Reader question: Can I apply for Swedish citizenship through ancestry?
For Irish citizenship, it's enough to have a grandparent, for Greek, a great-grandparent, and for an Italian one all you need to do is prove descent from someone born since the country's foundation in 1861. So what's the situation in Sweden?
Italy's rules for citizenship by descent are among the most generous in the world, providing a bureaucratically tangled but relatively open route to an EU passport for Italians in the US, Australia, and elsewhere.
Sadly for the descendants of the more than a million Swedes who emigrated to the US between 1865 and 1915, Sweden is not anywhere near as generous.
Even having a Swedish grandparent, let alone a great grandparent or ancestor, does not provide any advantages when it comes to applying for Swedish citizenship. Indeed, even those born abroad to a Swedish parent can have problems.
READ ALSO: How to become a Swedish citizen
What are the citizenship rules for those born to one or more Swedish parents?
Any child born in Sweden who has at least one Swedish parent automatically becomes a Swedish citizen at birth.
But for those born outside of the country, it can be more complicated, as the rules changed on April 1st, 2015.
READ ALSO: Can you lose your Swedish citizenship if you've never lived in Sweden?
If a child is born before April 1st, 2015
A child with a Swedish mother automatically becomes a Swedish citizen regardless of where or when they were born.
But according to the Migration Agency's website, a child with a Swedish father, but not a Swedish mother, who was born outside Sweden between July 1st, 2001 and April 1st 2015 does not automatically become a Swedish citizen unless the couple were married at the time.
If the couple gets married after the birth and the child is still under 18, then the child can become a Swedish citizen through 'legitimation'.
If the couple does not get married, however, it is still possible for the child to become a Swedish citizen, but they must also meet the following requirements:
- The child must have a permanent residence permit, right of residence or a residence card in Sweden
- The child must be able to verify his or her identity
- If the child has turned 15, he or she must have had a residence permit for settlement for the past three years
- If the child is over 12, he or she must sign a document saying they want to become a Swedish citizen
If the child is born after April 1st, 2015
If a child is born abroad to at least one Swedish parent after April 1st, 2015, they then automatically become a Swedish citizen regardless of whether they are born to a Swedish father or mother, even if the Swedish parent has died by the time of the birth.
Parents can register the birth with the Swedish Tax Agency here.
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Italy's rules for citizenship by descent are among the most generous in the world, providing a bureaucratically tangled but relatively open route to an EU passport for Italians in the US, Australia, and elsewhere.
Sadly for the descendants of the more than a million Swedes who emigrated to the US between 1865 and 1915, Sweden is not anywhere near as generous.
Even having a Swedish grandparent, let alone a great grandparent or ancestor, does not provide any advantages when it comes to applying for Swedish citizenship. Indeed, even those born abroad to a Swedish parent can have problems.
READ ALSO: How to become a Swedish citizen
What are the citizenship rules for those born to one or more Swedish parents?
Any child born in Sweden who has at least one Swedish parent automatically becomes a Swedish citizen at birth.
But for those born outside of the country, it can be more complicated, as the rules changed on April 1st, 2015.
READ ALSO: Can you lose your Swedish citizenship if you've never lived in Sweden?
If a child is born before April 1st, 2015
A child with a Swedish mother automatically becomes a Swedish citizen regardless of where or when they were born.
But according to the Migration Agency's website, a child with a Swedish father, but not a Swedish mother, who was born outside Sweden between July 1st, 2001 and April 1st 2015 does not automatically become a Swedish citizen unless the couple were married at the time.
If the couple gets married after the birth and the child is still under 18, then the child can become a Swedish citizen through 'legitimation'.
If the couple does not get married, however, it is still possible for the child to become a Swedish citizen, but they must also meet the following requirements:
- The child must have a permanent residence permit, right of residence or a residence card in Sweden
- The child must be able to verify his or her identity
- If the child has turned 15, he or she must have had a residence permit for settlement for the past three years
- If the child is over 12, he or she must sign a document saying they want to become a Swedish citizen
If the child is born after April 1st, 2015
If a child is born abroad to at least one Swedish parent after April 1st, 2015, they then automatically become a Swedish citizen regardless of whether they are born to a Swedish father or mother, even if the Swedish parent has died by the time of the birth.
Parents can register the birth with the Swedish Tax Agency here.
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