> US and Canadian citizens can get Permit C (unconditional residency permit) after 5 years on Permit B (employment-bound permit). 5 years satisfies the time re

> US and Canadian citizens can get Permit C (unconditional residency permit) after 5 years on Permit B (employment-bound permit). 5 years satisfies the time requirement for American and Canadian citizens (and certain other countries) but they still have to satify the other requirements, the most burdensome of which is learning the local language. In Zürich, you have to learn A2 level German specifically (which actually isn't too hard) but this varies by canton. > Citizenship is 5 more years after that. Mostly, just note that in addition, you have to have been living in the canton and commune in which you want to obtain citizenship for a certain amount of time. Also, integration is a requirement for citizenship. What this means varies by commune but the main thing is that you've learned an official language to a working level (B1 I think). > For all other countries it's 10+10 years. As a third country national you can obtain a residence permit (C) within 5 years by integration. Integration mainly means learning the local language to a particular level, which varies by canton (in Zürich it's B1 German). I believe time spent living on a B permit counts towards citizenship so you can do it in 5+5 no matter where you're from, just like the US.