How much does naturalisation cost?

Federal fees

The fees of the State Secretariat for Migration are set in Article 25 of the Citizenship Ordinance and are the same everywhere:

Procedure	Fee
Ordinary naturalisation, adult	100 francs
Ordinary naturalisation, married couple applying together	150 francs
Ordinary naturalisation, minor	50 francs
Minor children included in a parent’s application	no fee
Facilitated naturalisation as a spouse (Art. 21 SCA)	500 francs
Other facilitated naturalisations and reinstatement, adult	500 francs
Other facilitated naturalisations and reinstatement, minor	250 francs

For facilitated naturalisation the SEM also charges up to 400 francs on behalf of the canton for the assessment report. Fees can be doubled or halved if an application involves considerably more or less work than usual.

Cantonal and municipal fees

The biggest differences arise at cantonal and municipal level. The law only allows fees that at most cover the costs (Art. 35 SCA). According to the Federal Council report of November 2025, cantons such as Zurich, Lucerne, Schwyz and Vaud charge relatively low fees of about 300 to 500 francs for naturalising a single person. In Basel-Landschaft and Neuchâtel it is about 1500 francs, in St. Gallen 2000 francs. According to the same report, municipalities charge on average 1200 to 1500 francs, whether urban or rural.

Some specific examples from the cantons, each for an adult single person:

• City of St. Gallen: 2200 francs in total (municipality 1400, canton 700, Confederation 100).
• City of Schaffhausen: a flat 2000 francs for canton and city, plus the Confederation.
• City of Basel: 800 francs from age 25; the canton has charged no fee since 1 July 2026; plus the Confederation.
• Neuchâtel: 1750 francs in total.
• Geneva: canton 1250 francs from age 25, 850 francs under 25, plus the Confederation.
• Thurgau: canton 800 francs, plus municipality and Confederation.
• Jura: 200 francs under 25, 500 to 1000 francs per file from age 25.

The overview of all cantons is in the table below.

Costs for test, course and language certificate

Depending on the canton, further costs come on top:

• Citizenship test: in Aargau 50 francs per attempt, in Obwalden 60, in Glarus 100, in St. Gallen 120, in Bern 260 to 390 francs.
• Courses: in Solothurn the new citizens’ course with exam is compulsory and costs 400 francs, and in Ticino the compulsory course with test costs 500 francs. Optional courses cost, for example, 150 francs in Neuchâtel and 250 francs in the Jura.
• Language certificate: anyone without a school qualification in a national language needs a recognised language certificate such as the fide language passport. Test centres set the price.
• Documents: extracts from the debt enforcement register and criminal record each cost a small fee.

How to plan the costs

Ask your municipality for the current fee schedule; it is often in the naturalisation regulations. Also allow for the language test and documents. Under-25s benefit from lower fees in several cantons, for example in Geneva, the Jura or Basel-Stadt, where under-25s pay no municipal fee.