Ordentliche Einbürgerung - מסלול מועמדים בחו"ל/חוצה גבולות (BüG Art 9-18 באמצעות נציגות שוויצרית)

CH-NAT-02 is the ordinary-naturalisation route (BueG Art 9-18; SR 141.0) as applied to applicants whose residence computation involves periods of abroad-assignment or whose residence rests on an EDA legitimation card, and who interface with the procedure through a Swiss representation under the Swiss-abroad framework (ASG SR 195.1). Substantively it is the SAME ordinary naturalisation as CH-NAT-01 — the federal ten-year residence, the C-permit prerequisite and the integration/security material conditions all apply — but the admission structure is federal plus cantonal-of-origin, without a separate communal-decision step where the applicant is not communally domiciled. It is distinct from the facilitated abroad-spouse track (BueG Art 21(2), carried at CH-MAR-01), from automatic descent at birth (CH-DSC-01/03) and from restoration after loss (CH-RST-01/03). The route addresses the situation of an applicant who accrued or is accruing the required federal residence but whose computation spans an abroad period, where the residence-counting rules (BueG Art 33; BueV Art 16) and the EDA legitimation-card residence head (Art 33(1)(c)) become decisive. As of 2026 this is operative under the BueG 2014 era. This is legal research, not legal advice.

Eligibility tracks the ordinary-naturalisation floor: a Niederlassungsbewilligung (C-permit) and ten years' total residence in Switzerland with three in the last five years (BueG Art 9(1)), with ages 8-18 double-counted subject to a six-year actual-residence minimum (Art 9(2)), plus the material conditions of successful integration, familiarity with Swiss conditions and no security threat (BueG Art 11). The abroad/cross-border feature affects HOW residence is computed, not the threshold: residence counts where held with a residence/settlement permit OR an EDA legitimation card or comparable permit, and provisional admission counts at half (BueG Art 33(1)); short return-intended departures do not interrupt, and up to one year abroad on an employer assignment or for education is a non-interruptive short departure (BueG Art 33(2); BueV Art 16). The integration criteria (language oral-B1/written-A2, economic participation with the three-year social-assistance bar, public-order/VOSTRA) apply as for CH-NAT-01 (BueG Art 12; BueV Art 6/7/4,,), with the BueV Art 6 safe harbours (mother tongue / five years' schooling / Secondary-II-tertiary qualification / recognised certificate) available to diaspora-linked applicants. Because the applicant is not communally domiciled, the procedure runs federal plus cantonal-of-origin rather than tri-level. This is legal research, not legal advice; discretionary integration assessment may affect outcomes.

The integration requirements are the BueG Art 12 / BueV criteria, applied with the abroad-track in mind. LANGUAGE (BueV Art 6): oral competence in a national language at least at CEFR B1 and written at least at A2; the four safe harbours (mother tongue; five years' compulsory schooling in a national language; Secondary-II/tertiary education in a national language; a recognised certificate) are particularly relevant to diaspora applicants who maintained a national language abroad. ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION (BueV Art 7): living costs and maintenance obligations covered by income/assets/enforceable third-party benefits; the three-year social-assistance bar applies, curable by full repayment. PUBLIC SECURITY AND ORDER (BueV Art 4): qualifying VOSTRA and equivalent foreign criminal-record entries defeat integration; pending proceedings suspend the procedure. FAMILIARITY (BueV Art 2): basic knowledge of Swiss conditions and social contact. The residence-counting head (BueG Art 33; BueV Art 16) is itself a substantive requirement on this track because the ten-year total must be demonstrable despite abroad periods. Cantonal add-on criteria may apply per the canton-of-origin's law within the 2-5y federal band (BueG Art 12(3), Art 18;). Reasonable accommodation under BueG Art 12(2) applies. This is legal research, not legal advice.

The substantive base is identical to CH-NAT-01: BueG Art 9 (formal conditions), Art 11-12 (material/integration), Art 13-14 (federal-cantonal procedure), Art 15-16 (cantonal procedure and reasoned-decision duty) and Art 18 (cantonal residence 2-5 years), with BV Art 38(1)-(2) as the constitutional anchor and BV Art 37 as the tri-level substrate. The distinguishing provisions are: (a) BueG Art 33 residence-counting, including the EDA legitimation-card residence head (Art 33(1)(c)) and the six-month departure rule (Art 33(2)-(3)), and BueV Art 16's up-to-one-year abroad-assignment clarification; and (b) the Swiss-abroad framework (ASG SR 195.1; BV Art 40) through which abroad applicants are administered. The C-permit prerequisite is governed by AIG Art 34 as for CH-NAT-01, including the accelerated-five-year grant (Art 34(4) language/integration), the education-period counting rule (Art 34(5)) and the re-grant-after-Art-63(2)-revocation rule (Art 34(6)), and the FZA/EFTA subordination for EU/EFTA nationals (Art 2(2)-(3)). Cantonal sovereignty (BV Art 3) means the canton-of-origin applies its cantonal Buergerrechtsgesetz within the 2-5y federal band. Note that the ASG framework is the administrative interface, NOT itself a nationality-acquisition act — registration in the Auslandschweizerregister gates rights and services but does not confer citizenship (ASG Art 11). All dates are stated as of the BueG/ASG 2018-01-01 framework.

ABROAD PERIOD EXCEEDING SIX MONTHS: an ordinary (non-exception) absence of more than six months, or deregistration, is deemed an abandonment of residence and breaks the ten-year count (BueG Art 33(2)-(3)) — the up-to-one-year assignment/education exception (BueV Art 16) is the only defined relief. EDA LEGITIMATION-CARD RESIDENCE: residence held under an EDA legitimation card or comparable permit counts toward the ten years on a par with a residence/settlement permit (BueG Art 33(1)(c)), relevant to international-organisation and diplomatic-context residents. PROVISIONAL ADMISSION: such residence counts only at half (Art 33(1)(b)). NOT THE ABROAD-SPOUSE FACILITATION: an applicant married to a Swiss citizen and living abroad should consider the facilitated Art 21(2) track (six-year union + close ties; CH-MAR-01) rather than this ordinary ten-year route. MULTIPLE HEIMATORTE: where the applicant has cantonal-of-origin links in more than one canton, the competent cantonal authority is the canton where the application is filed/competent; the tri-level cascade (BueG Art 2) means cantonal/communal citizenship follows the Swiss acquisition. REGISTRATION GAP: failure to register in the Auslandschweizerregister does not strip nationality but blocks the rights/services interface (ASG Art 11). LANGUAGE TEST ABROAD: the BueV Art 6 floor still applies; diaspora applicants typically rely on a mother-tongue or national-language-schooling safe harbour or a recognised certificate. This is legal research, not legal advice.