Congratulations!! Finally the wait is over!

Thank you for providing an account of your odyssey.

We are starting the process this month with kids of the same age plus another one in between in Kanton Bern.

In our case only hubby and I need to sit the multiple choice exam.

We will receive the list of required documents only after passing the exam. I was told it is a two-year process.

We're excited to begin this journey!

Wishing you and your family all the best, Carlasmom!

Yahoo! Congrats, voyager. Thanks for sharing your journey with us and for being such a wonderful source of information and positivity on this forum! It's been so helpful for the rest of us. Warmest wishes as you embark on this new chapter in your life as a Swiss citizen.

Congrats to ecb and voyager, and all those who finally got their Swiss citizenship!

I just got back from 2 weeks Down Under. It was soooo nice to finally be able to skip the "all other passports" queue at the passport control!

Updated Timeline:

Gemeinde: Furrtal Region
Kanton: Zurich

Dec 2021: Submitted the documents to Kanton Gemeindeamt
Dec 2021: Acknowledgment letter from Kanton Gemeindeamt, process will take 2 years
Jan 2022: Letter from Kanton Gemeindeamt, the case is forwarded to Gemeinde
Feb 2022: Email from Gemeinde, about the need to take the KDE and Grundkenntnisse test
June 2022: Took the KDE and Grundkenntnisse tests.
July 2022: KDE and Grundkenntnisse Test Passed, sent the certificates to Gemeinde
July 2022: Invite for Einbürgerungsgespräch in August
Aug 2022: Einbürgerungsgespräch done
Aug 2022: Letter from Gemeinde: Gemeinde Bürgerrecht granted, case forwarded to Kanton ZH
Sept 2022: Letter from Kanton Gemeindeamt: Case received. Lot of applications, case will be looked up after 3 months
Nov 2022: Our Timeline:

Gemeinde: Furrtal Region
Kanton: Zurich

Dec 2021: Submitted the documents to Kanton Gemeindeamt
Dec 2021: Acknowledgment letter from Kanton Gemeindeamt, process will take 2 years
Jan 2022: Letter from Kanton Gemeindeamt, the case is forwarded to Gemeinde
Feb 2022: Email from Gemeinde, about the need to take the KDE and Grundkenntnisse test
June 2022: Took the KDE and Grundkenntnisse tests.
July 2022: KDE and Grundkenntnisse Test Passed, sent the certificates to Gemeinde
July 2022: Invite for Einbürgerungsgespräch in August
Aug 2022: Einbürgerungsgespräch done
Aug 2022: Letter from Gemeinde: Gemeinde Bürgerrecht granted, case forwarded to Kanton ZH
Sept 2022: Letter from Kanton Gemeindeamt: Case received. Lot of applications, case will be looked up after 3 months
Nov 2022: Letter from Kanton Gemeindeamt: Grant of Kanton Bürgerrecht. Bill of CHF 1000.

Waiting for next Mile stones: SEM Bill --> Silver Letter --> Golden Letter

Quick update on my application above:
Aug 2022: SEM bill received and paid
Nov 2022: Silver letter - application moves back to ZRH Kanton for the home straight.

What do you think are my chances of a golden letter from Santa this Christmas? 🎅 😅

In general, the only step that's pending now is for the canton order a criminal record extract for you and see that its empty. so, it takes so long as the time taken to get a criminal record extract. and this can be few days depending on how busy the criminal record extracts team is. sometimes it only takes 3-4 days and sometimes a couple of weeks.
so its very much possible that you might get your golden letter by Christmas but also note that the golden letter may already be posted in B post which may take unto 5 days to reach you. in effect, you might already be a Swiss citizen by Christmas but will get the letter just after Christmas because of the B post.


cheers
Happycreature

Zürich Canton has updated the application process for Naturalisation and tweaked some of the forms. Everything is now electronic making it much easier to follow and understand what's missing, track application progress etc.

https://www.zh.ch/de/migration-integ...uergerung.html

Just in the process of finalising the application process in ZH canton and by the time we submit at the end of the week it'll have taken us (my better half & I - no kids) about a week and cost approx CHF250 to gather all the papers needed. Some paperwork can be ordered online such as Zivilstandregister and Wohnsitzbestatigung and others have to be requested in person at the Gemeinde such as tax & social help declaration.

Hi all,
Thanks all for your contributions. This forum and thread have been super helpful.

As I am preparing to apply for the citizenship soon (in VD), I was wondering if it is possible to register in the civil status register voluntarily beforehand without a specific reason (such as name change, marriage etc..). As I understood it, this would ultimately speed up the process of my application.
Any similar experiences ?

AS

Nope not allowed. What you can do to slightly speed up the état civil process is proactively send your original état civil documents (multilingual birth certificate, marriage certificate, certificate of bachelorhood etc issued by your home country or its embassy/consulate in Switzerland) together with your application.

But there shouldn’t be any more delays in état civil in Vaud, they did a major overhaul in 2022 and have centralised most functions in a building in Sévelin and are quite efficient assuming your case isn’t too complex.

So am I correct that now the electronic applications apply not just to the City of Zurich, but to the entire canton?

There will be some worn-out F5 buttons in the near future :-D

Hi,

Time for an udpate: Im Swiss!

Here is my timeline

Dec 2020 - FIDE test passed
Jan 2021 - Submit application + supporting documents
Feb 2021 - SPOP Lausanne confirm receipt
May 2021 - Bill for 450CHF from SPOP Lausanne for processing.
May 2021 - SPOP Lausanne demand new originals of some docs from country of origin and more details of children
Aug 2021 - Application sent back to commune as "OK to proceed"
Aug 2021 - Commune asks for A LOT of additional documents (new copies of birth certs, marriage certs, CV, qualifications, professional memberships, job description, attestation from employer, debt status, tax records, language cert, club memberships etc etc)
Sep 21 - Formal Swiss knowledge test in Commune
Sep 21 - Commune Audition (usual questions, but a lot on time spent on my club memberships and who I know through the clubs)
Nov 21 - Commune approval, file sent back to Lausanne
Nov 21 - Family data filed in Civil Register in Lausanne (some follow up questions on some of my parents weird gaelic middle names resolved by phone)
Dec 21 - Civil status confirmed
Feb 22 - File sent back to SEM for final Federal approval
Mar 22 - SEM 100 CHF bill
May 22 - SEM approves (but no "silver letter" issued). File back to Lausanne
Sep 22 - Lausanne approves and invited for swearing in ceremony ("golden letter")
Nov 22 - All done, Swiss nationality achieved!

A marathon not a sprint but delighted to finally get there.

Now..which party to join

B

Congratulations, Boomer!

July 2018 - TELC B1 German
March 2019 - filled in application forms
Jan 2022 Gemeinde interview, facts concerning Switzerland
Feb 2022 Kantonal interview, integration,
Feb 2022 Approval from Gemeinde and Kanton officials
April 2022 Bürgereinwohnerversammelung vote
July 2022 - SEM bill
December 2022 (today!) - form to fill in confirming our employment and civil status, to go to BL migrationsamt.

For us I think not so much a marathon, rather a very long walk! Nearly there.

So the kids voted yes, you're good little Swiss and should be admitted to the club?

They forgot to attend, so we dodged a bullet there.

Day 69 since payment of the SEM bill.

Home straight is the worst...

It was almost 100 days after paying the bill before the silver letter arrived

About to kickoff the process for naturalization in ZH Feb 2023, this is the 10 year mark.

I think the most challenging part of this process will be the interview and integration test. Can anyone shed any light on what exactly involved in this? Just some questions in German about you and your life in Switzerland?

Thanks!