What's the state of Sweden's bids to revoke residence permits and citizenship?
Sweden’s government announced plans to make it possible to revoke residence permits and citizenship for some individuals just after the election in its Tidö agreement with the Sweden Democrats. What’s the status of those proposals so far?
Each of these subheadings in bold is a topic addressed in the Tidö Agreement between the four parties, the deal that allowed Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing coalition to take office after Sweden's 2022 election with the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats.
We’ll take a look at each proposal before looking into where it’s up to at the time of writing.
- Launch an inquiry on revoking residence permits for foreigners with a ‘flawed way of life’
What’s this proposal about?
In the Tidö agreement, the government pledged, among other things, to propose policy to make it possible to deport foreigners for bristande vandel, a somewhat vague term which translates roughly to having a flawed way of life or being of bad repute.
Under bristande vandel, the Tidö agreement mentions things like associating with criminal gangs or organisations, prostitution, drug abuse or membership of extremist organisations.
What's the status of this proposal?
On November 21st, a government inquiry was launched looking into the possibility of revoking residence permits for foreigners who commit crimes or have a bristande levnadssätt (literally: flawed way of life). An inquiry is the first stage of the legislative process, after which the government can choose whether or not to go through with its proposals as a bill.
According to current Swedish law, people who apply for a permanent residence permit already have to be able to show they “live an orderly life” – a criminal record could for example be grounds for refusing a permanent permit. The government in the new inquiry wants to extend this to include other factors than having committed crimes, as well as extend it to temporary permits.
The exact details will be worked out by the inquiry, but it could mean that permits could be refused or revoked for, for example, benefits cheating or abusing the welfare system in other ways, having large debts or being involved in or associating with gang crime or terrorist activities. It could also, according to the government, include statements that threaten democracy or the Swedish system.
There is disagreement between the coalition partners about whether or not things like serious substance abuse should be included.
The inquiry will present its report by January 15th 2025.
- Investigate the possibility of revoking residence permits in other cases, for example for people who no longer fulfil the requirements for permits
What’s this proposal about?
Here, the government pledged to look into a number of issues surrounding the withdrawal of residence permits, with the goal of proposing changes to legislation which would make it possible to withdraw residence permits regardless of the category of permit if the requirements for permits are no longer fulfilled.
It also pledged to look at what measures should be taken to make it possible to withdraw residence permits granted to asylum seekers if there is no longer a valid case for seeking asylum, for example if the conflict in their homeland has ended.
What's the status of this proposal?
This is covered across two inquiries. It's addressed in the inquiry mentioned above, from November 21st, which stated that “the aim is that there should be more possibilities to revoke a residence permit when it is justified, for example when the conditions for an individual permit are no longer, or never have been, met,” and also in the October 5th inquiry mentioned in the next section of this article, in the case of asylum seekers in particular.
- Investigate the circumstances under which permanent residence permits could be changed into temporary residence permits (for asylum seekers)
What’s this proposal about?
Here, the government pledged to “phase out” permanent residence permits for asylum seekers, in favour of a new system which would be based on temporary permits. It would, under this policy, aim to give affected permanent residence permit holders the possibility to gain citizenship before a certain deadline.
What's the status of this proposal?
On October 5th, the government launched an inquiry on tightening asylum rules to the EU legal minimum, which will include an examination of how the law could be changed to stop asylum seekers from getting permanent residency, and also how permanent residency could be stripped away from those who have already been awarded it.
Judge Josephine Boswell, who has been appointed to lead the inquiry, is being asked to examine how residency permits can be recalled if the situation in the home countries of those granted asylum changes so that they are no longer at risk.
The directive also states that "those affected [by phasing out permanent residence permits] should be given realistic opportunities to gain citizenship".
In addition to this, Boswell is being asked to look at how clear-cut cases, where the applicant clearly has no grounds for asylum, can be handled in a rapid way, without going through a full assessment process, and at how resources such as translators might be restricted. Under EU rules, member states are only required to supply translators in situations where they are necessary for a fair legal process.
