Sweden's new citizenship requirements also apply to applications already filed
Eight years of residence instead of five, knowledge of Swedish and of Swedish society, and an income of about 20,000 kronor a month. The Riksdag voted transitional provisions down by 147 to 146 on 29 April 2026, so the requirements catch the roughly 100,000 people already in the queue. The Social Democrats promise a law giving them the old rules back.
Sweden's new citizenship rules took effect on 6 June 2026 with no transitional provisions. That was a choice the Riksdag made. On 29 April the chamber refused them by 147 votes to 146, with 56 members absent. The reservation had come from the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Centre Party and the Greens. The Migration Agency describes the consequence on its news page of 5 June: every application is judged under the new rules after 6 June, including one filed earlier and not yet decided.
The main residence requirement rose from five years to eight. The Migration Agency now also requires applicants to support themselves: at least three income base amounts a year, which it puts at about 20,000 kronor a month before tax, from work and not benefits. A partner's income does not count, and neither do savings. Applicants aged 16 to 66 must also show knowledge of Swedish and of Swedish society. The citizenship tests are being introduced in stages, the civics part first in August 2026 and a Swedish language test later.
The Migration Agency refused a man resident in Sweden since 2019, who applied in summer 2025 and still met the five-year rule. The refusal came on 9 June 2026, three days after the change. He appealed. On 10 September the Administrative Court in Malmö, sitting as a migration court, found nothing in Swedish or EU law against applying the new rules to an application filed before they existed. He is not alone: the Fair Transition campaign tells The Local that the Gothenburg migration court had already refused several such appeals.
The civics test has been sat once. UHR, the Swedish Council for Higher Education, counted 850 to 880 people at Stockholmsmässan in Älvsjö on 15 August. Several told The Local that questions fell outside Sverige i fokus, the booklet UHR said covered everything. UHR set the test's language at the lower intermediate level of Swedish that citizenship requires. A question on global warming used nederbörd, a formal word for rainfall, where the booklet said regn. Results come in October, with the pass mark set from how this first cohort did.
On 12 August The Local counted roughly 100,000 applicants who filed before 6 June without a decision. The same day Magdalena Andersson told Radio Sweden that the Social Democrats want a law judging them under the rules that applied when they filed. That would mean five years of residence, and no language, civics or income requirement. The four parties that voted for transitional provisions in April hold 176 of the Riksdag's 349 seats, where 175 is a majority. On 20 September Sweden has no government, and the new rules stand.
”When there are no transitional provisions accompanying a legislative change, the legislature's intentions are often decisive in determining which law should be applied.”
The numbers
What the comparison shows
Where they agree
The Migration Agency and the Migration Court in Malmö say the same thing, but they are not two independent sources confirming each other. One body reviewed the other and found it right.
Where they split
The appeal argued the opposite in law, and lost. The man's representatives said that applying a new law retroactively to someone's disadvantage is contrary to the principles of legitimate expectations and equality before the law, and that EU law imposes requirements of predictability and legal certainty. They put in written opinions from a professor of constitutional law and an associate professor of European law. Löndahl's bench went through the same principles and came out the other way.
What nobody is saying
No source here says what happens to the people already refused since 6 June. Nor does any say whether the Malmö ruling has been appealed to the Migration Court of Appeal, whether a transitional-rules law would reach cases already decided, or when such a law could be put before parliament. And none carries UHR's answer to what Collins and other test-takers said about the booklet.
Who says what
Led the reinforced bench that decided Malmö's first appeal against the new requirements. He points out that the change was preceded by a well-publicised debate and a vote in parliament, so its intention cannot be doubted.
”När det saknas övergångsbestämmelser till en lagändring är ofta lagstiftarens avsikter av avgörande betydelse för vilken lag som ska tillämpas.”When there are no transitional provisions accompanying a legislative change, the legislature's intentions are often decisive in determining which law should be applied.
Wants parliament to repair the missing transitional provision after the fact, with a law judging anyone who applied before 6 June under the older rules. The promise came from her party's migration spokesperson Ida Karkiainen, and Andersson was asked whether it would hold after an election.
”Yes, it does”Yes, it does
Sat the first civics test and says at least three questions were about the government in office that August, which the booklet Sverige i fokus did not cover. He still thought he had passed, putting his score at 80 or 90 percent.
”The questions were decent – some quite easy and some really hard to understand due to the level of language used.”The questions were decent – some quite easy and some really hard to understand due to the level of language used.
Our coverage
- Migration court rules new citizenship rules apply to pending applicationsFriday, 11 September 2026
- The first citizenship test was held in Älvsjö, with test-takers complaining about the languageTuesday, 18 August 2026
- Nearly a thousand people sat the first citizenship testSunday, 16 August 2026
- Andersson promises transitional rules for citizenship applicationsThursday, 13 August 2026