Cidadãos suíços no exterior transmissão de ascendência + retenção de 25 anos (BüG Art 7; ASG confirmação de registro)

CH-OPSC-03 documents the diaspora-specific operation of jus-sanguinis descent transmission combined with the born-abroad age-25 forfeiture (Verwirkung), as it interacts with the Auslandschweizerregister. Children born abroad to a Swiss parent acquire Swiss citizenship at birth by descent (BueG Art 1) and the parent's Heimatort cascades by operation of law (BueG Art 2). HOWEVER, a child born abroad who ALSO holds another nationality FORFEITS Swiss citizenship on completing the 25th year of age (BueG Art 7(1)) UNLESS, by then, they have been reported to or have reported themselves to a Swiss authority at home or abroad, or have declared in writing the wish to retain Swiss citizenship. C6 CORRECTION: the forfeiture age is 25 (BueG 2014 Art 7), NOT 22 — the figure 22 belonged to the repealed 1952 Art 10 and is HISTORICAL not current. Forfeiture cascades to the person's own children (Art 7(2)) and to cantonal/communal citizenship (Art 8). A DISTINCT mechanism is the ASG register-confirmation: a person registered as a minor must confirm the E-VERA entry within 90 days of being invited at majority, failing which the REGISTER ENTRY (not nationality) is deleted (ASG Art 12(3)/14). The two clocks are independent. This route overlaps heavily with CH-DSC-03 (near-identical descent substance — see Overlap Map). Diaspora context: 838,600 as of 2025-12-31 (C9). Signature route.

Acquisition (who is Swiss at birth abroad): a child born abroad is Swiss from birth if, at the time of birth, at least one parent is a Swiss citizen who transmits citizenship under BueG Art 1 (married parents where father or mother is Swiss, Art 1(1)(a); or child of an unmarried Swiss mother, Art 1(1)(b)), and the transmitting parent had not previously lost Swiss citizenship before the birth. The child also acquires the transmitting parent's cantonal/communal Heimatort (BueG Art 2). Retention condition (who keeps it past 25): if that abroad-born child ALSO holds another nationality, Swiss citizenship is RETAINED beyond age 25 only if, before completing age 25, the child (or someone on their behalf) has been reported to / reported themselves to a Swiss authority at home or abroad, OR has declared in writing the wish to retain it (BueG Art 7(1)). What counts as a sufficient 'report': ANY communication by parents, relatives or acquaintances aimed at entry in the home-commune registers, immatriculation, or issuance of identity documents (BueG Art 7(3)) — and a person prevented against their will from reporting in time may still validly report within one year after the impediment ceases (Art 7(4)). A born-abroad child who holds ONLY Swiss nationality (no other) does NOT face Art 7 forfeiture (the rule applies only to those with another nationality). Eligibility is federal/extraterritorial; no cantonal residence applies (/036/037).

To ACQUIRE at birth: at least one Swiss-citizen parent transmitting under BueG Art 1 at the time of the abroad birth; the parent must not have already lost Swiss citizenship before the birth. To be EXPOSED to forfeiture: the abroad-born person must ALSO hold another nationality — a person with only Swiss nationality is not subject to Art 7. To RETAIN past age 25: a qualifying report or written retention declaration before completing age 25 — entry in home-commune registers, immatriculation, issuance of Swiss identity documents, or written declaration to a Swiss authority (BueG Art 7(1)+(3); /037). Documentary proof of the retention act is what later evidences continued citizenship. SEPARATELY, to keep the E-VERA register entry: a person registered as a minor must confirm within 90 days of invitation at majority (ASG Art 14(1)(c)). There is NO residence, language, integration or means requirement — this is descent + a reporting act, not naturalisation. Note (C6 discipline): the relevant age is 25 under current law; the 22 figure is the repealed 1952 Art 10 standard and applies only to pre-2018 determining events under non-retroactivity (BueG Art 50; /058).

