Swedish Citizenship Requirements 2026: The New 8-Year Rules

Quick answer: The main requirements for Swedish citizenship, since 6 June 2026, are a permanent residence permit (or an equivalent status), a proven identity, at least eight years of habitual residence in Sweden, your own income of at least SEK 250,200 a year, knowledge of Swedish and Swedish society if you are 16 to 66, and an orderly and honourable life. The adult application fee is SEK 2,900. All of this is set out on Migrationsverket's citizenship for adults page.

This guide goes through each requirement, what changed in 2026, the rules for children, fees and waiting times. Everything is based on official pages checked on 27 September 2026.

What changed on 6 June 2026

The Swedish Parliament tightened the Citizenship Act, and the new rules took effect on 6 June 2026 with no transitional arrangements. Migrationsverket assesses every application under the new rules, including ones submitted before 6 June that had not been decided, according to its announcement.

The same announcement lists the new residence periods for adults:

Three things are new: you must support yourself, you must show knowledge of Swedish and Swedish society, and children must apply on their own. The conduct requirement was also extended to cover conduct outside Sweden.

Residence status and identity

Before you apply, you must hold a permanent residence permit, residence status, a right of residence or residence card, or citizenship of another Nordic country, per Migrationsverket.

A second change matters here. From 12 July 2026, Migrationsverket as a general rule no longer grants permanent residence permits. Some holders of temporary permits can apply without one: those with long-term resident status in Sweden, refugees and people with subsidiary protection, people granted a permit on grounds of exceptionally distressing circumstances or certain impediments to enforcing an expulsion, and their family members. They must have well-founded prospects of a long-term permit, a test that falls away after ten years of residence. You must hold a valid permit when you apply and cannot apply while an extension is pending. If you already have a permanent permit, nothing changes for you. For how permits work in general, see our Swedish residence permit guide.

To prove your identity you need an original passport or national ID card with your photo, issued by a competent authority in your country of origin; an expired passport can still be accepted. You also have to attend a personal appearance at Migrationsverket in Malmö, Gothenburg, Norrköping, Sundbyberg, Sundsvall or Boden. You can only book it after Migrationsverket sends you a letter.

How your residence time is counted

Not every year in Sweden counts. Time on a visitor's permit, a study permit or an au pair permit is excluded, with a possible exception for doctoral students. If you were abroad for more than six weeks in total in a year, the entire time abroad is subtracted. Moving away and settling elsewhere resets the count. These rules are on the adult citizenship page.

EU/EEA citizens must have met the conditions for right of residence throughout, and must attach evidence covering the past five years, such as employer certificates, company registration and tax returns, or proof of own funds. If you are still setting up, our EU registration guide covers right of residence from the start.

Supporting yourself: SEK 250,200 a year

Migrationsverket calls this the maintenance requirement, and it applies to applicants aged 18 to 67. Your own income from employment or self-employment must reach three income base amounts before tax. For 2026 that is SEK 250,200 a year, or SEK 20,850 a month (Migrationsverket), based on Skatteverket's 2026 income base amount of SEK 83,400.

What counts and what does not, per Migrationsverket:

• Counts: salary or business income that is long-term, whether full-time, part-time or hourly. Parental benefit and sickness benefit received while employed are treated like salary.
• Does not count: a partner's income, capital or investment income, new start jobs (nystartsjobb) and other subsidised employment, unemployment benefit, and the start-up grant from Arbetsförmedlingen.
• Social assistance: you must not have received it for more than six months during the three years before the decision.

Exemptions exist for people entitled to certain pensions, full-time students with approved results at a Swedish university or in higher vocational education, upper secondary students, and people who cannot reasonably meet the requirement, for example because of a disability.

Knowledge of Swedish and Swedish society

Applicants aged 16 to 66 must show Swedish at CEFR B1 for reading and listening and A2 for speaking and writing, plus knowledge of Swedish society (Migrationsverket). Nordic citizens applying for citizenship are exempt, as are stateless people born in Sweden who are under 21.

Grades that prove your Swedish include a pass in Swedish or Swedish as a second language from Year 9, upper secondary school, folk high school or Komvux, or a pass at the highest level of SFI. Our SFI guide explains how to enrol. For society knowledge, a pass in social studies from Year 9, upper secondary school or Komvux counts.

If you have no approved grades, you take the citizenship test. The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) runs it:

• The civics test was first held in August 2026 as a trial sitting.
• It is in Swedish, on paper, with multiple-choice questions offering four options and one correct answer.
• You can only register after receiving a letter from Migrationsverket. When UHR last updated its page on 17 August 2026, registration was closed and the next test date and registration fee had not been announced.

The Swedish language test will arrive in autumn 2027 at the earliest. Until then, a pass in the Tisus test counts, and during the transition other recognised tests such as Folkuniversitet's Swedex can also be used.

An orderly and honourable life

Migrationsverket checks records with the Swedish Enforcement Authority, the Police and the Security Service, and searches the Schengen Information System. Unpaid taxes, fines or maintenance payments can lead to a refusal, and after debts are paid a waiting time of usually two years applies (Migrationsverket).

After a crime, you must wait a qualifying period. Selected guideline periods from the same page:

Convictions abroad count if the act is a crime under Swedish law.

Citizenship for children

Since 6 June 2026, a child can no longer be included in a parent's application (Migrationsverket). The legal guardian applies separately, all guardians must approve, and a child aged 12 or older must consent and sign with their own e-ID or on a paper form. The fee is SEK 475.

The child normally needs three years of residence (two if stateless and under 15), or five years from age 15. Nordic children need two years at any age. From 15 the conduct requirement applies, and from 16 the knowledge requirement. Children do not need to support themselves.

Nordic adults have a separate route: after five years in Sweden they can file a notification for SEK 475, and in some custody situations their children under 18 become citizens at the same time.

Dual citizenship

Sweden allows dual and multiple citizenship. Whether you keep your current nationality depends on your other country's law. The same page notes the main risk: if your other country does not recognise your Swedish citizenship, Swedish authorities may have limited ability to help you there.

Fees, how to apply and waiting times

The adult fee is SEK 2,900, and it is not refunded if you are refused (Migrationsverket). Stateless people with a refugee status declaration, and stateless refugees holding Migrationsverket travel documents, pay nothing. The e-service requires an e-ID, an email address and a Visa or Mastercard. Without those, send the paper form to Migrationsverket, Medborgarskapsenheten, 601 70 Norrköping.

On 27 September 2026, the same page showed that 75% of adult citizenship cases decided in the last 12 months were decided within 53 months. For Nordic notifications, the Nordic citizens page showed 5 months. Because pending cases were moved onto the new rules on 6 June 2026, check that you meet the 2026 requirements before paying a fee you cannot get back.