Swiss to vote on cutting citizenship residence requirements to 5 years

The Federal Council has announced that voters will decide on the Democracy Initiative on February 28, 2027. The proposal suggests halving the residence requirement for Swiss citizenship from 10 to five years, as well as creating national criteria, but is being met with strong opposition.

Voters to decide on Democracy Initiative in Switzerland

The Swiss government have confirmed what will be voted on in a referendum on February 28, 2027. Expats will be eagerly awaiting the results of one popular initiative in particular: “For a modern citizenship law (Democracy Initiative)”, “Für ein modernes Bürgerrecht (Demokratie-Initiative)”.

The initiative calls for reforms to the country’s naturalisation process, including reducing the residence requirement for Swiss citizenship to five years and standardising criteria across all cantons.

Currently, internationals applying for Swiss citizenship need to have legally lived in Switzerland for 10 years and may be subject to additional cantonal requirements.

Government pushback against naturalisation changes

The proposal, however, has been met with resistance across all government bodies. The Federal Council announced last year that it recommends rejecting it, while both the National Council and the Council of States have since voted separately against the change.

The government’s opposition to the proposal largely comes down to protecting cantonal powers, with many arguing that integration is done at a local level and it should be up to cantons to decide.

Proposal supporters, on the other hand, believe the naturalisation process in Switzerland needs updating. The Democracy Initiative’s website states that “everyone should have the right to naturalisation, based on objective criteria.” Over 25 percent of the Swiss population are internationals who may be “excluded from democracy.”

Because the Democracy Initiative is classified as a popular initiative and has gathered the needed 100.000 valid signatures, the proposal will still be put to the population for a final decision despite government rejections. For the initiative to succeed, it needs a double majority in February, meaning that it must be passed by voters and a majority of the 26 cantons.