Step 1 — Establish/record the abroad birth: the Swiss-citizen parent has the child's birth abroad recorded through the competent Swiss representation, which cooperates with the Federal Office of Justice on civil-status matters and enters changes in the register (ASG Art 53(2)); this records the child as Swiss by descent (BueG Art 1) with the parent's Heimatort (Art 2). Step 2 — Register in E-VERA: the family/child is entered in the Auslandschweizerregister (ASG Art 11-12; CH-OPSC-01). Step 3 — Perform a retention act BEFORE age 25 (the BueG Art 7 clock): any qualifying 'report' suffices — entry in the home-commune registers, immatriculation, issuance of Swiss identity documents, or a written retention declaration to a Swiss authority at home or abroad (BueG Art 7(1)+(3); /037). If the person was prevented against their will from reporting in time, they may still validly report within one year after the impediment ceases (Art 7(4)). Step 4 — Confirm the minor register entry at majority (the SEPARATE ASG clock): a person registered as a minor, on reaching majority, is invited to confirm the registration and must do so within 90 days or the REGISTER ENTRY is deleted (ASG Art 12(3)/14(1)(c)) — this is administrative and does NOT itself cause Art 7 forfeiture. Step 5 — If citizenship was forfeited at 25: route to restoration under BueG Art 26-29 (CH-RST-03), with the close-ties test for abroad applicants and a 10-year window (Art 27). The representation assists the SEM on Art 7 and Art 26-27 under ASG Art 54(2).

Acquisition: BueG SR 141.0 Art 1 (jus-sanguinis transmission at birth) + Art 2 (Heimatort cascade). Forfeiture: BueG Art 7(1) (born-abroad dual-national forfeiture on completing age 25 unless reported/declared), Art 7(2) (derivative forfeiture of the forfeiting person's own children), Art 7(3)-(4) (what counts as a report + one-year extension after an impediment). Loss cascade: BueG Art 8 (loss by law also strips cantonal/communal citizenship). Temporal anchor: BueG Art 50 non-retroactivity (the law at the determining event governs; the repealed 1952 Art 10 age-22 figure applies only to its own era — /058, C6). Register interface (DISTINCT mechanism): ASG SR 195.1 Art 12(3) (minor invited to confirm at majority) + Art 14(1)(c) (90-day non-confirmation deletes the REGISTER ENTRY only), and ASG Art 54(2) (representations assist SEM on BueG Art 7 and Art 26-27 restoration). Service-duty context: BV Art 40(2) (Auslandschweizer duties incl. service) + BV Art 59 (military/substitute service / compensatory levy) + ASG Art 56 (military reporting for the Swiss abroad and dual nationals). Constitutional diaspora anchor: BV Art 40. Dual citizenship freely permitted since 1992-01-01 (BG 1990-03-23) — which is WHY the Art 7 'another nationality' trigger is common in the diaspora.

(1) Generational attrition: the Art 7 forfeiture (with derivative forfeiture of the forfeiting person's own children under Art 7(2)) is the principal structural cause of diaspora citizenship loss across generations — a third- or fourth-generation abroad-born dual national who lets the age-25 deadline pass without a retention act loses Swiss citizenship, and their post-loss children acquire none by descent (chain severance). (2) Single-nationality exception: Art 7 applies ONLY where the abroad-born person ALSO holds another nationality; a born-abroad person holding ONLY Swiss nationality does not forfeit at 25 — a salient point for diaspora families in jurisdictions that strip their own nationality on voluntary acquisition of a foreign one. (3) C6 discipline: the age is 25 under BueG 2014 Art 7; the 22 figure is the repealed 1952 Art 10 standard, applicable only to pre-2018 determining events via non-retroactivity (BueG Art 50; /058) — never assert 22 as the current rule. (4) Register-vs-forfeiture distinction: the ASG 90-day minor-confirmation (Art 14(1)(c)) affects the REGISTER ENTRY only; it is NOT the BueG Art 7 forfeiture and must not be conflated. (5) Service duty: born-abroad Swiss men owe military/substitute service or the compensatory levy (BV Art 59 + Art 40(2); ASG Art 56). (6) Overlap with CH-DSC-03: near-identical descent substance — see Overlap Map.