Criminal record and Swiss naturalisation

In ordinary naturalisation, facilitated naturalisation or reinstatement proceedings, applicants must demonstrate respect for public security and order (art. 12 para. 1 let. a SCA; art. 20 para. 1 SCA; art. 26 para. 1 let. c SCA).

Integration is not considered successful in particular when an entry in the VOSTRA electronic criminal record, accessible to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), concerns the following penalties:

• An unsuspended sentence or a partially suspended custodial sentence for a misdemeanour or felony.
• An institutional measure for an adult or placement in a closed institution for a minor.
• A ban on an activity, a contact ban, an exclusion order or expulsion.
• A suspended or partially suspended monetary penalty of more than 90 daily penalty units; a suspended custodial sentence exceeding three months; suspended or partially suspended deprivation of liberty exceeding three months; or suspended or partially suspended community service exceeding 360 hours, imposed as the principal sanction.
• The same types of penalties, limited to no more than 90 daily penalty units, three months or 360 hours, where the person has not successfully completed the probation period.

For other VOSTRA entries accessible to the SEM, it assesses successful integration in light of the seriousness of the penalty. Successful integration must not be accepted while a penalty remains uncompleted or an ongoing probation period has not ended. These rules apply by analogy to entries in foreign criminal records.

If criminal proceedings are pending against the applicant, the SEM suspends naturalisation proceedings until the criminal case is finally concluded (art. 4 para. 5 Swiss Citizenship Ordinance).

Photo: Quicksilver56, “Curia Confoederationis Helveticae”, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 licence. Source and licence.