Divorced, I'd like to regain my rights as a young woman

Divorced, I'd like to regain my rights as a young woman

"I am divorced. I'd like to take back my maiden name. Is that possible? What's more, I didn't take back my maiden name when I got divorced. Can I still apply to take it back?

Christine, Vaud

According to article 37 of the Federal Constitution, all Swiss citizens have communal and cantonal citizenship. The law governs the acquisition and loss of citizenship rights by descent, marriage or adoption. Under article 161 of the Civil Code, marriage affects a woman's citizenship rights, but not those of a man. By marriage, a woman acquires her husband's cantonal and communal citizenship without losing the cantonal and communal citizenship she had when she was single. However, this legal provision dates back to 1984; prior to that, women lost their citizenship rights on marriage. Assuming that your marriage took place before this date, you therefore only have your husband's right of citizenship.

Under article 119 of the Civil Code, divorce has no effect on cantonal or communal citizenship rights. The law therefore does not give you the possibility of regaining your citizenship prior to the marriage. Nor would divorce have any effect on Swiss nationality acquired by a foreigner through facilitated naturalisation as a result of marriage to a Swiss citizen. Under the Civil Code, a spouse who has changed his or her surname retains the surname he or she acquired at the time of the marriage unless, within one year of the judgment becoming final, he or she declares to the civil registrar that he or she wishes to revert to his or her unmarried surname or the surname he or she had before the marriage. You therefore still have the option of reverting to your maiden name, if you were divorced less than a year ago and have not already done so.