For some Swiss citizens living abroad, dual citizenship is a sign of their attachment to their new home; for others, it makes daily life easier. But not everyone…
For some Swiss citizens living abroad, dual citizenship is a sign of their attachment to their new home; for others, it makes daily life easier. But not everyone is free to choose whether to take up the citizenship of their country of residence. Three-quarters of Swiss citizens living abroad hold dual citizenship, with at least one other nationality in addition to their Swiss citizenship. By comparison, only around one in five Swiss citizens living in Switzerland has more than one nationality.
One of these Swiss Abroad is Swissinfo reader Paul Widmer, who emigrated to Germany 15 years ago. In time, he started a family, built a house and found a permanent job. He realised that he wanted not only to live in Germany but also to become a German citizen. For him, citizenship was an expression of “respect and affection for Germany”, he writes. However, around that time, debate flared up again in Germany over the possible abolition of dual citizenship. Paul suspended his application.
This is a source-linked briefing. Read the original report from Swi Swissinfo .