Canton Glarus tests twice. Before your commune will even consider a naturalisation application, you need the certificate of the passed naturalisation exam, which the Kaufmännische Berufsfachschule Glarus (KBS) administers orally on the canton's behalf; attending a mandatory information evening is the prerequisite, and the certificate is valid for four years. After that, the naturalisation authority of your commune invites you to a personal interview, in Glarus the seven-member Einbürgerungsrat, in Glarus Nord the Einbürgerungskommission, in Glarus Süd the commission followed by a decision of the Gemeinderat. The cantonal ordinance requires that this interview follows the content of the preparation course or a standardised question catalogue.
On top, the citizenship act of 2016 requires five years in the canton, the last three of them uninterrupted in the commune, a settlement permit C, German at B1 in reading, speaking and listening and A2 in writing, five years without debt enforcement by public bodies and three years without social assistance. The communal fee is up to CHF 2,100 per person, the cantonal fee at most CHF 1,000 per application, and Glarus Süd reckons with one and a half to two years. This page summarises what the act, the ordinance, the Zivilstands- und Bürgerrechtsdienst, the KBS and the three communes published on 6 September 2026; every figure is linked to its source.
Facts checked on 6 September 2026.
The basis is article 8 of the cantonal citizenship act, adopted by the Landsgemeinde on 1 May 2016: naturalisation is open to those who are suitable and successfully integrated, in particular those who are "mit den Lebensgewohnheiten im Kanton vertraut und in die Gesellschaft eingegliedert" and who "die mit dem Bürgerrecht verbundenen Rechte und Pflichten kennt"; the authorities may demand "einen Ausweis über die bestandene Prüfung eines Integrations- oder Einbürgerungskurses". The ordinance turns that into a mandatory document: the application papers include the certificate, no more than four years old, of having passed the test of the cantonal preparation course (art. 8 KBüV), and familiarity with local conditions means basic knowledge of social, political, cultural, historical and geographical conditions in the canton and the commune (art. 2). The communes say it plainly: without a passed exam, the commune cannot take up your application.
The exam is administered by the Kaufmännische Berufsfachschule Glarus at Zaunplatz 36 on the canton's behalf. The path starts with the mandatory information evening (CHF 30, in January, March or September, the next on 23 March 2027), which explains the procedure, the responsibilities and the requirements; without it you can book neither course nor exam. Then you choose: the voluntary preparation course (CHF 250 plus 25 for materials; 20 April to 25 May 2027, six Tuesday evenings from 6.30 to 8.30 p.m.) covers school, work and insurance, health, rights and duties, the political system and Canton Glarus and ends with the oral exam on 1 or 2 June 2027. Or you prepare on your own and register for the exam only (CHF 100, twice a year in March and October, next date 21 October 2027, limited places allocated by receipt of payment). The exam covers history, geography, culture, civics, political rights and duties and social insurance of Switzerland, Canton Glarus and your commune. Those who pass receive the certificate valid for four years. The cantonal leaflet recommends "ECHO – Informationen zur Schweiz" by HEKS and "Die Schweiz verstehen" by hep publishers with its free app.
The second stage is the interview in the commune. After the cantonal preliminary examination, the commune's naturalisation authority decides on communal citizenship and may hold a naturalisation interview beforehand (art. 18 KBüG); the ordinance obliges it to inform you in advance about the procedure and subject and to follow "am vermittelten Inhalt des Vorbereitungskurses oder an einem standardisierten Fragekatalog" (art. 2 KBüV). Familiarity and integration are checked on the basis of your German-language CV, the interview, the exam certificate and further enquiries such as references. In Glarus this is done by the Einbürgerungsrat of seven members, for whom the administration prepares the decision papers; in Glarus Nord by the Einbürgerungskommission of the commune president, a councillor and three party representatives, which conducts the interviews and decides on citizenship; in Glarus Süd the Einbürgerungskommission invites you to an interview of about an hour on German, basic political and social knowledge, integration and working life, and the Gemeinderat admits you to citizenship.
Our 35 questions on Canton Glarus cover the cantonal part of both stages: joining the Confederation in 1352 in the same year as Zug, the Battle of Näfels in 1388 and the Näfelser Fahrt, Zwingli as priest in Glarus, the Landsgemeinde on the first Sunday of May on the Zaunplatz with the vote from 16, the election of the Landammann and the judges by the Landsgemeinde, the Landrat with 60 and the Regierungsrat with five members, the three communes Glarus Nord, Glarus and Glarus Süd since 2011, the fire of Glarus in 1861 and the Föhn, the Tödi and the Klöntalersee, the Glarus thrust in the UNESCO World Heritage Tectonic Arena Sardona, Schabziger and the history of textile printing. Add the lessons on Swiss politics, history and geography and rehearse the answers aloud: both exams are oral.
