For becoming a Swedish citizen, you need to live in Sweden for a certain period of time.
The required period can vary from case to case. Some people have to live for 5 year continuously. Other rules apply for those who are stateless or refugees.
To become a Swedish citizen, you need to live in Sweden for 5 years continuously and you want to continue living in future aswell. The time of the residence permit that leads to a permanent residence permit is counted as a period of habitual residence.
If you had a permanent residence permit or a residence permit for settlement when you entered Sweden, you count the duration of stay from your date of arrival. Otherwise, the duration of stay is calculated from the date on which you submitted your application for a residence permit and were approved. If your application was initially rejected and you then submitted a new application, the time is counted from the date on which you received approval.
EU/EEA citizens and their family members should complete and fulfill the requirements of residence permit in order to get the Swedish citizenship.
You need to conduct yourself well. Your past will be checked by the authorities.
Any information about your debts and crimes will be checked by the Swedish Migration Agency.
The information is requested from:
Having debts in private companies also lead to rejection in your application. You have to remain debt free at least for 2 years before you can apply for a Swedish citizenship.
Swedish law allow a person to have dual nationality or even multiple nationalities. Having multiple or dual nationalities would not affect on the rights of being a Swede.
Swedish Citizenship: The New Rules From 6 June 2026
Sweden changed its citizenship rules on 6 June 2026, and there are no transitional arrangements. The new requirements apply to pending applications as well as new ones, regardless of when you filed. If your application is sitting in the queue, it is now being assessed against the new rules, not the ones in force when you submitted it.
This is the single most important thing for anyone with a citizenship application in progress to understand, and it is catching a large number of people by surprise.
The new residence periods
The general requirement rose from five years to eight years of habitual residence in Sweden. Shorter periods apply to specific groups:
| Your situation | Years required | Previously |
|---|---|---|
| General requirement | 8 years | 5 years |
| Nordic citizen or former Swedish citizen | 2 years | 2 years |
| Stateless | 5 years | 4 years |
| Recognised refugee | 7 years | 4 years |
| Applicant under 21 | 7 years | Varied |
| Married to or partnered with a Swedish citizen | 7 years, with 5 years of cohabitation | 3 years |
| Unable to prove identity | 10 years | Varied |
The increase for spouses of Swedish citizens, from three years to seven, is the largest single change and affects a great many families.
The citizenship test
From 6 June 2026, applicants aged 16 to 66 must demonstrate knowledge of the Swedish language and of Swedish society. The test is being introduced in stages. The first part, covering knowledge of Swedish society, began in August 2026. The Swedish language component follows later. Testing is administered through the Swedish Council for Higher Education.
If you are outside the 16 to 66 age range, this requirement does not apply to you.
The self-support requirement
You must be able to support yourself through your own income, amounting to at least three income base amounts per year. In practice that is approximately SEK 20,000 per month before tax.
There is a second condition that is easy to miss: you may not have received income support (försörjningsstöd) for more than six months in total over the past three years. Periods of unemployment or parental leave supported by benefits need checking carefully against this before you apply.
Conduct
A qualifying waiting period applies after a criminal conviction, and that period has been extended under the new rules. How long you must wait depends on the offence and the sentence. If you have any conviction on record, including matters you may consider minor or historic, have the position assessed before you file rather than after a refusal.
What this means if you already applied
Because there are no transitional arrangements, an application submitted before 6 June 2026 that has not yet been decided is assessed under the new rules. Concretely:
- If you applied at five years of residence, you may now not qualify until eight
- If you applied as the spouse of a Swedish citizen at three years, the requirement is now seven with five years of cohabitation
- You may now face a test requirement that did not exist when you applied
- Your income over the past three years may now be examined in a way it was not before
A refusal is not necessarily the end of it. Where a decision contains a legal or procedural error, or where the individual assessment the law requires was not properly carried out, there are routes: reconsideration by Migrationsverket under the Administrative Procedure Act (Förvaltningslagen 2017:900), or appeal to the Migration Court. Deadlines are short.
Permanent residence first
Most applicants reach citizenship via permanent residence. The two are assessed separately and against different criteria, so qualifying for one does not guarantee the other. If citizenship is now further away than you expected under the new eight-year rule, securing permanent residence is usually the sensible interim step, since it gives an unlimited right to live and work in Sweden while the clock runs.
Frequently asked questions
How many years do you need to live in Sweden to become a citizen?
Eight years of habitual residence under the general rule since 6 June 2026, up from five. Nordic citizens need two years, stateless people five, recognised refugees seven, and spouses or partners of Swedish citizens seven with five years of cohabitation.
Do the new rules apply to my pending application?
Yes. The new rules apply from 6 June 2026 without transitional arrangements, so pending applications are assessed under them regardless of the date they were submitted.
Is there a Swedish citizenship test?
Yes, for applicants aged 16 to 66. The society knowledge component began in August 2026, with the language component to follow.
How much income do I need for Swedish citizenship?
At least three income base amounts per year, approximately SEK 20,000 per month before tax, and no more than six months of income support over the past three years.
How long does a Swedish citizenship application take?
Processing times vary with the completeness of the application and the category. Applications that trigger requests for further evidence take substantially longer, which is why the quality of the initial filing matters more than most applicants expect.
Get your citizenship position assessed
Sweden Relocators AB has handled Swedish citizenship applications since 2015. Given the June 2026 changes, the most useful thing we do right now is tell people honestly whether they still qualify, what their revised date is, and whether an application already in the queue is worth leaving there. We also handle reconsiderations and appeals where a decision has gone the wrong way.
Call +46 72 327 62 76, message the same number on WhatsApp, or email info@swedenrelocators.se. Amiralsgatan 86E, 214 37 Malmö.
Source: Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket), “New rules for Swedish citizenship from 6 June 2026”. General information, not individual legal advice. Rules and figures change; last reviewed 26 August 2026.
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