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According to the Act on Swedish Citizenship (2001:82), in order to acquire citizenship in Sweden through application, a person must:
- Be able to prove their identity;
- Have reached the age of 18;
- Have a permanent residence permit, a right of residence or residence card in Sweden;
- Have fulfilled the requirements for period of residence (lived in Sweden for a specified period, see table above);
- Have good conduct in Sweden.
To become a Swedish citizen, as a rule, a person must have lived in Sweden on a long-term basis for a continuous period of five years. Habitual residence means that the person is a long-term resident and intends to remain in Sweden. Whether it is possible to count all the time spent in Sweden as a period of habitual residence depends on the reason why the person settled and the permit they have had during their time here. The main rule is that time with a residence permit that leads to a permanent residence permit is counted as a period of habitual residence. If the person is stateless or a refugee, they only have to have resided in Sweden for four years.[1]
If a person had a permanent residence permit or a residence permit for settlement when they entered Sweden, they count the duration of stay from the date of arrival. Otherwise, the duration of stay is calculated from the date on which the application for a residence permit was submitted, if that application was approved. If the application was initially rejected and the person then submitted a new application, the time is counted from the date on which they received approval.
A child can obtain Swedish citizenship through notification by the parent or guardian, if the child has a permanent residence permit and has been residing in Sweden for three years, or two years if the child is stateless.[2] On 1 October 2024, new conditions were introduced for children over 15 years. Citizenship will not be provided to persons over 15 years of age if the person
- is suspected on reasonable grounds of a serious offence
- has been convicted of a serious offence or repeated offences
- is a threat to Swedish security or public safety; or
- has links to groups or organisations that commit abuses against other people.[3]
If a person is married to a Swedish citizen or living in a registered partnership with or cohabiting with a Swedish citizen, they can apply for Swedish citizenship after three years. In these cases, the couple must have lived together for the past two years. It is not enough to be married to one another; they must also live together.
If the person’s partner used to have a nationality other than Swedish nationality or was stateless, they must have been a Swedish citizen for at least two years. The applicant must also have adapted well to Swedish society during their time in Sweden. Relevant criteria can include the length of the marriage, knowledge of the Swedish language and ability to support oneself.
If the person has previously been in Sweden under an identity that is not their correct identity or if they have impeded the execution of a refusal-of-entry order by, for example, going into hiding, this may hamper possibilities of obtaining citizenship after three years.[4]
The decision is taken by the Migration Agency and can be appealed to the same instances as in the case of applications for protection status and residence permit. Rejection grounds include proving ones’ identity and meeting the requirements of good conduct in Sweden. Matters that are taken into account include inter alia whether the person has been abiding with the law or not, and whether the person has properly managed bank loans well or other finances (personal and other).
An applicant that cannot prove their identity may obtain Swedish citizenship after eight years of habitual residence. This concerns cases where they are not able to get documents that could prove their identity but the identity could at least be assessed as probable. The Migration Agency does not consider that passports issued by Afghan or Somali authorities may prove the identity of the passport holder as regards applications for Swedish Citizenship.[5]
The Migration Court of Appeal published a decision in May 2023 in a case where the Migration Agency had rejected an application for Swedish citizenship. During his asylum procedure, the applicant had first said he was born in 1998, but later in the process said he was born in 1992. The Migration Agency did not find the information credible and registered his year of birth as 1989. When applying for citizenship the applicant handed in a passport with the same date of birth as registered by the Migration Agency. The Migration Court of Appeal found that the passport could prove his identity due to the conflicting information regarding his date of birth. The fact that the applicant himself had provided the inconsistent information regarding his age also led the Court to conclude that he had not made his identity probable and could not be granted Swedish citizenship.[6]
The Migration Court of Appeal published a decision in June 2023, where it found that a person who had been enrolled in unarmed service in the Syrian Army during the armed conflict should be denied Swedish citizenship until a substantial time has elapsed since that service. As he had been active in an organisation that committed systematic and grave forms of abuses such as torture, murder, and extrajudicial executions, the Court found that citizenship should not be granted until a substantial time has passed since the person was active in that organisation. In this case, the person had left the Syrian Army in 2013. According to precedent rulings, “a substantial time” implies that 25 years shall have passed.[7]
In September 2023 the Government instructed an official report of the Government to suggest new and more restrictive conditions for access to Swedish citizenship, including a longer habitual residency in Sweden and stricter demands for a good character.[8] In June 2024 the Government decided to give additional instructions to this report: it shall also propose how the notification procedure could be abolished, propose further requirements for acquiring citizenship for adults born in Sweden and stateless since birth; and consider limiting the possibility to be granted an exemption from the naturalisation conditions due to special reasons. [9] In January 2025 the report presented its findings,[10] proposing that:
- The applicant must have had a habitual residency in Sweden during eight years. Children should have had residency for at least three years, two years for stateless children, five years for stateless adults and seven years habitual residency for refugees. If an applicant cannot prove their identity, a habitual residence of ten years for adults or seven years for children is required.
