Swedish government wants tougher citizenship rules to apply to more applicants
The Swedish government has ordered an ongoing inquiry to look into making stricter rules for citizenship apply to more people than before.
As The Local reported at the time, parliament this month voted through tougher rules for so-called “citizenship through notification” – medborgarskap genom anmälan – an easier route to Swedish citizenship available to some categories of applicants.
The government now wants to scrap the option completely.
“It is important to protect the importance of Swedish citizenship. The government has already taken measures to strengthen Swedish citizenship. The requirements for Swedish citizenship need to be tightened further to increase its value,” said Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, of the conservative Moderate Party, in a statement as she presented the new instructions to the inquiry on Thursday.
Under current rules, citizenship through notification is available to children who have lived in Sweden for at least three years (two if stateless), young adults between 18 and 21 who have lived in Sweden since they turned 13 (15 if stateless) and Nordic citizens.
EXPLAINED:
The route would still be available to Nordic citizens. It might not be possible to completely scrap the right for stateless adults due to international conventions, but the government still wants the inquiry to look into tightening the rules for that group in other ways.
The government also wants the inquiry to come up with proposals for tightening the rules for acquiring citizenship for adults who were born stateless in Sweden, and investigate whether exemptions from citizenship requirements should be removed or reduced.
Such exemptions currently mean that someone can become a citizen even if they don’t meet the requirements in terms of how long they’ve lived in Sweden, for example if they were previously Swedish, if their partner is Swedish, or if there are other special reasons.
The new instructions have been handed to Sweden’s major inquiry into tightening overall citizenship rules, which is already looking into a range of new legislative changes, for example extending the time applicants have to live in Sweden before they are eligible for citizenship and proposing requirements for language and knowledge of Swedish culture.
This inquiry was originally supposed to conclude by the end of September 2024, but has now been extended to January 15th, 2025.
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As The Local reported at the time, parliament this month voted through tougher rules for so-called “citizenship through notification” – medborgarskap genom anmälan – an easier route to Swedish citizenship available to some categories of applicants.
The government now wants to scrap the option completely.
“It is important to protect the importance of Swedish citizenship. The government has already taken measures to strengthen Swedish citizenship. The requirements for Swedish citizenship need to be tightened further to increase its value,” said Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, of the conservative Moderate Party, in a statement as she presented the new instructions to the inquiry on Thursday.
Under current rules, citizenship through notification is available to children who have lived in Sweden for at least three years (two if stateless), young adults between 18 and 21 who have lived in Sweden since they turned 13 (15 if stateless) and Nordic citizens.
EXPLAINED:
The route would still be available to Nordic citizens. It might not be possible to completely scrap the right for stateless adults due to international conventions, but the government still wants the inquiry to look into tightening the rules for that group in other ways.
The government also wants the inquiry to come up with proposals for tightening the rules for acquiring citizenship for adults who were born stateless in Sweden, and investigate whether exemptions from citizenship requirements should be removed or reduced.
Such exemptions currently mean that someone can become a citizen even if they don’t meet the requirements in terms of how long they’ve lived in Sweden, for example if they were previously Swedish, if their partner is Swedish, or if there are other special reasons.
The new instructions have been handed to Sweden’s major inquiry into tightening overall citizenship rules, which is already looking into a range of new legislative changes, for example extending the time applicants have to live in Sweden before they are eligible for citizenship and proposing requirements for language and knowledge of Swedish culture.
This inquiry was originally supposed to conclude by the end of September 2024, but has now been extended to January 15th, 2025.
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