Switzerland is my Motherland

🇨🇭 I was born in the USA, so like most Americans, I have US citizenship by birthright. There are advantages of birthright citizenship, rather than naturalization. One is that you can have dual citizenships. Most naturalized citizens are encouraged, frequently required, to denounce their previous citizenships during the naturalization process. But birthright citizens have no such process in the USA, and therefore are allowed to hold other citizenships as well.

Swiss citizenship, on the other hand, is inherited. Swiss citizens can give birth to their children in the USA, and their children will still inherit their parents' Swiss citizenship, while also claiming US citizenship by birthright. It's a great strategy to ensure that your children have two of the most coveted citizenships in the world. But this strategy is only available to Swiss citizens - it's not reciprocal. Switzerland does not have birthright citizenship. Giving birth to a child in Switzerland will not get the child the coveted Swiss citizenship. And you can't inherit US citizenship - the USA will not give US citizenships to children born outside of the USA, even if their parents are Americans. It's a one-way street. I took advantage of it, and so will my future children.

Although a US passport will give you the freedom to travel almost anywhere you want, Swiss passports still have advantages over the US passport. One is the freedom to travel for longer than 90 day periods throughout Europe without a visa, thanks to the Schengen Agreement, and of course the right to work anywhere in Europe at any time for any reason. Also with anti-American sentiment on the rise in some parts of the world, sometimes I feel safer pulling out my Swiss passport, rather than the US passport. And Europeans do treat their fellow Europeans differently. Most people have no clue that I am really an American, unless I choose to disclose that information.

xo