- The conditions regarding good conduct and lifestyle should be stricter applied. For example, it is clarified that having committed crimes outside of Sweden should be considered, that non-contact orders is a form of misconduct, and that the waiting time after committing an offence should be longer than it is today (currently it varies depending on the type of misconduct).
- The notification procedure for citizenship should be withdrawn for children and young adults aged 18 to 20. Children acquiring Swedish citizenship should be conditional on them having resided in Sweden for a certain period, holding a permanent residence permit and having proved their identity. The notification procedure would still apply to children and young adults aged 18 to 20 who have been stateless since birth and were born in Sweden.
- The applicant must fulfil an income requirement, with earnings from employment or self-employment. The income level is based on the standard minimum level of maintenance used by the Enforcement Agency. Exceptions can be made for applicants studying at Upper Secondary School (gymnasium) or receiving retirement pension. In addition, it should be required that applicants for Swedish citizenship have not received income support under the Social Services
Act for a period totalling more than six months in the three years prior to application.
- A previous official report (SOU 2021:2) proposed that applicants must pass an exam in Swedish language and about Swedish society. The new proposal includes further details on the content of the exam on the subject of Swedish society and Swedish culture.
- The changes should enter into force on 1 June 2025.
In 2024, the Swedish Migration Agency registered 49,580 new applications for Swedish citizenship (naturalisation applications). A total of 58,037 first instance decisons were issued in 2024, out of which 77% granted citizenship. The majority of citizenship requests were granted to applicants from Syria (8,078), Afghanistan (6,386), Eritrea (5,494), India (2,761) and Poland (2,685).[11] The Swedish Migration Agency had 88,953 requests pending at the end of the year.[12]
The average number of days from application to decision at first instance was 425 in 2024, compared to 435 in 2023.[13]
[1] Act on Swedish Citizenship, Section 11.
[2] Act on Swedish Citizenship, Section 7.
[3] Government proposal, here: Förslag om ändringar i medborgarskapslagen har överlämnats till riksdagen – Regeringen.se
[4] Act on Citizenship (Medborgarskapslagen) Section 12, see also Migation Court of Appeal case MIG 2007:28
[5] SMA, ‘The Swedish Migration Agency’s assessment of identity documents’, available here.
[6] Migration Court of Appeal case MIG 2023:7, available in Swedish here.
[7] Migration Court of Appeal case MIG 2023:8, available in Swedish here.
[8] Government, ‘Skärpta krav för att förvärva svenskt medborgarskap’, 8 September 2023, available in Swedish here.
[9] Government, Åtgärder för att ytterligare skärpa kraven för svenskt medborgarskap – Regeringen.se.
[10] Government, English summary available in SOU 2025:1 Skärpta krav för svenskt medborgarskap – Regeringen.se.
[11] The Swedish Migration Agency, Statistics on Swedish citizenship, available in Swedish here.
[12] The Swedish Migration Agency Monthly statistical report December 2024.
[13] The Swedish Migration Agency Monthly statistical report December 2024.