Swiss Review 2/2018

27 Swiss Review / March 2018 / No.2 Federal referendums Voting proposals are determined by the Federal Council at least four months before the voting date. The following proposals will be put to the vote on 10 June 2018: ■ ■ Popular initiative of 1 December 2015 ‘For crisis-safe money: Money creation by the National Bank only! (Sovereign Money Initiative)’ ■ ■ Federal Act on Gambling of 29 September 2017 (Gambling Act) Other voting dates in 2018: 23 September, 25 November All information on the proposals (voting pamphlets, committees, recommen- dations by Parliament and the Federal Council, electronic voting, etc.) can be found at www.admin.ch/votes. Popular initiatives The following federal popular initiative had been launched at the time of go- ing to press (deadline for the collection of signatures in brackets): ■ ■ ‘For moderate immigration (limitation initiative)’ (16.07.2019) The list of pending popular initiatives can be found inGerman at www.bk.ad- min.ch > Politische Rechte > Volksinititativen > Hängige Volksinitativen. I have lost my Swiss citizenship. Can I apply to be renaturalised? Yes. Anyone who has lost their Swiss citizenship can apply for renaturalisa- tionwithin ten years of losing it. Close association with Switzerland is re- quired and the other conditions must also be met. Beyond this period, any- one who has lived in Switzerland for three years can apply for renaturalisa- tion. My grandmother is/was Swiss. Can I apply for simplified naturalisation? No. In contrast to the previous law, this is no longer possible. However, there is an exception: a foreign-born child of a non-Swiss fathermarried to the child’s mother who possessed Swiss citizenship before or at the time of the birth may apply if the child’s mother lost her Swiss citizenship due to her marriage to the child’s foreign father rather than through forfeiture. How much does simplified naturalisation or renaturalisation cost? A fee of CHF 600 is charged for de- cisions on simplified naturalisation or renaturalisation for adults. A fee of CHF 350 is levied forminorswho are not included in the naturalisa- tion application of one of their par- ents. The fees comprise those charged by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and the cantonal authorities. Services provided by the Swiss representation abroad (advice, receipt, interviewing, eval- uation, processing of foreign mari- tal status documents and forward- ing of the file to the SEM or any further clarification or research) are charged additionally according to the actual time spent (CHF 75 per half hour). The cost of the involvement of third parties for marital status documents is charged as expenses. The fees are levied by the responsi- ble Swiss representation abroad. They are payable in advance and non-refundable. In other words, they cannot be reimbursed, regard- less of the outcome of the proce- dure. The fees must be paid in the local currency of the relevant coun- try. Payment in instalments is not possible. For further information, see the FAQ below: www.sem.admin.ch > Einreise & Aufenthalt > Schweizer Bürgerrecht / Einbürgerung > Rechtliche Grundlagen > Fragen zum neuen Recht Responsible for the FDFA official communications: Simone Flubacher, Relations with the Swiss Abroad Effingerstrasse 27, 3003 Berne, Switzerland Tel. +41 800 24 7 365 or +41 58 465 33 33 www.eda.admin.ch, email: helpline@eda.admin.ch