary amount.

You will have to study for the knowledge test. Of course, it differs from place to place, but in general, it will be a bunch of rote learning.

We went to a test prep course and, while one can understand the materials with B1, you will have to learn what is written in there. There is no reason you must use the "formal administrative" language, but don't expect to pass without a fair bit of studying.
I, like you, would probably not pass a knowledge test of comparable depth in my country of citizenship. Luckily I was born there so I don't have to...

Good luck!

Hi All
I have a question, what is the "silver letter" ?

thanks

The silver letter is the letter you get once the Gemeinde, Kanton and SEM have granted approvals, an that the final checks are being conducted (home stretch). In some Kantons like Vaud, they will request your C-Permit to be returned prior to receiving the golden letter.