On 12 February 2017, the Swiss electorate will be called to the polls to vote in a referendum on a legislation aiming at facilitating access to citizenship for so-called ‘third generation’ foreign youth, that is the grandsons and granddaughters of immigrants. The virtual absence of a ius soli element in Swiss nationality law together with the exceptionally high hurdles to ‘ordinary naturalisation’ in a country where 25 percent of the resident population does not hold citizenship, considerably increase the stakes of the reform. In the run up to the referendum, the nccr on-the-move, a large research centre based at the University of Neuchâtel and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, has launched a Special Edition Blog, providing empirically informed analysis of the context, content and likely consequences of the reform in the event of a ‘yes’ vote.

Learn more about nationality law in Switzerland on our country profile page.

Read the contributions to the blog (in French, English and German).