Swiss citizenship is meant to be passed down by descent, whether you are born in Switzerland or abroad. However, for thousands of descendants of Swiss emigrants, this right has slipped away. Now, a petition is pushing for change. Dylan Kunz, 23, is the son of Swiss emigrants. His great-grandparents, hailing from cantons Solothurn and Thurgau, emigrated to Argentina in the 19th century. His grandparents were Swiss citizens, as are four of his five uncles. Yet, neither Dylan nor his father Ruben has a Swiss passport. Ruben unknowingly lost his Swiss citizenship as he missed all the crucial deadlines to retain it. The family only discovered this in 2021, when Ruben, who was 63 at the time, emailed the Swiss embassy in Buenos Aires about his status. The embassy’s response was a shock: he was no longer Swiss. “It was a huge disappointment for the whole family, especially for my dad who spent his entire life believing he was Swiss,” says Dylan, who admits he was slightly embarrassed when ...
