Citizenship Test Uri 2026 – The Civics Test at the bwz uri

Uri writes the test into its law without naming a test. Article 5 of the cantonal citizenship act, in force in its current form since 1 January 2018, requires applicants to be successfully integrated and "familiar with Swiss, cantonal and communal living conditions". The ordinance on eligibility requirements says in article 2 what that means: basic knowledge of the geographical, historical, political and social conditions in Switzerland, in the canton of Uri and in the commune, participation in social and cultural life, and contacts with Swiss citizens. And it says how the knowledge is checked: it "is proven with a test". The Justizdirektion may run the test with the communes or hand it to a public or private provider, must make sure you can prepare with aids or courses, and you pay for it.

The canton handed the test to the Berufs- und Weiterbildungszentrum Uri, the bwz uri in Altdorf, which runs it twice a year on the Justizdirektion's behalf. The exemptions are generous by Swiss standards: anyone who attended primary or upper-secondary school in Switzerland for at least five years in total and can prove it is exempt, as is anyone under 16 when the application is filed and anyone whose knowledge of the rights and duties of citizenship is obvious for other reasons. The ur.ch page puts it in one sentence: five years of school in Switzerland or a passed civics test.

The test is the shortest part of the procedure. Before and after it come the language proof, a detailed enquiry report by the cantonal police, the Gemeinderat's own check of your integration, three Swiss reference persons who may be questioned, and in most communes a vote at the communal assembly. What our Uri questions practise is the cantonal part of the test material.

The formal conditions come from federal law and article 4 of the cantonal act: ten years of residence in Switzerland, three of them in the five years before the application, with the years between 8 and 18 counting double and at least six years of actual presence, plus five uninterrupted years in the canton of Uri and five in your commune in the last five years before filing. N and L permits do not count, temporary admission F counts half, and the ten-year period also applies to your spouse. You need a C permit; without it there is no ordinary naturalisation. If you move after filing, canton and commune remain responsible as long as the federal requirements have already been examined.

Uri adds a requirement few cantons write down: contact with Swiss people must be demonstrated. On a separate declaration you name three Swiss reference persons with whom you have had longer contact, whether relatives, friends, acquaintances or neighbours, and the authorities handling your application may ask them for information. The eligibility ordinance also lists what "orderly finances" means: no social assistance or asylum welfare in the five years before the application or during the procedure unless everything has been repaid, no loss certificates and no debt-enforcement entries by public bodies or health insurers in the register, and no taxes due. You prove it with your current salary statement and confirmations from the communal treasury, the debt-enforcement office and the tax office for five years; social assistance caused by COVID-19 and confirmed by the social services does not count against you.

Good conduct is measured against the VOSTRA register: an unconditional or partly suspended sentence, a suspended fine of more than 90 daily rates, a ban on activities, contact or areas or an expulsion means you are not integrated, and foreign entries count by analogy. Concrete indications of terrorism, violent extremism, organised crime or prohibited intelligence activities end the application. The ordinance lets the authorities deviate from the language and work criteria for a disability, a serious or long illness, a pronounced learning, reading or writing difficulty, working poverty or care duties.

The bwz uri lists the test as course number 115 under "Allgemeinbildung". Its goal is the "proof of knowledge in connection with citizenship"; its content is questions from the areas Uri/Switzerland, democracy, federalism and justice, social security, everyday law, education and work, and everyday life and customs. It presupposes German at B1 and knowledge of geography, history, democracy, federalism, social security, health, work and education in Switzerland as well as of the rights and duties of Swiss citizens. The test takes one evening of two lessons, a Tuesday from 19:30 to 21:00, in groups of 2 to 20 people at Attinghauserstrasse 12 in Altdorf, and costs CHF 180. It is held in standard German; people with attested illiteracy take it orally and enclose the confirmation with their registration. The autumn 2026 date, 10 November with a registration deadline of 20 October, was already fully booked on 6 September, so plan half a year ahead. The bwz uri publishes neither the number of questions nor the pass mark; the leaflet recommends the course "Politik und Gesellschaft", offered twice a year as well.

The language proof runs in parallel. Article 6 of the ordinance requires German at B1 spoken and A2 written. The proof counts as given if German is your mother tongue, if you attended at least five years of compulsory school in German, if you completed upper-secondary or tertiary education in German, or if you hold a certificate based on a language test meeting recognised quality standards. The Justizdirektion points to the list of recognised language certificates on fide-service.ch and to the fide language passport, which more than 100 accredited institutions across Switzerland administer; you pay for the certificate. Note that the two exemptions differ: five years of school in Switzerland in any language waives the civics test, but only five years of school in German waive the language proof.

