Swiss Court Revokes Moroccan Man’s Citizenship Despite 25-Month Reconciliation
A Moroccan man naturalized in 2018 lost his citizenship despite living again with his Swiss wife for more than two years. The Federal Supreme Court ruled that their reconciliation did not change the fact that the marriage had been in difficulty before his naturalization.
Twenty-five months of living together again made no difference. On August 7, 2026, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a Moroccan man born in 1983, whose naturalization had been annulled three years earlier. The judges said the problem dated back to well before the reconciliation.
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The man arrived in Switzerland in September 2011 and married a Swiss woman on October 7 of that year. Their daughter was born in May 2012. In August 2018, the couple signed a declaration certifying that they were living in a stable marital relationship and intended to continue their marriage. The Moroccan man obtained Swiss citizenship effective October 1.
But on January 29, 2020, his wife left the family home with the children. She told the authorities she had experienced domestic violence for several years. The State Secretariat for Migration then opened a review of his naturalization.
A 25-month reconciliation fails to convince the judges
The couple reunited on May 5, 2021, and lived under the same roof again until June 13, 2023. This second separation came before the October 18, 2023 decision to revoke his naturalization. The Moroccan man challenged the decision, but the Federal Administrative Court upheld the revocation on March 24, 2026. He then appealed to the country’s highest court.
In their ruling of August 7, 2026, the judges pointed to the 17 months between the declaration of stability and the wife’s first departure. They also cited tensions predating 2018, including violent behavior reported by the wife and corroborated in the case file by child-protection services and family testimony.
The judges said the reconciliation did not alter their finding: the marriage was already facing serious difficulties in 2018. The appeal was rejected, as was his request for legal aid. The Moroccan man must pay 1,000 Swiss francs in court costs.
