Swedish Citizenship: How to Become Swedish

Sweden rewrote its citizenship rules in June 2026, and most English pages still describe the old ones. Here is who qualifies now, how the years are counted, what the new income and knowledge tests demand, and what you can do today to be ready.

When you need this

You live in Sweden on a permanent permit, or as an EU citizen, and want a Swedish passport and the national vote. You applied before 6 June 2026 and wonder whether the old five-year rule still covers you. You’re married to a Swede and heard the partner route has changed. Or you were born abroad to a Swedish parent and are approaching your 22nd birthday.

Freshness note (October 2026): The eight-year rule, the income requirement and the knowledge requirement have applied since 6 June 2026, with no transitional relief. If a page tells you five years, or three years for spouses, it describes the law before that date.

What changed on 6 June 2026

Swedish citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, Lag (2001:82) om svenskt medborgarskap, and decided by Migrationsverket, the Swedish Migration Agency. The June 2026 amendments are the biggest tightening since the act came into force in 2001.

Three new conditions came with it: a self-support requirement, a requirement to prove Swedish and civics knowledge, and longer waiting periods after crimes. The notification route was also cut back. Crucially, the rules came in without transitional provisions: Migrationsverket judges every application still undecided on 6 June under the new rules, even if it was filed in 2025.

The three routes to citizenship

• By birth. A child is Swedish at birth if a parent is Swedish, or a parent who has died was Swedish at death. Being born on Swedish soil is not enough.
• By notification (anmälan). A simpler declaration, now open only to adult Nordic citizens with five years’ residence and no custodial sentence, stateless children and young adults born in Sweden, and some children of Swedish fathers born abroad outside marriage before 1 April 2015.
• By naturalization. Everyone else applies, and Migrationsverket checks six conditions: proven identity, a permanent residence permit, eight years’ residence, an orderly and honest life, the ability to support yourself, and proven knowledge of Swedish and Swedish society.

Children no longer ride on a parent’s application. Each child applies separately through their guardians, generally after three years’ residence under age 15 or five years from 15, and a child aged 12 or more who holds another citizenship must consent. If you are expecting a child here, see giving birth in Sweden.

Residence time: how the eight years are counted

This is where most applications go wrong. The clock is not the day you arrived; it is the day you got a permit that allows you to settle.

• Start date: the day you entered with a settlement permit, or otherwise the day you applied for one.
• Permits that don’t count: visitor, study and au pair permits. Time as a tourist never counts.
• Trips abroad: up to six weeks a year doesn’t matter. Spend longer abroad in a year and the whole absence is deducted.
• Moving away: if you settle abroad, the clock restarts when you come back.

You also need a permanent permit, or, as an EU/EEA citizen or family member, a right of residence, which the law treats as equal. UK citizens with residence status under the Brexit withdrawal agreement are treated the same way. EU citizens must document five years of right of residence through work, a business, studies or sufficient means; the EU citizens’ guide covers that foundation.

One July 2026 wrinkle: since 12 July, people with protection-based permits and their families no longer receive permanent permits. For citizenship they are exempt from the permanent-permit requirement if they have well-founded prospects of a lasting permit, or ten years’ residence. Work and partner permits still lead to permanent residence under their own rules (see work permits).

Conduct: debts and convictions

The law asks that you have had, and can be expected to have, an orderly and honest way of life (skötsamt och hederligt levnadssätt). Two things trip people up:

• Debts. Unpaid taxes, fines or child support, or any debt with Kronofogden (the Enforcement Authority), can block you. After paying, you usually need two debt-free years.
• Convictions. Each sentence carries a minimum waiting period, or karenstid.

Migrationsverket publishes the full scale, which runs much longer for longer sentences. Crimes committed abroad count if they would be crimes in Sweden.

Income: the self-support requirement

If you are aged 18 to 66, you need lasting income of your own from a job or a business of at least three inkomstbasbelopp (income base amounts) a year before tax. You also may not have received försörjningsstöd (social assistance) for more than six months in total over the last three years.

What doesn’t count: a partner’s income, capital, unemployment benefit, and subsidised jobs such as nystartsjobb. Exemptions exist for people entitled to an old-age or guarantee pension, full-time students at a Swedish university or higher vocational programme with passing grades, upper-secondary students, and cases where it cannot reasonably be required. The figure for 2026 is in the table below.

Swedish and civics: the citizenship test

Applicants aged 16 to 66 must show Swedish at roughly B1 for reading and listening and A2 for speaking and writing, plus basic knowledge of Swedish society. Nothing is required from 67, and exemptions exist where disability or other personal circumstances make it unreasonable.

Civics can be proven by a pass grade in civics from compulsory school, upper secondary, folk high school or komvux, or by the new medborgarskapsprov (citizenship test) run by UHR, the Swedish Council for Higher Education. The first test was held in August 2026 as a trial. It is in Swedish only, on paper, with multiple-choice questions, and you can register only after Migrationsverket sends you a letter.