Act, ordinance and the communes' leaflets describe the same path: language proof and KBS exam before the application, filing with the commune, cantonal preliminary examination, interview and decision of the commune, assurance and federal authorisation, cantonal citizenship from the Regierungsrat.
Check the periods: 10 years in Switzerland, 5 years in the canton, the last 3 years uninterrupted in your commune, plus the C permit. If German is not your mother tongue and you have neither 5 years of compulsory school nor an upper-secondary or tertiary qualification in German, you need a recognised certificate for B1 spoken and A2 written; Glarus Nord expressly calls the language proof the first step, so that you understand course and exam. The canton's Fachstelle Integration gives information, and German courses are listed on gl.ch.
Register with the KBS Glarus for the mandatory information evening (CHF 30; January, March or September). Then book the preparation course (CHF 250 plus 25, six Tuesday evenings, exam in June) or directly the exam without course (CHF 100, in March and October). The oral exam covers history, geography, culture, civics, political rights and duties and social insurance of Switzerland, the canton and your commune. The certificate is valid for four years; within that period you obtain the application forms from your commune.
Before filing, your personal data must be recorded in the Swiss civil-status register; for that you contact the Zivilstandsamt of Canton Glarus, Postgasse 29, 8750 Glarus, which hands you the civil-status document. Then you assemble the application in duplicate: the federal application form, CV and self-declaration in German, colour copies of passport and C permit, residence certificates, language proof, exam certificate, declaration on respecting the legal order (from age 10), tax certificate, certificates from the cantonal social services and the employment office, employer's certificate or confirmation of education or training, authorisation for further enquiries and a passport photo (art. 8 KBüV). In Glarus Nord, application and attachments may not be older than two months at filing.
You file the application with your commune, in Glarus by appointment with the Abteilung Generationen und Kultur, in Glarus Nord at the Kanzlei in Niederurnen, in Glarus Süd at the Departement Gesellschaft und Sicherheit in Schwanden. Glarus and Glarus Süd require the communal fee of CHF 2,100 per person before filing and want to see proof of payment; Glarus Nord takes a CHF 500 deposit on receipt and settles its fee of CHF 1,500 to 2,100 according to effort. The commune only forwards the application once all documents are complete.
The Zivilstands- und Bürgerrechtsdienst checks whether the federal and cantonal requirements are met, obtains information from authorities and third parties and demands missing documents under threat of default consequences (art. 17 KBüG). If the preliminary examination is positive, it draws up the enquiry report according to federal requirements and transmits the result to the commune; if an obstacle is unlikely to be removed within a year, a negative decision follows after a hearing (art. 9 KBüV). Throughout the procedure you report changes of personal data, debt enforcement, social assistance, unemployment or criminal proceedings without delay.
Your commune's naturalisation authority informs you about the procedure and subject of the interview and conducts it along the course content or a standardised question catalogue (art. 2 KBüV); it checks familiarity and integration, respect for constitutional values and support for your family's integration, and completes the enquiry report. In Glarus the Einbürgerungsrat decides, in Glarus Nord the Einbürgerungskommission, in Glarus Süd the Gemeinderat after the interview with the commission. The decision with the fee ruling is notified to you; a refusal can be appealed to the Regierungsrat within 30 days (art. 23 KBüG). In Glarus the whole communal fee is forfeited on a negative decision.
If the cantonal citizenship service also finds everything met, it forwards the application with the cantonal assurance to the State Secretariat for Migration, which issues the federal naturalisation authorisation (CHF 100 per person, 150 for married couples, 50 for minors applying on their own). Before that the canton re-checks the criminal record and pending proceedings. After the federal authorisation the Regierungsrat grants cantonal citizenship, subject to new facts; the cantonal fee of at most CHF 1,000 to 1,500 per application must be deposited with the state treasury beforehand. Only with cantonal citizenship do you acquire communal and Swiss citizenship. Glarus Süd reckons with one and a half to two years for the whole procedure.
This is what the practice questions in our lessons look like. The correct answer is marked and the explanation gives the background.
The Landsgemeinde in Glarus is held annually on the first Sunday in May on the Zaunplatz in Glarus town.
Glarus has a unique voting age of 16 for the Landsgemeinde, making it the only Swiss canton where 16 and 17-year-olds can participate.
In 2011, Glarus merged from 25 municipalities into just 3: Glarus Nord, Glarus (center), and Glarus Süd.
The Landsgemeinde elects the Landammann and the Landesstatthalter (president and vice-president of the government) as well as the cantonal judges, and it sets the tax rate. The five members of the Regierungsrat themselves have been elected at the ballot box since 1971.
The full federal course plus Glarus in depth — lessons, canton-specific questions and key procedural facts. PDF + EPUB, CHF 19.90.
Procedure, topics and preparation for Glarus: our full guide goes beyond this overview.