Switzerland requires atleast 12 years of residence to naturalize for citizenship. The residence requirements also depend on the canton.
With new rules implemented from Jan 2018, anyone who has lived in Switzerland for ten years and has a residence permit (C permit) can apply to the municipality or canton for an application for ordinary naturalization. The years spent between the ages of 8 and 18 in our country are double, but the actual stay in Switzerland must be at least six years in this case.
Regular naturalisation in Switzerland takes place at three levels:
- The Confederation,
- The Canton and
- The Commune
Naturalization process require swiss national languages (german, italian, french) with reference level B1 and written language skills at least at reference level A2 of the European Framework of Reference for Languages. The cantons, however, can provide higher language skills.
Cantons with 2-3 years
| Canton | Minimum residence requirements |
| AR | 3 years in the canton |
| BE | 2 years |
| FR | 3 years in the canton |
| GE | 2 years |
| JU | 2 years in the community of prospective naturalisation |
| LU | at least 3 years in the community of prospective naturalisation |
| NE | the final 3 years before the submission of the application in the canton without interruption |
| SH | 2 years in the canton and in the community of prospective naturalisation |
| ZH | at least 2 uninterrupted years in the community of prospective naturalisation |
Cantons with 5-6 years
| Canton |
Minimum residence requirements |
| AG | 5 years in the canton, 3 years in the community of prospective naturalisation |
| AI | 5 years in the canton |
| BL | 5 years in the canton |
| BS | 5 years in the canton, of which the final 3 years in the community of prospective naturalisation |
| GL | 6 years in the canton, of which the final 3 years in the community of prospective naturalisation |
| GR | 6 years in the canton |
| NW | the final 6 years before the submission of the application in the canton without interruption, of which the final 3 years uninterrupted in the community of prospective naturalisation |
| OW | 5 years |
| SO | 6 years in the canton |
| SZ | As a rule, 5 years in a community of the Canton of Schwyz |
| TG | 6 years in the canton, of which 3 years in the community of prospective naturalisation |
| TI | 5 years in the canton, 3 years in the community of prospective naturalisation |
| UR | 5 years in the canton |
| VD | 5 years in the canton, 1 to 5 years in the community |
| VS | 5 years in the canton |
| ZG | 5 years in the canton, of which the final 3 years uninterrupted in the community of prospective naturalisation |
Cantons with 8-12 years
| Canton | Minimum residence requirements |
| SG | 8 years in the canton |
