An integrated foreigner in Switzerland is considered to be a person who respects public order and security, shares the fundamental values enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
According to the portal Swissinfo.ch, the corresponding changes to the legislation had a long history. The small chamber of parliament, the Council of States, approved them back in 2013, but then a referendum took place on February 9, 2014, in which the people gave the green light to the "Legislative Initiative against Mass Immigration" launched by the conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP). Therefore, parliament instructed the government to rework the amendments to the "Law on Foreigners" once again.
However, the central "message" of Switzerland's course in the migration sphere remained the same and is described by the brief German "Fordern und Fördern", which can ultimately be translated as "Carrot and Stick" (literally: "Demand and Support/Help").
So, according to parliament, an integrated foreigner is now considered to be a person who respects public order and security, shares the fundamental values enshrined in the Federal Constitution, someone who studies or works, and also has appropriate language skills.
In particular, those wishing to obtain a Swiss passport must prove oral language proficiency at least at level B1, and written proficiency at least at level A2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Proof of this may include mastery of one of the four national languages as a native language, completion of compulsory schooling in a national language for at least five years, completion of higher education, graduation from secondary school in a national language, as well as obtaining a generally accepted language certificate at the required level.
But these are all general provisions. What does the specifics look like? And here parliament tightened the screws a bit more, in particular, separately stipulating that a person applying for a permanent residence permit of category "C" (Latin letter, such a permit actually grants all the rights of an ordinary citizen except the right to vote) must clearly and verifiably meet the above criteria, and have lived continuously in the country for 10 years.
At the same time, no obligation for the authorities to automatically issue such permits was introduced. This means that a foreigner who has lived in the country for 10 years and never had any trouble with the police only has the right to submit a petition for a "privileged" residence permit of category "C". He does not have the right to demand its issuance. How quickly he will receive it after that depends on each specific case.
The majority of parliamentarians spoke out against any automatism, believing that the authorities should have "room for maneuver". And by the way, without a category "C" residence permit, a foreigner does not have the right to apply for a passport, which can actually be equated to a tightening of the already not very "soft" conditions for naturalization in Switzerland.
A certain innovation is the so-called "Integration Agreements" ("Integrationsvereinbarung"). This means that the degree of integration of a foreigner will be taken into account even when issuing a category "B" residence permit (Latin letter, issued for one year with the possibility of extension). In case of "special problems in the area of integration", the issuance of such a residence permit may be accompanied by the conclusion of such an agreement, in which the foreigner may, for example, be obliged to improve his language skills.
Tightening now also takes place in the area of revocation of category "C" residence permits. Already now, a foreigner can lose it if he grossly violates public order, endangers the security of the country, or if he has been a recipient of social assistance for a long time. Moreover, and this is a new aspect, it does not matter at all how many years the foreigner has already lived in the country and how many years he has held a residence permit of this category. In addition, cantonal authorities can now, and this is another legal novelty, revoke a category "C" residence permit if the foreigner persistently refuses to integrate.
The new "Law on Foreigners and Integration" provides for additional measures for the integration of refugees, temporarily admitted persons, and asylum seekers. In particular, it was decided to integrate them by removing unnecessary barriers in the field of labor and employment. Specifically, the 10% levy that a refugee currently must deduct from his salary (if he is lucky enough to find a job) to the federal budget is abolished.
A package of measures was also adopted aimed at encouraging employers to hire more migrants and refugees. In particular, those who hire a refugee will be exempt from bureaucratic red tape in processing various kinds of approvals and permits.
A particularly controversial issue was the reunification of refugee families. The commission that prepared the new draft law proposed taking radical measures, completely banning refugees from bringing their families to Switzerland. However, parliament rejected such a measure, so the right to family reunification in Switzerland remains for refugees.
As for temporarily admitted persons (i.e., those who have not received refugee status but remain in Switzerland due to the impossibility of returning to their homeland), they will receive the right to family reunification after three years of stay in Switzerland, provided that these persons have the appropriate financial and housing resources. Temporarily admitted persons (and refugees too) will not be able to bring their families to Switzerland and immediately put them on social assistance. In the future, those receiving so-called "supplementary benefits" ("Ergänzungsleistungen", a special legal form of essentially social assistance) will also not be able to carry out family reunification.
Lukas Rieder, press secretary of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), emphasized in response to a request from the Swissinfo portal that a tram fare dodger caught without a ticket will not be considered a person who has endangered public safety. “We are referring here to truly serious problems: for example, whether the person is currently under trial or investigation, whether he has alimony debts or other violations that would cause him to be ‘registered’.”
As for constitutional values, L. Rieder said that they include such provisions as “sexual equality, freedom of religion, equality of all people before the law, the right to personal freedom, freedom of opinion and information, as well as the right to privacy.” A foreigner who truly wants to integrate must strictly comply with all these provisions.