Review of Swedish ex­cep­tion­al­ism in na­tion­al­ity law

De­vel­op­ment sum­mary

Chris­ti­an Fernán­dez’s Glob­al­cit post dis­cusses the new, stricter rules for Swedish cit­izen­ship that entered into force on 6 June 2026. It re­ports that the res­id­ence period was raised from five to eight years for most ap­plic­ants, from four to five years for state­less per­sons and to seven years for refugees, and that Swedish cit­izen­ship now car­ries, for the first time, lan­guage and civic-knowledge tests to­geth­er with stricter re­quire­ments of eco­nom­ic self-sufficiency and good char­ac­ter. The post also says that fa­cil­it­ated ac­quis­i­tion by de­clar­a­tion is being phased out and that, be­cause the rules apply im­me­di­ately, pending ap­plic­a­tions must meet the new cri­ter­ia.