2.9.2.1 Obtaining the Swiss citizenship When Married to a Swiss person
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This article is from the Switzerland FAQ, by Marc Schaefer schaefer@alphanet.ch with numerous contributions by others.
2.9.2.1 Obtaining the Swiss citizenship When Married to a Swiss person
When you get married to a Swiss man/woman (the new legislation does
not make any difference, the old one did allow automatic Swiss
citizenship when a woman was married to a Swiss man), you'll have to
spend 3 years in Switzerland with your wife/husband in order to
qualify for naturalization. You are entitled to a B-permit for the
five first years, then a C (or you might apply for Swiss citizenship,
nothing is automatic out here).
Note that those three years account for the _same_ marriage. If you
divorce and remarry to a Swiss person, the counting restarts at zero.
The other possibility, when married, is having lived at least 5 years
in Switzerland, no matter if as legally working, refugee seeking,
student and/or husband/spouse of a Swiss (even of a former
marriage. This residence persiod has to be legal. Living illegally in
Switzerland doesn't count (of course).
The real difference with standard non-Swiss-married B-permit owners is
that, as you have the right to live in Switzerland, it is renewed in
one week. For other people with a B permit, there is much more
hassle. You have the same chances to find a job as swiss nationals,
except if your activity requires a Swiss passport (quite rare) or if
you are a MD (there is a huge amount of protectionism in medicine).
Children born of unmarried parents may apply for ``facilitated Swiss
citizenship'', provided that the father is Swiss and the child has
been living is Switzerland or with his father for 1 year, and the
child is under 22.
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