Sweden wants to narrow path to citizenship

Sweden's government has said that it wants to toughen the rules for obtaining Swedish nationality, with a government probe recommending "honest living" as a prerequisite.

The proposal also suggests increasing the time foreigners must live in Sweden before they can apply for citizenship. Under the new recommendations, applicants would need to reside in the country for eight years, up from the current five, and pass exams on Swedish society, values, and language, as outlined in a 2023 investigation by the centre-right government.

"Citizenship must be earned, not be handed out unconditionally," Migration Minister Johan Forssell said in a post on Instagram.

Forssell told a press conference that citizenship also helped tie people of disparate backgrounds together under "a common Swedish identity".

(Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates)


ALSO READ: Sweden makes EU Blue Card rules easier for highly qualified workers

"This is particularly important at a time when Sweden has welcomed hundreds of thousands of people from many parts of the world in recent years," he said.

Following a large influx of asylum seekers to Sweden during the 2015 migrant wave, successive left- and right-wing governments have tightened immigration and asylum rules.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's centre-right minority government, which is backed in parliament by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, has introduced ever harsher curbs since coming to power in 2022.

ALSO READ: Sweden wants to pay immigrants up to 350,000 Swedish kronor to leave the country

Forssell said it was "crucial" to "always be very clear about the values that must apply in Sweden".

"Family is important but it does not stand above the law. There is equality between the sexes. You can marry whoever you want.

"Girls and boys have the right to swim and play football. If you don't accept that, Sweden is not the country for you," the minister said.

The probe recommended tightening up the requirement for "honest living".

ALSO READ: You might want to skip these European countries on your next trip. Here's why

In concrete terms, this would mean it would be harder for a person who has committed a misdemeanour or a crime, or who has unpaid debts, to obtain Swedish nationality, said Kirsi Laakso Utvik, who led the probe.

Human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders was critical of the proposal.

"Research shows that tougher requirements for citizenship do not increase the incentives for integration, but rather contribute to the exclusion of a growing group of people who find themselves in the country for a long time without the basic rights of citizenship," the organisation's legal director John Stauffer told AFP.

The probe's conclusions will now be referred to various authorities and concerned parties for review, before the government drafts a bill.

The probe recommended that the new law come into effect on June 1, 2026.

Sweden once considered itself a haven for the war-weary and persecuted but has over the years struggled to integrate many of its newcomers.

Recent measures introduced to reduce immigration included granting of only temporary residence permits to asylum seekers, tightening family reunification criteria and raising income requirements for non-EU citizens seeking work visas.

(With AFP inputs)