Rules for becoming Swedish citizen

Acquiring Swedish citizenship comes with meeting the requirements established by the Swedish Migration Agency.

» Updated: October 06 2024

» Published: September 19 2024

Rules for becoming Swedish citizen
Photo: Envato

Besides this, one imperative requirement is either the possession of a permanent residence or an EU or EEA national with right of residence granted to him or her. The applicant is also required to have resided within Sweden for a given uninterrupted duration, which is normally around five years but is three years for those individuals who are married to Swedes. Furthermore, the candidate is also required to maintain stellar behavior. This means that serious crimes must be avoided, having a debt must be avoided, and the capacity to live within the confines of Swedish society without much difficulties is required.

Providing identification

The individual must also be in a position to support their story through appropriate documents by providing identification. When, however, an applicant is unable to obtain this, they need to argue that they have been resident in Sweden for a long time building the case that they have lived in the country for over eight years and are well assimilated in the Swedish culture. The approximated behavior of the applicant, including proven criminal activity or lack thereof, current financial situation of the person, and their will to become a useful member of the society when in the territory are all taken into account before a decision on the citizenship document is reached (Migrationsverket).

If you are a refugee

In what concerns refugees or stateless persons, there are particular provisions. For refugees, in this case Swedes, four years are required, but five years are needed in the case of persons without citizenship. All the applicants, however, have to make sure that their residence in Sweden has been unbroken without long absences from the country, especially to other countries.

Once citizenship is granted, such individuals will have the right to vote at national elections, carry a Swedish passport, as well as expect that Swedish laws including those in other countries will be applied to him or her. They also gain the right to transfer citizenship to their offspring (Migrationsverket).

Shqiponja RamaS
By Shqiponja Rama - Feature Writer

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