Swedish for now is proven with a pass in Swedish or Swedish as a second language from school or komvux, SFI’s highest course (D), Tisus, or another reliable test. A pass in Danish or Norwegian from a Nordic school replaces it. The statute brings in a Swedish-language citizenship test by 1 October 2027 at the latest; in September 2026 Migrationsverket warned it may come later than planned. Our guide to learning Swedish as a newcomer explains the routes to SFI course D.

Dual citizenship

Since 1 July 2001 Sweden has allowed dual and multiple citizenship. Swedish law does not ask you to give anything up. Your other country decides whether you keep its citizenship, and some end it when a national naturalizes elsewhere. Ask your own embassy before you apply.

Two things to know. A Swedish citizen born abroad who has never lived in Sweden, and never stayed here in ways that show a connection, loses citizenship at 22 unless they apply to keep it before then. And in May 2026 the Riksdag adopted, as a pending constitutional amendment, a power to strip dual citizens who obtained citizenship on false grounds or committed crimes seriously harming Sweden’s vital interests. It needs a second vote by the Riksdag elected in September 2026 and is proposed to apply from 1 January 2027.

How to apply, step by step

1. Check your route: notification (Nordic citizens) or naturalization (everyone else).
2. Count your years from your first settlement permit, and deduct long trips abroad.
3. Check your record and debts against the waiting periods.
4. Check your income against three income base amounts.
5. Gather proof of Swedish and civics: grade certificates, SFI course D, Tisus.
6. Apply through Migrationsverket’s e-service (it needs an e-ID, an e-mail address and a Visa or Mastercard) or on the paper form. EU citizens attach proof of five years’ right of residence.
7. Book the identity visit when the letter arrives. You must appear in person with your original identity document; skip it and you risk refusal.
8. Attend a ceremony. Every municipality holds one at least once a year for new citizens registered there.

Decisions can be appealed to a migration court, except security cases, which go to the government.

What citizenship gives you, and asks of you

Read more in voting as a foreign resident. Population registration, which underpins all of this, is explained in folkbokföring, and the number your case runs on in the personnummer guide.

Practical information

The income threshold changes every January with the income base amount. For current processing times, check Migrationsverket’s citizenship page before you apply.

FAQ

How many years do you need to live in Sweden to become a citizen?

Eight years for most adults since 6 June 2026, up from five. Nordic citizens and former Swedes need two years, stateless people five, and recognised refugees, under-21s and partners of Swedish citizens seven. Time counts only from a settlement permit or EU right of residence, and more than six weeks abroad a year is deducted.

Do I have to give up my citizenship to become Swedish?

No. Sweden has allowed dual and multiple citizenship since 1 July 2001, so Swedish law lets you keep your current citizenship. Whether your other country lets you keep it is up to that country’s law, and some end citizenship when a national naturalizes elsewhere. Check with your own embassy before you apply.

Is there a Swedish citizenship test?

Yes, for civics. Applicants aged 16 to 66 must show knowledge of Swedish society and of Swedish. The first civics test, in Swedish and multiple choice, was held in August 2026. The Swedish-language test must start by 1 October 2027 at the latest; until then, school grades, SFI course D or Tisus prove your Swedish.

Do the new 2026 rules apply if I applied before 6 June?

Yes, unless your case was decided before 6 June 2026. The new rules came in without transitional provisions, so Migrationsverket judges every pending application under the eight-year, self-support and knowledge requirements. It contacts applicants who need to add documents. A refused application does not get its fee back, so check the new rules before waiting.

How much do you need to earn for Swedish citizenship?

At least three income base amounts a year from your own job or business, which is 250,200 kronor before tax for 2026, about 20,850 kronor a month. The income must be lasting, not temporary. Unemployment benefit, subsidised jobs and capital do not count, and you may not have received social assistance for more than six months in three years.

Can EU citizens become Swedish citizens?

Yes, on the same eight-year main rule, with a right of residence standing in for a permanent permit. You must document that right for the last five years, for example through work, your own business, studies or sufficient means. Danish, Finnish, Icelandic and Norwegian citizens have shorter routes: two years by application, or notification after five years.

Is a child born in Sweden automatically Swedish?

No. Sweden follows parentage, not birthplace. A child is Swedish at birth only if a parent is a Swedish citizen, or a parent who has died was Swedish at death. Other children can apply through their guardians, usually after three years’ residence under age 15, and those aged 12 or more who hold another citizenship must consent.

Related guides

• Learning Swedish as a newcomer — SFI course D and the other proofs of Swedish
• Voting as a foreign resident — what you can vote in before you are Swedish
• Folkbokföring: registering where you live — the registration that underpins residence
• Work permits for non-EU citizens — the road to the permanent permit you need first
• The personnummer explained — the number your application runs on

Facts verified 2026-10-14. Sources: Sveriges riksdag (Lag 2001:82 om svenskt medborgarskap, Lag 1994:1809, betänkande 2025/26:KU34), Svensk författningssamling (SFS 2026:1177), Migrationsverket, Universitets- och högskolerådet and the Embassy of Sweden in Washington — full register in this topic’s source file. This is general information, not legal advice. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.