20 Minutes.

It seems Scottish comedian Billy Connolly’s saying: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing…” can be applied to applications for Swiss citizenship.

The newspaper Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, recently reported that a Kosovar family had been refused citizenship in the Swiss town of Bubendorf in the canton of Basel Landschaft. One of the reasons cited for the refusal was that they walked around town in track pants and not jeans.

Everything was going as planned for the Halili family. They arrived in the town in 2006, reached the residency requirement earlier this year, reportedly all spoke German and had passed tests proving sufficient knowledge of Swiss customs and geography. Even cakes sporting the Swiss flag had been baked for the big day.

To the family’s disappointment, the the town’s 60 person citizenship committee rejected their application.

When the family (mum, dad and two children) were close to being sent back to Kosovo in 2005, the town offered them a place to stay. Then in 2006 Bern granted them asylum.

Dad works as a kitchen hand, mum as a cleaner, while their eldest child is training to be a mechanic.

On top of dressing inappropriately, the family has been accused of not systematically greeting people they pass in the street. “They have accused them of not behaving like Swiss” said the town’s mayor.

When contacted by the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, the family declined to comment on the rejection of their application for Swiss citizenship and made no mention of any possible plans to appeal the decision.

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