Dear Swiss Rooters, after the fairly recent discussion about the cumbersome procedure to get any data from Swiss Civil Registry Offices, we now have a discussion about their fees. I'm not going to repeat any of the earlier issues - if you are new to the list, please, search for "ordinance" in "2000" in the list archive : http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl (note : you have to search for "Switzerland-L" as our list in a first step !!) Let's now turn to the fees : as with the procedure, I'm not going to defend them - just trying to explain ;-) !! The two comments below obviously refer to two different things - which explains the different fees. Robert had received a photocopy : really of a birth certificate - or of a page of an old "Burgerrodel" ? Birth certificates (or certificates for any other single events) are not used very often for genealogical purposes in Switzerland : usually you either get a "Familienschein" (data after 1876) or a copy of an older Burgerrodel (if existing) for older data; both types of document contain roughly the same information - the difference being that a Familienschein will be typed upon request (so anyone will be able to read it easily), whilst a Burgerrodel will be handwritten - often in old German script. Anyway - in Robert's case, it would be a copy of some existing record - and it would be a certified copy. So it is not only that some time finding the record is involved (even if you supply complete data), copying, postage, ..., fee to cash your cheque (why do you think Swiss banks do so well ?) - the most expensive part is the certification - we are not talking of a plain photocopy, we are talking about a legally official document. I don't know what you have to pay in USA to get a photocopy certified by city administration or the like - in Switzerland this will usually be in the order of sfr 15 (some $ 10). So I wouldn't complain about this document being too expensive - but discuss whether a genealogist actually needs such an official document ! One could argue, all I want is a plain photocopy - send a few IRCs (which BTW cannot easily be used by an office - so they don't really like them !), and don't fuss around. That would make sense - to me at least - but unfortunately that's not what Civil Registry Offices are being told (by the law) they should do :-(. David had received a (newly typed) "Familienschein" : now this obviously involves a bit more than just photocopying; data have to be typed in (they only started to talk about putting this information on the computer fairly recently) - that's why the fee usually depends on the number of people mentioned : as a Familienschein is issued on a male, it will depend on the number of wifes (and consequently number of parents-in-law, which are also listed if info is available) and children; so there will be a basic fee plus some per-capita-fee. I have received or seen several Familienscheins - and the fees were usually in the range of sfr 30 ... 45 - have never seen sfr 110 ! Unless David's ancestor was married at least five times and had some 30 or more children, I would expect this to be a misunderstanding : as discussed in previous mailings, you now need a cantonal permission to be allowed to ask for a Familienschein - and obviously there is a fee for this permission as well :-(( ! Like almost everything in Switzerland, the cantons decide what the fee for this permission is - they usually are in the sfr 50 ... 100 range. David : did you apply and pay for such a permission prior to asking for the Familienschein ? If not - they likely "applied for permission on your behalf" and then issued the Familienschein - so the sfr 110 could consist of, let's say, sfr 80 for the permission plus sfr 30 for the actual Familienschein. Now this is of interest to you only, if you want an additional Familienschein (from a Civil Registry Office in the same canton): the cantonal permission would still be valid - you'd only have to pay for the additional Familienschein. If we finally consider the fee for the Familienschein : this will again be a legal document, combining a marriage certificate with 10 or more birth certificates plus likely several death certificates - you'll end up with some sfr 2 (about $ 1.50) per documented event - not too bad a deal (if you are actually interested in all these documents ;-)). The upsetting feature is the cantonal permission - both the procedure itself, and the fee - especially if you can use it for just a single Familienschein. I hope this helps to clarify the situation, and send my best regards - Wolf ---------------------- Wolf W. Seelentag, PhD, e-mail : wolf@swissmail.com Reherstr. 19, CH - 9016 St. Gallen, Switzerland Tel (home) : +41-71-2885121 Fax : +49-89-2443-91987 Tel (work) : +41-71-4942233 > ---------- > Von: Robert Rothenbuhler[SMTP:piepint@nbtx.com] > Gesendet: Donnerstag, 27. Januar 2000 04:25 > An: SWITZERLAND-L@rootsweb.com > Betreff: Fw: [SWITZ] Some Advice Please > > > David, > > > > I received somewhat the same thing. I > > requested and received one copy of a birth > > notice for one of my ancestors. I sent them > > the three international coupons, but when I > > received the photocopy from them, they > > wanted me to send them a check for 25 > > Schweizer Franken. I think that is a bit > > high for just a photocopy of a document. > > There should have been no research > > as I gave them all the dates and name. > > > > robert rothenbuhler > > piepint@nbtx.com > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: david kester <dck516@yahoo.com> > > To: <SWITZERLAND-L@rootsweb.com> > > Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2000 3:00 PM > > Subject: [SWITZ] Some Advice Please > > > > > Hi List, > > > I know that someone out there will be able to help me > > > with this. I received a family certificate > > > (Familienschein) for my ancestor from the > > > Zivilstandsamt in Beringen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland. > > > They tell me "you can borrow all the information you > > > asked for ( as far as they are registered in our > > > records)." > > > They then go on to say that the charge for this family > > > certificate amount to CHF 110.-- Please send a check > > > to Zivilstandsamt etc. etc. etc. > > > Would someone please explain all of this to me. > > > Thanking You in advance, > > > David > > ==== SWITZERLAND Mailing List ==== > Swiss Resource Site > http://swiss.genealogy.net >