The cantonal act refers to the general fee ordinance and fee regulation, which contain no tariff of their own for naturalisation; the leaflet of the Justizdirektion therefore gives the ranges, as of 7 February 2019: CHF 500 to 1,500 for the canton, CHF 50 to 200 for the Confederation, and communes that in practice follow the cantonal rates. The commune of Altdorf spells out the practice on its page: the canton charges CHF 1,000 for adults from age 20 and for married couples with or without children and CHF 500 for minors and adults up to age 19, and Altdorf charges exactly the same. Schattdorf's assembly set the communal fee at CHF 1,000 per application in November 2023. Both fees may be doubled or halved if the work involved deviates considerably from the average.

The Confederation charges CHF 100 for an adult, CHF 150 for spouses filing jointly and CHF 50 for a minor filing alone. On top of that you pay the civics test, CHF 180 at the bwz uri, and the language certificate at the provider's price if you are not exempt. Uri does not collect an advance: the cantonal invoice comes with the naturalisation decision of the Regierungsrat, and the naturalisation only takes legal effect once you have paid it. For a single adult who needs both test and certificate, the whole route therefore comes to about CHF 2,300 plus the language test. All figures as of 6 September 2026.

The test asks about Uri and Switzerland in one block and about democracy and federalism in another, and the ordinance wants basic knowledge of the canton and the commune, not only of the country. Our 50 Uri questions cover the cantonal part with what the constitution, the cantonal statistics and the canton's own history pages give. Politics: under article 87 of the constitution the Landrat, the cantonal parliament, has 64 members; under article 94 the Regierungsrat consists of the Landammann, the Landesstatthalter and five further members, and under article 21 the people elect not only the Regierungsrat and the members of the Council of States but also the Landammann and the Landesstatthalter directly, for a two-year term under article 83. Altdorf is the capital and seat of the Landrat, the Regierungsrat and the highest courts under article 63. The canton's history page records 1928 as the year of the last Landsgemeinde.

Geography and figures: 19 communes from Altdorf, Schattdorf and Bürglen in the lower Reuss valley to Andermatt, Hospental and Realp in the Urseren valley, 1,077 square kilometres, 37,047 inhabitants at the end of 2021 according to "Uri in Zahlen" and 37,313 at the end of 2022 according to the canton's press release, the Dammastock at 3,630 metres as the highest point, the Gotthard as the pass and the Reuss as the river that shapes the valley, and Lake Uri with the Rütli and the Tellskapelle. History: Uri as one of the three founding cantons of 1291, and the Federal Charter that the test material calls the Bundesbrief.

For the blocks on democracy, federalism, social security and everyday law take the lessons on Swiss politics, history and geography, and read the leaflet: the test asks for exactly the rights and duties it lists. Practise in standard German, because the test is held in it.

Unlike in most cantons, you do not file with the commune but with the canton: the Justizdirektion Uri, Abteilung Justiz und Handelsregister, Bahnhofstrasse 1, 6460 Altdorf, which asks you to make an appointment first on 041 875 22 53 or abz.jd@ur.ch and hands out the form. The department checks completeness and the eligibility requirements and, if the result is positive, obtains a detailed enquiry report from the cantonal police, while the Uri civil registry office checks your data in the Infostar register. Application and report then go to the Gemeinderat of your commune.

The Gemeinderat examines the integration criteria itself; in Schattdorf a delegation visits applicants at home and talks to them. Then it makes a proposal to the communal assembly, which under article 9 of the act is competent in every commune that has not delegated the decision to the Gemeinderat or to a citizenship commission of one Gemeinderat member and at least four elected members. Before the assembly the Gemeinderat discloses your nationality, your length of residence and the facts relevant to your integration. Article 10 protects you from mood votes: the proposal counts as accepted unless a counter-motion is made that is reasoned, refers to legal requirements the commune is competent to judge and concerns a specific person. A refusal can be appealed to the Regierungsrat within 20 days, and decisions of a citizenship commission go directly to the Regierungsrat.

With the communal decision in hand, the Justizdirektion applies to the SEM for the federal naturalisation authorisation, and once it has arrived the Regierungsrat grants cantonal citizenship under article 11. You receive the decision with the fee invoice, the naturalisation takes effect when you pay, the civil registry office enters it in Infostar, and you can apply for your passport at the passport office of the Standeskanzlei. The leaflet gives no binding duration, because Confederation, canton and communes are organised very differently, and it ends with a ceremony: the head of the Justizdirektion hands over the naturalisation certificate in the Landratssaal in Altdorf.