OPINION: No transitional rules in new citizenship law will be an insult to Sweden's reputation

Local Sweden

26-05-2025

If the government is serious about its pledge to attract international talent, including transitional rules when Sweden rolls out next year's far-reaching citizenship reforms is the only way not to undermine that goal, writes migration researcher Patrick Henry Gallen.
Advertisement
The most drastic tightening of Sweden's citizenship law is set to go into force around this time next year. To a large extent, it is not the content of the new law, but how the government decides to implement that will mean everything.
Since the Tidö government came into power in 2022, tightening Sweden's comparatively loose citizenship law has been a priority.
Finally, in January of this year, the release of the inquiry revealed the contours of the new law: an almost doubled residence requirement, in practice a near-elimination of an easier pathway to citizenship for spouses of Swedish citizens, and new requirements for language competency, successful completion of a civics test, and economic self-sufficiency.
These changes should not come as a surprise: the governing coalition – and to some extent even the Social Democrats – have long criticised the few and loose requirements for acquisition of Swedish citizenship compared to most other European countries, and especially our Nordic neighbours.
In many ways at least some of these changes can be seen as reasonable: it is admittedly shocking that it is in theory currently possible to acquire Swedish citizenship without speaking or understanding a word of Swedish or knowing anything about the country.
On the other hand, the extension of the residency requirement – without providing expedited pathways to citizenship for those foreigners that demonstrate a high level of integration – can appear simply as an attempt to deny hard working people basic democratic rights to appease the hard right.
However, what is a surprise is current Migration Minister Johan Forssell's apparent unwillingness to follow the strong recommendation of the special investigator behind the new citizenship law for robust transitional rules.
His claim, echoed by some other members of the current government, is that transitional rules would pose a security risk: if prospective citizens are allowed to have their applications assessed according to the current, looser rules after the new framework comes into force, there is a risk that criminals or even terrorists could be afforded the rights and protections of Swedish citizenship, giving them access to sensitive jobs and, most notably, permanent protection from deportation.
This comes off as a compelling argument, especially as the security situation in Sweden is undoubtedly worse than it has been in decades. But a closer look at this argument reveals a number of critical weaknesses.
Advertisement
For one, while there are legitimate security concerns around granting citizenship, the Migration Agency has long had comprehensive security routines in collaboration with Sweden's security police, Säpo, to track and respond to potential threats and, most importantly, deny citizenship to individuals that they believe could or in fact do pose a threat to Sweden's national security.
Moreover, since the government directed the Migration Agency to step up security routines in the spring, additional, comprehensive measures have been put in place: all current applicants now must report to one of the Migration Agency's units to confirm their identity in person and must respond to a comprehensive multi-page questionnaire intended to identify any additional security risks or other reasons that could make an applicant ineligible to receive Swedish citizenship.
Implementing these new routines has effectively resulted in a full freeze on application approvals in the past two months, with only six applications being approved in April – an over 99 percent reduction compared to the Migration Agency's original prognosis before the measures were announced.
The consequences of this order are not short-lived: the Migration Agency's annual prognosis for processed applications for all of 2025 has recently been reduced by 26 percent.
Advertisement
Moreover, the government has argued that most intensive security checks are generally necessary given that Swedish citizenship is irrevocable. But that, too, is set to change if their efforts to amend the Swedish constitution are successful. If the reform is implemented, those who are deemed a significant threat to Sweden's national security could have their citizenship revoked at any point in the future, undermining much of Johan Forssell and his government's argument against transitional rules.
There is another crucial aspect here: failure to implement transitional rules would mark a huge departure from well established practices and support for rule of law in Sweden. Virtually every other European and Nordic country that has undertaken similar tightening of their citizenship laws have provided for robust transitional rules, including Switzerland, which Johan Forssell recently visited, namely to learn from the country's uniquely strict citizenship regime.
Refusing to implement the new law with transitional rules would not only set Sweden apart from its neighbours, but also signal that rule of law is not a concern of the government, setting an extremely dangerous precedent for further changes that could curtail foreigners' rights and damage Sweden's reputation for commitment to principles of fairness and openness.
There could also very well be knock-on effects of this course of action that undermine all of the government's expressed intentions of making Sweden a top destination for attracting and maintaining international talent. Why choose Sweden, with its already comparatively low wages, high taxes, and longer work week, when its leaders are now also signalling a willingness to trample on your rights and ability to settle in the country long-term?
Advertisement
The practical consequences of failing to implement the new law with transitional rules are likely the most striking: tens of thousands of applicants, the overwhelming majority of which are hard working, well-integrated people who love Sweden, stand to have their applicants summarily denied – some after up to six years of waiting for a decision – simply because a case worker might not manage to get around to their cases before the new law comes into force.
These unfortunate applicants won't just have to suffer the denial of democratic rights and opportunity for permanent settlement, but may also face extra financial punishment since the government has as of yet not said a word about whether the 1,500 kronor applicants paid to have their application processed will be refunded or credited to the nearly doubled fee that is set to accompany the new citizenship law.
Without transitional rules, the government will with one hand deny hardworking people democratic rights they would otherwise be eligible for and with the other effectively commit mass theft.
Advertisement
As recently enforced security measures are either already in full effect or on the horizon and the weight of legal convention and international examples abound, there is no reasonable argument for refusing to implement the law with transitional rules. The only explanation is that the government is bending to pressure from its right-wing populist coalition partners or has an interest in making an extremely costly and legally dubious political statement.
If the government truly wants to make Sweden an international talent hub and wants to clearly signal the importance of Swedish citizenship, as the migration minister has claimed time and time again, implementing the new law with the recommended transitional rules is the only way to not undermine its stated goals.
Patrick Henry Gallen is a researcher in geopolitics, migration and foresight. He is based in Malmö and is currently waiting for Swedish citizenship.