Hello everyone,

I'm writing this to see if anyone has some insight. A person I know recently emailed the Geneva authorities to get the ball rolling for naturalization. (due to Covid, one must email them first, they check if you're eligible, then they send you the forms by post).
This person is EU, born in Switzerland, but left around age 8 and came back more or less 10 years later in 2017. This person has an EU B-permit family reunification. The OCPM (geneva cantonal office) asked for the person to email them a copy of their passport and their permit, which she did, and then got the forms by post. Now I was wondering how is this possible since you need to have a C permit. Her parents also have a B permit. She came back to Switzerland 3 years ago essentially. The permit clearly shows the letter ''B''.
Any thoughts ?

Either the forms are for a C permit application or the office just sent the wrong papers since you must have a C permit to be able to apply for Swiss citizenship now.

Or for undisclosed reason she is eligible for a facilitated naturalization where the permit does not mater.

Otherwise the application will most likely get rejected at the federal stage when the SEM cross checks the eligibility.

The cantonal form just has a list on the last page of all documents required, and depending on your situation, they tick the boxes of the documents you need to submit. It does say ''photocopie de l'autorisation d'établissement''. When it comes to the federal form, it says ''Autorisation d'établissement (Permis C) valable jusqu'au : ....''.
It's the regular form for ordinary naturalization.

I saw the emails exchanged, it was for naturalization and they sent the naturalization forms and one more thing that I forgot to mention.
In Canton GE, you have to pass this multiple choice exam before sending in your application. They booked her for an upcoming exam so I mean the ball is already rolling.

Which doesn't mean much. In the end if you do not fulfil all the requirements the application can be denied at any stage. It is a interesting experience at best and a waste of money and time at worst. As always in Switzerland: There will be an orange payment slip in the mail which has to be paid.

But is it possible that she gets to the end without anyone noticing the mistake made by a clerk in the cantonal office ? and should she tell them or just not mind ? Because technically she didn't do anything fraudulent or wrong.

Even a one in a billion chance is a slight possibility. So, the answer is yes.

The canton clearly does not do an in-depth review of the photocopies sent at this stage. In any case the ZEMIS/SYMIC system (which details all stays and permit types) will be checked by both canton and Bern at some point in the process and the application will get rejected.

In Geneva Commune vs Canton is pretty blurry. But it would be caught by Berne.