https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Switzerland in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Europeans may be able to travel more freely this summer with a proposed new vaccination passport. But the European Commission urges caution and calls for certificates to be free from 'discrimination'. https://www.thelocal.ch/20210313/eu-vaccine-passports-must-prevent-discrimination-european-commission Sat, 13 Mar 2021 13:38:35 +0100 eu-vaccine-passports-must-prevent-discrimination-european-commission Nearly a fifth of the country’s residents have two citizenships — Swiss and another one. Here’s what we know about them. https://www.thelocal.ch/20201007/explained-what-we-know-about-dual-nationals-living-in-switzerland Wed, 07 Oct 2020 19:17:30 +0200 explained-what-we-know-about-dual-nationals-living-in-switzerland A Belgian citizen receiving welfare benefits in Switzerland must leave the Alpine country despite having been born there to Swiss parents, a top Swiss court has ruled. https://www.thelocal.ch/20190830/too-poor-swiss-born-woman-who-lost-citizenship-through-marriage-must-leave-country Fri, 30 Aug 2019 12:42:34 +0200 too-poor-swiss-born-woman-who-lost-citizenship-through-marriage-must-leave-country An Iraqi woman, who despite living in Switzerland for 20 years and being well integrated, was denied citizenship in the canton of Schwyz after it emerged she responded "uh" over 200 times in the citizenship interview. https://www.thelocal.ch/20190808/iraqi-woman-who-was-refused-citizenship-said-uh-over-200-times-during-test Thu, 08 Aug 2019 14:06:44 +0200 iraqi-woman-who-was-refused-citizenship-said-uh-over-200-times-during-test Nancy Holten is annoying. She is so annoying in fact that residents of the small village in Switzerland she calls home voted, twice, to bar her from becoming Swiss. https://www.thelocal.ch/20190518/in-citizenship-cases-swiss-direct-democracy-shows-its-cracks Sat, 18 May 2019 13:42:35 +0200 in-citizenship-cases-swiss-direct-democracy-shows-its-cracks Only a small percentage of the estimated 25,000 third-generation foreigners who can now take advantage of rule changes that make it easier for them to obtain Swiss citizenship have done so to date, but the current requirements may be partly to blame, a report published on Tuesday suggests. https://www.thelocal.ch/20190312/just-1000-third-generation-foreigners-apply-for-swiss-passport-under-easier-citizenship-rules Tue, 12 Mar 2019 20:35:46 +0100 just-1000-third-generation-foreigners-apply-for-swiss-passport-under-easier-citizenship-rules Swiss citizenship doesn’t come cheap. While the cost of filing an application with federal authorities is relatively low (100 Swiss francs for an adult, or 150 francs for a couple), cantonal and communal authorities also charge non-refundable administrative fees which can seriously mount up. https://www.thelocal.ch/20181022/swiss-citizenship-fees-vary-widely-across-country-report Mon, 22 Oct 2018 12:07:41 +0200 swiss-citizenship-fees-vary-widely-across-country-report Around 17 percent of permanent Swiss residents over the age of 15, or 916,000 people, had the right to hold at least two passports in 2016, while that figures was nearly half in Geneva, newly released figures show. https://www.thelocal.ch/20180925/one-in-six-people-swiss-residents-now-a-dual-national Tue, 25 Sep 2018 22:21:54 +0200 one-in-six-people-swiss-residents-now-a-dual-national The Swiss city of Lausanne has blocked a Muslim couple's bid to become Swiss nationals over their refusal to shake hands with members of the opposite sex. https://www.thelocal.ch/20180818/muslim-couple-denied-swiss-citizenship-over-handshake-refusal Sat, 18 Aug 2018 09:13:17 +0200 muslim-couple-denied-swiss-citizenship-over-handshake-refusal A new rule requiring foreigners to complete a formal test to demonstrate their skills in one of Switzerland's four national languages may be putting a dent in the number of people applying for citizenship in the country. https://www.thelocal.ch/20180813/are-new-language-tests-putting-people-off-applying-for-swiss-citizenship Mon, 13 Aug 2018 22:00:29 +0200 are-new-language-tests-putting-people-off-applying-for-swiss-citizenship The number of Swiss people with dual nationality has soared 40 percent in the last ten years to 1.48 million. https://www.thelocal.ch/20180702/increasingly-international-number-of-swiss-dual-nationals-soars Mon, 02 Jul 2018 12:15:44 +0200 increasingly-international-number-of-swiss-dual-nationals-soars Switzerland has the fifth most powerful passport in the world, according to the latest edition of an index which ranks the level of visa-free access passports provide to their holders. https://www.thelocal.ch/20180524/switzerland-has-fifth-most-powerful-passport-in-the-world Thu, 24 May 2018 15:15:45 +0200 switzerland-has-fifth-most-powerful-passport-in-the-world The Swiss government will urge the public to vote in favour of making it easier for third generation immigrants to become Swiss when the issue goes to a referendum in February. https://www.thelocal.ch/20161220/bern-3rd-gen-foreigners-should-get-easy-access-to-swiss-passport Tue, 20 Dec 2016 12:13:23 +0100 bern-3rd-gen-foreigners-should-get-easy-access-to-swiss-passport A suspected jihadist from Geneva was arrested at Zurich airport as he returned from a nine-month trip to Turkey last week, according to reports. https://www.thelocal.ch/20160817/swiss-jihad-suspect-arrested-on-return-from-turkey Wed, 17 Aug 2016 13:14:33 +0200 swiss-jihad-suspect-arrested-on-return-from-turkey Members of Switzerland's Socialist Party (SP) are volunteering to be “naturalization advisers” under a new campaign to help foreigners in the country become Swiss citizens. https://www.thelocal.ch/20160802/socialist-party-to-help-expats-become-swiss Tue, 02 Aug 2016 09:52:52 +0200 socialist-party-to-help-expats-become-swiss A Swiss court made history on Friday when it convicted a man for attempting to travel to Syria to join Isis, the first time anyone has been prosecuted in Switzerland for such an act. https://www.thelocal.ch/20160715/swiss-man-convicted-for-wanting-to-die-as-martyr Fri, 15 Jul 2016 17:47:10 +0200 swiss-man-convicted-for-wanting-to-die-as-martyr A Swiss-Italian teenager suspected of joining terrorists in Syria could have his Swiss nationality withdrawn in what would be the first such case in Switzerland. https://www.thelocal.ch/20160512/presumed-jihadist-could-have-swiss-nationality-quashed Thu, 12 May 2016 11:17:46 +0200 presumed-jihadist-could-have-swiss-nationality-quashed The passports of 18 countries are regarded as more “powerful” than the one offered by Switzerland, according to a new survey. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150421/ranking Tue, 21 Apr 2015 14:12:16 +0200 ranking Despite a campaign launched by the Swedish to help Chinese people tell the difference between them and the Swiss, it turns out Switzerland and Sweden feel akin after all. Swiss people would rather have the nation of Ikea and ABBA as their neighbour than any other EU country, according to a new survey. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140828/switzerland-picks-sweden-as-ideal-neighbour Thu, 28 Aug 2014 12:03:00 +0200 switzerland-picks-sweden-as-ideal-neighbour Naturalization requests from foreign residents in some parts of Switzerland have jumped since the February 9th anti-immigration yes vote, according to the population authorities. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140228/romandie-sees-rise-in-naturalisation-requests Fri, 28 Feb 2014 11:05:00 +0100 romandie-sees-rise-in-naturalisation-requests