The government's investigator recently presented proposals to tighten the requirements for becoming a Swedish citizen. This includes, among other things, increasing the time a person has lived in Sweden from five to eight years, a new requirement for self-support, and stricter requirements for language and civic knowledge.
The investigator also proposed transitional rules, so that all applications received before the law comes into effect will be handled according to the old rules.
But The Moderate Party does not want to follow the investigator's proposal in that part.
"Better control"
Just last year, we had 600 security cases related to citizenship, and I think it's important when we're now rewriting the entire citizenship legislation that the changes take effect immediately, so that the Security Police can get better opportunities to keep track of these individuals, says Forssell.
About 88,000 people may be affected if The Moderate Party gets its way in the negotiations with the other parties. This is how many open citizenship cases the Migration Agency currently has on its table.
It's many people who can be affected, but in this assessment, we must prioritize Sweden's security, says Forssell.
He emphasizes that once someone has become a Swedish citizen, they cannot be deported, even if it is later discovered that the person poses a security threat.
The new, stricter requirements are expected to come into effect in 2026, according to Forssell.
Law-abiding life
He does not rule out that the time requirement could become higher than eight years, and points to Denmark, which has a requirement of nine years.
Forssell also wants those who want to become Swedish citizens to have lived a law-abiding life not only in Sweden but also before they came to Sweden.
If a person has engaged in terrorism in their home country, it's clear that it's not an insignificant piece of the puzzle when we ask ourselves whether this person should get Swedish citizenship or not, he says.
Earlier, the Minister of Migration has stated that he thinks the investigator's proposal for a self-support requirement of 7,000 kronor per month after tax, equivalent to the minimum subsistence level, is too low and should be tightened further.
