Canton Solothurn has no citizenship test in the usual sense but an obligation that exists nowhere else: anyone who wants to be naturalised attends a Neubürgerkurs of 20 lessons at one of the two adult education centres and passes its written exam before the application can even be filed. Added to that are the interview at the Oberamt, the interview with the naturalisation commission and the assurance by the Bürgergemeinde.
This page sums up what the Citizenship Act, the ordinance amended on 1 January 2026, the Office for Communes and the Bürgergemeinden of Solothurn and Grenchen officially require: ten years in Switzerland, four in the canton and two in the commune, German at B2 spoken and A2 written, no social assistance in the last three years, plus fees, duration and the steps up to the decision of the cantonal government. Every figure links to its source; we checked them on 5 September 2026.
Facts checked on 5 September 2026.
Section 15bis of the Solothurn Citizenship Act requires foreign applicants, as a condition for admission to citizenship, to attend a Neubürgerkurs of at least twelve hours that ends with a learning check. It teaches the fundamental values and rights that apply in Switzerland, the democratic order under the rule of law, and the economic, cultural and political features of Switzerland, the canton and the communes. In practice it is 20 lessons at the adult education centres of Solothurn-Grenchen or Olten for CHF 400; the course is compulsory from age 18, for both spouses, and you can attend it before your ten years in Switzerland are complete. Admission requires the language certificate: the commune signs the registration only against it.
The course and exam regulation of the citizenship commission, valid from 1 January 2026, sets the learning goals: knowing the naturalisation requirements, forming a concrete picture of Switzerland and Canton Solothurn from key facts, knowing the features of Swiss democracy, being able to vote and elect independently, understanding the main points of the social insurance system, forming an opinion on questions of economy and work, and knowing the canton's school system in outline. Only those who attended the whole course are admitted to the final exam; unexcused absences make the course count as failed. The exam consists of two written individual tests, basic knowledge without notes and detailed knowledge with notes, at most 1.5 hours together. Each part is graded on a linear points system, the overall result is the mean of the two grades, and 4.0 passes. Anyone who fails may repeat once at the exam date of a following course, for a fee; if that fails too, the whole course must be repeated. The course certificate goes to you and, in copy, to the Bürgergemeinde.
The Office for Communes can dispense from the course anyone who proves the knowledge in another way: with an apprenticeship contract, a federal certificate of competence with grades, a Matura certificate or a cantonal school report, in other words anyone who had civics lessons in a three- or four-year vocational training or at upper-secondary school. The exam does not replace the interviews, however: the Oberamt invites you to the naturalisation interview and writes the investigation report, and the Bürgergemeinde examines you in an introductory interview at its office and later before the naturalisation commission. Before all that you need the language certificate: since 2026 B2 spoken and A2 written; the Bürgergemeinde Solothurn explains that a fide or telc proof at A2 plus the passed spoken part of a telc B2 exam suffices, even if the B2 certificate itself is not issued.
Our 49 questions on Canton Solothurn cover the cantonal and communal part of the course: the accession of 1481 as the eleventh member, the city of eleven and the French ambassador, the Aare and the Weissenstein, Olten as railway hub and Grenchen as watch town, the cantonal parliament with 100 and the cantonal government with 5 members, the Solothurn Film Days. Four examples are shown below; the federal lessons on federalism, direct democracy, rights and duties, social insurance and history match the learning goals of the regulation.
The procedure starts at the Bürgergemeinde or unified commune of your place of residence and ends with the cantonal government; the canton's file chart counts 15 stations, which we condense into seven steps. Information: Amt für Gemeinden, Zivilstand und Bürgerrecht, Kapuzinerstrasse 9, Postfach 157, 4502 Solothurn, phone 032 627 27 38, buergerrecht@vd.so.ch, Monday to Friday 08:30 to 11:30 and 14:00 to 17:00. With the online service Einbürgerung beantragen you check the basic requirements free of charge (C permit, age 16, residence in the canton); if the result is positive, your interest is forwarded to the commune.
Get in touch with the Bürgergemeinde or unified commune of your place of residence; in Solothurn you book an introductory interview at the Bürgerkanzlei by phone, in Grenchen a non-binding first meeting. There you receive the application documents and the registration for the Neubürgerkurs, but only on showing your C permit and language certificate: since 1 January 2026 German B2 spoken and A2 written with a certificate from the fide list, unless you are exempt.
The commune registers you at the adult education centre of Solothurn-Grenchen or Olten. The course comprises 20 lessons, costs CHF 400 (payable to the vocational training centre before it starts) and ends with the two-part written exam, passed with a grade of 4.0. Anyone who completed an apprenticeship, Matura or cantonal school in Switzerland applies to the Office for Communes for a dispensation instead. Without the course certificate or the dispensation order the application cannot be filed.
Once you have the language certificate and the course certificate, you have your civil status pre-registered at the civil registry office. Only then do you obtain the remaining documents: civil status documents (not older than six months), residence confirmation, criminal record and debt collection register extracts (not older than two months), confirmations of earlier residence in the canton, proof of income and assets, a CV, an employment or education confirmation and a copy of your foreigner's permit. You file the complete application with the commune, which reports its receipt to the Office for Communes within 30 days.
The commune checks the documents and forwards the application to the Oberamt, which invites you and everyone applying with you to a personal interview and writes the investigation report. The file then goes to the Office for Communes for the first preliminary check of completeness and legal requirements and is returned to the commune with the office's recommendation.
The naturalisation commission of the Bürgergemeinde interviews you, then the body designated in the regulation, the communal assembly or the communal council, decides on the assurance of communal citizenship; in the city of Solothurn the Bürgerrat and the citizens' assembly approve. Voters learn the nationality, the length of settlement and the details needed for the assessment; a refusal must be objectively reasoned. With the assurance the commune invoices its fee, and once the decision is final and paid the file goes to the canton.
In a second preliminary check the Office for Communes verifies that the requirements are still met and submits a report and motion to the citizenship commission, which provisionally assures cantonal citizenship. The office then applies to the State Secretariat for Migration for the federal naturalisation authorisation. Once it arrives, the office invoices the cantonal fee and checks your criminal record and participation in economic life again.
On the commission's motion the cantonal government grants cantonal citizenship; only then do you also acquire communal citizenship. The decision goes to you and the commune, the office orders the entry in the Swiss civil register, and the Bürgergemeinde hands you the naturalisation certificate, in Grenchen at the citizens' assembly. The municipality admits you as a voter with a voluntary pledge and presents the federal and cantonal constitutions.
This is what the practice questions in our lessons look like. The correct answer is marked and the explanation gives the background.
Solothurn joined the Swiss Confederation in 1481, together with Fribourg. In Switzerland's official order of cantons Solothurn is number eleven—a number woven into the city's identity.
The Aare flows through Solothurn from west to east along the southern foot of the Jura, passing the cantonal capital and Olten on its way to the Rhine.
Solothurn's executive council (Regierungsrat) has 5 members. Swiss cantonal governments have either five or seven members; Solothurn is one of the fourteen cantons with five, elected by majority vote for four years.
Solothurn's cantonal parliament (Kantonsrat) has 100 members, elected by proportional representation every 4 years.
The full federal course plus Solothurn in depth — lessons, canton-specific questions and key procedural facts. PDF + EPUB, CHF 19.90.
Procedure, topics and preparation for Solothurn: our full guide goes beyond this overview.