In Switzerland, basic welfare payments are only paid once an individual has spent almost all of their wealth supporting themselves. These requirements apply to everyone but are typically irrelevant for most refugees, who arrive in Switzerland with next to nothing. However, many arriving from Ukraine, a lower-middle income country, have wealth exceeding the limit, most […]
Switzerland expects high asylum numbers in 2023
This week, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said that it expects 27,000 asylum seekers to arrive in Switzerland this year, reported RTS. The figure excludes Ukrainian refugees who enter Switzerland via a different process. They are granted protection status S in a fast-track procedure that does not involve going through the asylum procedure. Last […]
Call to raise minimum language requirement for citizenship in Swiss canton
What level of language mastery should be required to become Swiss? Members of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) in the canton of Zug have decided the current language requirements for naturalisation in the canton are too low, so the party has put forward a motion to raise them, reported Blick. Who gets to become Swiss […]
Swiss ambassador angers Iranians with chador
Switzerland’s ambassador to Iran angered Iranians around the world by wearing a chador, a traditional full-body-length garment that is pulled over the head, while visiting Qom, a holy city in Iran, reported RTS. People from around the world, including Switzerland, reacted with outrage at the images. For many months, a large number of Iranians have […]
Strong job market boosts Swiss immigration in 2022
This week, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration published data showing a 32% rise in the net number of foreigners arriving in Switzerland in 2022 compared to 2021. The key driver of migration was employment. In 2022, 81,345 foreigners made Switzerland home, up from 61,526 in 2021. The number of non-Swiss citizens residing in Switzerland at […]
Dual nationality continues to rise in Switzerland
On 26 January 2023, data on dual nationality in Switzerland were published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Between 2010 and 2021 the number of Swiss citizens over 15 years old with another nationality rose from 13.8% to 19.5%, a rise of 5.7 percentage points. The number of Swiss citizens with another nationality has risen […]
Switzerland’s population to surpass 9 million in 2023
At the end of September 2022, Switzerland had a population of 8,935,000. Given recent levels of population growth, its population is set to surpass 9 million, claimed the newspaper SonntagsZeitung, reported RTS. Switzerland’s rapid population growth is driven by immigration. On 1 June 2002, the free movement of people between Switzerland and the EU came […]
More than a third of asylum seekers arriving in Switzerland from Afghanistan
As the Taliban tightens its grip on life in Afghanistan more Afghans feel the need to leave. Of the 3.568 asylum applications made in Switzerland in November 2022, 1,266 (35%) were made by Afghans, according to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). Nearly all of those arriving from Afghanistan are young males. Women, who have […]
40 percent of people in Switzerland have a migrant background
Recently published data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) show that 39% of Switzerland’s population in 2021 had a migrant background. 31% were born abroad with a different nationality and a further 8% were the children of this group. Between 2012 and 2021, this group of first and second generation foreigners in Switzerland grew by […]
Swiss asylum centres approaching overflow
Currently, around 800 asylum seekers are arriving in Switzerland weekly, a number that has pushed the nation’s federal capacity to accommodate arrivals to the point of saturation, reported RTS this week. To continue to cope with the influx Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) regularly adds capacity, however, this has not been enough it said. […]
