Switzerland’s federal government has decided to increase the amount it gives cantons for each refugee, which includes accepted refugees and asylum seekers. Currently, it provides a one-off payment of CHF 6,000. Soon this will increase to CHF 18,000, according to the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP). At the same time, federal assistance to […]
Deporting foreign criminals – Geneva leads in French-speaking Switzerland
Geneva expelled more than half of all the foreign criminals deported from French-speaking Switzerland in 2017, according to statistics published by the association of police and judicial chiefs for French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland. In October 2016, a new law on deporting foreign criminals came into force, the result of a vote organized by the Swiss […]
Geneva – new initiative to curb cross-border workers
The Mouvement Citoyens Genevois (MCG) wants employers to show that they cannot find a local candidate before employing a foreign national living in a border country, in Geneva’s case mainly France. Supplementing the article in Switzerland’s federal constitution on mass immigration, the initiative dubbed “Frontaliers : stop!” will require employers to show that there are […]
Switzerland’s most unhappy political parties unhappy for the same reason
Overall little changed in a year. 36% of the more than 22,000 surveyed in a poll recently published by Vimentis, said they were either satisfied or fairly satisfied with Swiss politics. On the flip side, 45% were dissatisfied or fairly dissatisfied and 19% were non-comital. The year before, 36% said they were either satisfied or […]
A family applied for Swiss citizenship but not everyone in the family got it
Nyon, a town on the shore of Lake Geneva, was recently thrust into the limelight. A mum, dad and their children applied for Swiss citizenship together, however the mum had her application rejected by the commune, while dad and the children had theirs accepted. Last Wednesday, Nyon’s mayor, Daniel Rossellat said Salvatore Scanio, the father, […]
Swiss-born man faces deportation
A convicted repeat offender who was born and grew up in Switzerland faces deportation. The turkish citizen, born in 1973, started breaking the law in his twenties and received his first official warning at the age of 22 for crimes committed abroad, according to the Aargauer Zeitung. Eventually the man ended up facing charges in […]
Fast-track citizenship starts in February for third generation foreigners
Last week Switzerland’s Federal Council announced that young foreigners whose grandparents immigrated to Switzerland or were born there, could get Swiss citizenship via a simplified procedure, starting on 15 February 2018, provided they meet certain requirements. 60.4% of Swiss voters agreed to this plan in a referendum on 12 February 2017. Swiss to vote on […]
The evolution of Switzerland’s foreign population since 2000
Over the 16 years from 2000, Switzerland’s population grew by 16% from 7.2 million to 8.3 million. The majority of this growth came from the foreign population, which grew by 46% from 1.4 million to 2.0 million. The number of Swiss citizens grew by 521k to 6.3 million, a rise of 9% – buried in […]
Swiss immigration down to level when doors opened to EU
In 2017, net migration of foreigners to Switzerland fell for the fourth year running to 53k, according to the State Migrations Secretariat (SEM). This net figure was 12% lower than in 2016 and similar to the number in 2002 when Switzerland opened its doors to citizens of EU and EFTA nations. In 2017, 148k foreigners moved […]
The number of people on welfare continues to rise in Switzerland
In 2016, around 273,000 people, 3.3% of the population, received welfare in Switzerland. The number (not the rate) was 2.9% higher than the year before and 15.7% higher than 5 years earlier when the rate was 3.0%. Rates of those receiving government aid varied significantly by canton, ranging from 0.8% in Appenzell Innerrhoden to 7.4% […]
