Place of origin

In Switzerland, the place of origin (German: Heimatort or Bürgerort, literally "home place" or "citizen place"; French: Lieu d'origine; Italian: Luogo d'origine) denotes where the Swiss citizen has his municipal citizenship. It is not to be confused with the place of birth or the place of residence, although two or all three of these locations can be identical depending on the person.

Swiss citizenship has three tiers:

The last two kinds of citizenship are a mere formality while the municipal citizenship is the most significant step in becoming a Swiss citizen.

However, any Swiss citizen can apply for a second, a third or even more municipal citizenships for prestige reasons or to show his or her connection to the place he currently lives in - and thus have several places of origins. As the legal significance of the place of origin has waned (see below), Swiss citizens can often apply for a municipal citizenship for a mere 100 Swiss francs or so after having lived in the same town for just one year or two. Especially in the past, though, it has been normal to demand 2000 or 4000 Swiss francs as a citizenship fee because of the financial obligations involved for the municipality.

A child born to Swiss parents is automatically granted the citizenship of the parent with the same last name, so the child either gets the mother's or the father's place of origin. A child born to mixed parents (Swiss father, foreign mother or vice versa) acquires the citizenship and thus the place of origin of the parent that is Swiss citizen.

The Swiss identity card, the passport or the driving licence do not show the birthplace of the holder but the place of origin, while it is usual for non-Swiss identity papers or passports to show the birthplace. In some cases, the place of origin is identical with the birthplace, but not so in the large majority. This can be even more confusing by the fact that people can have more than one place of origin.

A citizen of a municipality does not enjoy a larger set of rights than a non-citizen of the same municipality. To vote in communal, cantonal or national matters, only the current place of residence matters - or in the case of citizens abroad, the last Swiss place of residence.

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Wikipedia