In the Canton of Vaud you file the naturalisation application with the canton, but you sit the knowledge test at your commune of residence: a written multiple-choice test on the geography, history, politics and society of Switzerland, the canton and your commune. The canton's questions are public, and the A-Vaud-Test platform lets you practise all 160 of them. You pass from 70 percent correct answers and may sit the test up to three times.
This page sums up what the Canton of Vaud officially requires: two full years of residence in the canton, French at B1 and A2, the test and its exemptions, the cantonal, federal and communal fees, the legal deadlines and the solemn promise before the Council of State. Every figure is backed by an official source.
Facts checked on 5 September 2026.
Article 18 of the Vaud citizenship law requires the commune to test your basic knowledge of the geographic, historic, political and social particularities of Switzerland and the Canton of Vaud. The questions must cover Switzerland, the canton and local life in a balanced way and come from the official cantonal list; for the local level each commune draws up its own list, which the canton validates. The regulation prescribes the written multiple-choice form and splits the questions at each level equally between the four categories geography, history, politics and society.
The cantonal list is public: on the A-Vaud-Test platform of the Service de la population you can work through all 160 questions by theme or answer 48 random questions in one hour in exam mode, always with access to the correct answers; results are not stored. The City of Lausanne describes its official test the same way: 48 questions out of 160, 60 minutes, passed with 33 correct answers. For depth beyond question-and-answer drilling, the tutorial «Présentation de la Suisse et du canton» of the cantonal integration office (BCI) offers written and read-aloud texts with illustrations.
The official test is organised by your commune of residence once the canton has passed your file to it. The commune must hold it within six months and summon you to the first sitting at least three months in advance. From 70 percent correct answers the commune records the result in the investigation report; below that it invites you to sit again. You may sit at most three times, and the best result counts. The test is one condition among several: the commune also assesses your participation in social and cultural life and your contacts with the population.
Under cantonal practice you are exempt if you were born in Switzerland and have lived here without interruption, completed five years of compulsory schooling in Switzerland, hold an upper-secondary qualification, or are under twelve when you file. If a disability, a serious illness or major difficulties with learning, reading or writing prevent you from sitting the written test, report it with evidence when you file; the canton can then order an oral form, an interview whose answers are recorded in a signed minute, or the commune exempts you with the Service's consent. The oral form also applies after three failed written attempts.
In Vaud the procedure starts and ends with the canton: the Service de la population (SPOP) receives the application, checks the formal conditions and hands the file to the commune, which runs the test and assesses integration. Then the Council of State, the Confederation and the Council of State again take over.
Check the years of residence, the C permit, the two years in the canton and your proof of French; vd.ch offers an anonymous self-check. The file contains copies of the valid C permit and identity documents, residence certificates covering the ten years in Switzerland and the language proof: fide passport, confirmation of five years of French-language schooling, an upper-secondary diploma or a tertiary qualification taught in French, or a DELF, TCF or TEF diploma. Registration confirmations for a language exam are not accepted.
Download the form for your situation (single person, single person with children, married couple with or without children) and send it signed, with all attachments, by post to the Service de la population, Division communes et nationalité, Secteur des naturalisations, Centre de numérisation, Case postale, 1014 Lausanne; there is no in-person filing. The application counts as filed when the complete file reaches the Service. Adult children file their own application, and children born in Switzerland can file individually from the age of nine.
The Service checks the formal conditions and opens the investigation report (rapport d'enquête). If something is missing you have 30 days to respond, after which a decision not to consider the application follows (CHF 200). The Service consults the VOSTRA criminal register and checks social assistance over the last three years, your language proof and your identity. With a positive preliminary opinion it designates the competent commune and passes it the report, together with any personal circumstances the commune must take into account at the test.
Within ten days the Municipalité informs you that the communal phase has opened and which preparation tools are available. It, or a body it delegates to, invites you to an interview to complete the investigation report and organises the knowledge test within six months. The commune then examines respect for constitutional values, the integration of your family, your participation in social life and your contacts with the population, in a hearing if needed. No later than twelve months after receiving the file it sends you the closing notice.
The Municipalité submits its reasoned proposal with the complete report to the Department, which has 30 days to respond. If a condition is not met you get 30 days to argue your case. Within three months of the closing notice the commune decides: a positive opinion on communal citizenship or a reasoned refusal, which you can appeal to the Cantonal Court. No more than 18 months may pass between filing and this decision.
If the Department validates the commune's positive opinion, the Council of State issues its own and forwards the report to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), which grants the federal naturalisation authorisation. A federal refusal ends the procedure. If your family moves to another Vaud commune during the communal phase, the old commune stays competent; moving to another canton before the closing notice ends Vaud's competence.
After the federal authorisation the Service checks the criminal register again and, where necessary, your economic situation, then summons you to the solemn promise before the Council of State or a delegation. You promise to be faithful to the Federal Constitution and the Constitution of the Canton of Vaud and to defend the rights, liberties and independence of your new homeland. Anyone who does not appear within six months of the summons counts as having withdrawn; children under twelve are exempt. The Service then notifies you of the Council of State's decision, which confers Swiss citizenship, cantonal citizenship and communal citizenship.
This is what the practice questions in our lessons look like. The correct answer is marked and the explanation gives the background.
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The full federal course plus Vaud in depth — lessons, canton-specific questions and key procedural facts. PDF + EPUB, CHF 19.90.
Procedure, topics and preparation for Vaud: our full guide goes beyond this overview.