Cyril seeks to change tariffs for Swiss citizenship process

Some candidates applying for Swiss citizenship in the town of Cyril will pay less for the procedure, while for others, costs will be higher.

The naturalization process in Switzerland's largest city cost 1,200 francs for those coming from abroad and 500 francs for Swiss-born foreigners.

This week, the Municipal Council decided, however, to counter the cost: all foreigners, regardless of their birthplace, would pay a fixed fee of 750 francs, broadcast albinfo.ch.

People under the age of 25 would apply for free. Tarifa could also be partially or fully removed for people without financial opportunities to meet this fee.

While various parties opposed the new sum é with left-wing parties seeking to lower it to 500 francs at the bottom, it was decided 750 francs would be right, as it would cover all administrative costs, theocal writes.

During the debate, the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) argued against lowering the cost of acquiring citizenship.

“if it costs nothing, it's no longer worth anything”, its MPs said.

On the other side of the political spectrum, Social Democrat Maya Kägi Götz noted that a lower fee would offer a “drive for naturalisation”.

This view was shared by a Green Adviser, Urs Ricklin, who said that making the process of naturalization more affordable is good for the city and Switzerland in general.

“All should be able to participate in democracy”, he said.

The final decision on this move will be made at one of the council's next meetings.