Fight for citizenship Australian woman wins Swiss passport in court
A dispute over deadlines and a map leads all the way to the administrative court. An Australian woman has been fighting for Swiss citizenship for decades - and rightly so.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- An Australian woman only discovered her Swiss origins after 20 years and has been fighting for her Swiss passport ever since.
- Swiss authorities initially refused to grant her a passport because she had allegedly not registered in time by the age of 22.
- After a long back and forth, the administrative court ruled in her favor and confirmed her citizenship with a "broad-minded" interpretation.
An incredible life story with a happy ending - this is how you could summarize the case of a woman who had to fight for her Swiss citizenship for decades.
It all begins in the fall of 1970 in a suburb of Sydney, Australia. A girl is born: Her parents - a woman from Zurich and a man from the canton of Jura - are not married. Shortly after the birth, they give the child up for adoption. Why remains a mystery.
From 1971, the girl grew up with an Australian couple, unaware of her true origins. It was not until 20 years later that she learned the truth: she had been adopted. That same year, she began to search for her biological parents and contacted the Swiss National Tourist Office in Australia. But it was not until years later that she found her mother and, in 1996, finally her father.
A Swiss passport - and a legal dispute
After another quarter of a century, in 2022, the now 52-year-old woman decided to officially become Swiss. But the responsible municipal office in the canton of Zurich put a spanner in the works: she had forfeited her citizenship over 30 years ago. The reason? A missing application up to the age of 22.
The woman is not prepared to accept this. She lodged an appeal with the Cantonal Directorate of Justice and Home Affairs - but without success. Finally, she takes the case to the Administrative Court. There she is finally vindicated - with the help of a surprising piece of evidence: a map of Switzerland.
Dispute between woman and authorities
According to the Federal Act on Swiss Citizenship (BüG), a child born out of wedlock is automatically considered a Swiss citizen if one of the parents is Swiss - adoption does not change this. However, children born abroad lose their citizenship if they do not register with a Swiss authority by the age of 22.
This is precisely where the dispute began: The municipal office and the Department of Justice argued that the woman had only contacted the Swiss Consulate General in Sydney in 2017 - far too late.
The woman, on the other hand, claimed that her contact with the Swiss National Tourist Office in 1991 was the decisive notification. As evidence, she submitted a map she had received from the office at the time, with her mother's home town in Switzerland marked on it.
The interpretation should be "far-reaching"
The Administrative Court ultimately ruled in her favor. It found that the BüG does not clearly define what exactly is recognized as a notification. Therefore, the interpretation should be "broad" and, in case of doubt, a timely notification should be assumed.
It was also decisive that the woman had contacted the Swiss National Tourist Office and later the consulate immediately after discovering her adoption in 1991. The appeal was upheld: The woman is and remains Swiss.
The case shows how complicated and emotional the question of identity and citizenship can be. For the woman, the long battle for her passport finally ended successfully - and with a clear message: home is more than just a formality.
