Ordinance
on Swiss Persons and Institutions Abroad
(Swiss Abroad Ordinance, SAO)

(Art. 25 SAA)

¹ If a per­son with mul­tiple na­tion­al­it­ies ap­ply for so­cial as­sist­ance, the Con­su­lar Dir­ect­or­ate (CD) at the FD­FA first de­cides which na­tion­al­ity takes pre­ced­ence. In do­ing so, it takes ac­count of the fol­low­ing:

a.

the cir­cum­stances un­der which the per­son ac­quired the for­eign na­tion­al­it­ies;

b.

the coun­try in which the per­son spent their child­hood and where they at­ten­ded school;

c.

how long the per­son has already stayed in the rel­ev­ant re­ceiv­ing state; and

d.

the per­sons' link to Switzer­land.

² In cases of ur­gent so­cial as­sist­ance, the Swiss na­tion­al­ity is deemed to take pre­ced­ence.