The Zurich City Council is concerned that as many Zurich residents as possible should be able to participate in the direct democratic process. The more people participate, the more alive democracy is. It is therefore important and desirable for foreigners to naturalise if they meet the requirements.
Around 434,000 people live in the city of Zurich (2019). 32.2 % (139 803 people) of Zurich residents are foreigners. In May 2017, the City of Zurich sent letters to the nearly 40‘000 foreigners in Zurich who met the residency requirement informing them about the possibilities for naturalization. The City launched the information campaign in anticipation of a change in the naturalization law that came into effect on January 1, 2018. The campaign aimed to draw immigrants’ attention to the new naturalization rules and to motivate them to apply for citizenship. Following this campaign, naturalization application rates in the City of Zurich went up significantly, a change directly attributable to the effects of the information letters. The action was implemented in the frame of the city’s integration strategy.
In October 2019 and May 2020, another 11,000 people who had met the residency requirement in the meantime were informed in a second wave. As with the first initial initiative of 2017, the Immigration Policy Lab (IPL) examined the impact in detail. The study shows that active information can reduce naturalisation hurdles and thus increase the number of naturalisation applications (by around 40%). Other effects are that informed candidates have a better knowledge about the process, are encouraged to apply for naturalisation and feel welcomed. Furthermore, the information reduces the complexity of the process. The findings show how naturalization barriers, such as a lack of information and public encouragement, can be efficiently and effectively lowered.
Naturalisation strengthens political participation and promotes economic integration. As studies show, naturalisation has a positive effect on the economic participation of naturalised persons.
This action has been evaluated by the Stanford and Zurich based Immigration Policy Lab (IPL). Some case studies and research support it, namely:
