He wanted the Swiss passport – but has no idea about the country: Ivorian (49) embarrasses himself at the naturalization test

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William Tell? Never heard. The sitting federal council members? Zero idea. The man (49), an Ivory Coast citizen, obviously has no idea about Switzerland. Nevertheless, he wanted the Swiss passport and went to the Federal Administrative Court in St. Gallen.

The French-language Swiss newspaper “24 heures” reported on the case on Monday. It is based on a judgment recently published. The court rejected the man’s appeal.

Switzerland is a member of the EU

The Ivorian lives with his family in France. He wanted to be naturalized in 2021, relieved because his wife also has a Swiss passport in addition to her French one. After submitting his application, he had to take the naturalization test at the consulate in Lyon. It soon became clear that the man only knows Switzerland by name.

In the multiple-choice test he checked whether Switzerland’s national day fell on January 1. He could not name a single federal councilor. When asked which person with a crossbow on his shoulder was part of the founding myth of Switzerland, he had to pass.

He scored 16 points out of 50 possible points in the test. In the subsequent conversation he also said that Switzerland is a member of the EU, albeit “not rightly so.”

“There is a lack of the most fundamental knowledge”

According to the law, the condition for easier naturalization for spouses of Swiss citizens living abroad is that they have been married for at least six years and can demonstrate “close ties to Switzerland.” The latter was clearly not the case in this case. The court concluded that the complainant lacked “the most basic knowledge of the geographical, historical, political and social peculiarities of Switzerland”, even though he lived in neighboring France. The State Secretariat for Migration rightly rejected his naturalization request.

Finally the so-called Swiss said: Nothing had happened except the costs. The court charged him 1,200 francs in legal costs. (lha)

Source:Blick