The Government has today decided to assign the Migration Agency the task of "swiftly taking further and powerful measures" to ensure that the requirements in citizenship cases are upheld.
It is currently in practice impossible to revoke a citizenship, says Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M)
It underlines the importance of never granting Swedish citizenship to individuals who may pose a threat to Swedish security.
The Migration Agency already tightened controls in 2024 to detect potential security threats. The additional measures the Government now wants to see are motivated by the serious security situation and the increased risk of security-threatening individuals coming to Sweden.
Significant increase
A few years ago, the Security Service recommended rejection in approximately 100-180 citizenship cases per year due to security reasons. In 2023, the number was 756 and in 2024, up to November, the figure was 543.
This is a very significant increase we are seeing here, says Forssell.
He mentions as examples of additional measures that the Migration Agency could require an applicant to appear in person for identification. And that oral investigations are conducted more frequently.
This rarely happens today. If you do, you get much more information. If you have a person in front of you, you can ask counter-questions and check a story.
How many and what type of cases will be covered by the additional measures will be up to the Migration Agency to assess.
To delay?
The Government and the Sweden Democrats want to introduce several new requirements for obtaining Swedish citizenship in the long run. For example, requirements for having lived longer in Sweden, for a decent way of living, and for knowledge of Sweden and Swedish culture.
TT: Is this a way to delay citizenship decisions pending new legislation?
No, the purpose is to prevent individuals who pose security threats from being granted Swedish citizenship.
TT: Will citizenship cases generally take longer now?
If you have to make a personal appearance and an oral investigation, it's clear that it can have consequences for the investigation time, says Forssell.
It's very unlikely that all would be covered by oral investigation, but it can happen in significantly more cases than today.
Last year, up to November, 59,781 citizenships were granted.