Boswell has until January 2025 to submit her conclusions on which laws need to be changed to reach the EU legal minimum.
- Propose policy to revoke citizenship for people with dual citizenship who have committed crimes which “threaten the system”, or whose citizenship was granted based on incorrect information
What’s this proposal about?
Under this policy, the government would like to include activity in a criminal gang as “crimes which threaten the system”, making it possible to deport gang members who don’t have citizenship and withdraw citizenship from those who do, if this would not make them stateless.
What's the status of this proposal?
A "constitutional committee" with representatives from all parliamentary parties was formed this June, which was tasked with, among other things, looking at whether the right to citizenship as mentioned in the Swedish constitution should be changed so that it would be possible to revoke citizenship for dual citizens if they had committed “system-threatening crimes, crimes against humanity, certain other international crimes, or other crimes of a serious nature, as well as those whose citizenship was granted due to incorrect information or through other improper means”.
The committee will assess this issue and any potential changes to the constitution which will be required, and will propose which changes should be made, if any. It will present its final report by December 1st, 2024.
It will only look at the possibility of revoking Swedish citizenship for dual citizens, but Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer went one step further in a recent interview with public broadcaster SVT, and suggested that international law allows citizenship to be revoked even if it would leave the person in question stateless in cases where the citizenship was granted due to bribes, threats or false information.
Comments
See Also
Each of these subheadings in bold is a topic addressed in the Tidö Agreement between the four parties, the deal that allowed Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing coalition to take office after Sweden's 2022 election with the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats.
We’ll take a look at each proposal before looking into where it’s up to at the time of writing.
- Launch an inquiry on revoking residence permits for foreigners with a ‘flawed way of life’
What’s this proposal about?
In the Tidö agreement, the government pledged, among other things, to propose policy to make it possible to deport foreigners for bristande vandel, a somewhat vague term which translates roughly to having a flawed way of life or being of bad repute.
Under bristande vandel, the Tidö agreement mentions things like associating with criminal gangs or organisations, prostitution, drug abuse or membership of extremist organisations.
What's the status of this proposal?
On November 21st, a government inquiry was launched looking into the possibility of revoking residence permits for foreigners who commit crimes or have a bristande levnadssätt (literally: flawed way of life). An inquiry is the first stage of the legislative process, after which the government can choose whether or not to go through with its proposals as a bill.
According to current Swedish law, people who apply for a permanent residence permit already have to be able to show they “live an orderly life” – a criminal record could for example be grounds for refusing a permanent permit. The government in the new inquiry wants to extend this to include other factors than having committed crimes, as well as extend it to temporary permits.
The exact details will be worked out by the inquiry, but it could mean that permits could be refused or revoked for, for example, benefits cheating or abusing the welfare system in other ways, having large debts or being involved in or associating with gang crime or terrorist activities. It could also, according to the government, include statements that threaten democracy or the Swedish system.
There is disagreement between the coalition partners about whether or not things like serious substance abuse should be included.
The inquiry will present its report by January 15th 2025.
- Investigate the possibility of revoking residence permits in other cases, for example for people who no longer fulfil the requirements for permits
What’s this proposal about?
Here, the government pledged to look into a number of issues surrounding the withdrawal of residence permits, with the goal of proposing changes to legislation which would make it possible to withdraw residence permits regardless of the category of permit if the requirements for permits are no longer fulfilled.
It also pledged to look at what measures should be taken to make it possible to withdraw residence permits granted to asylum seekers if there is no longer a valid case for seeking asylum, for example if the conflict in their homeland has ended.
What's the status of this proposal?
This is covered across two inquiries. It's addressed in the inquiry mentioned above, from November 21st, which stated that “the aim is that there should be more possibilities to revoke a residence permit when it is justified, for example when the conditions for an individual permit are no longer, or never have been, met,” and also in the October 5th inquiry mentioned in the next section of this article, in the case of asylum seekers in particular.
- Investigate the circumstances under which permanent residence permits could be changed into temporary residence permits (for asylum seekers)
What’s this proposal about?
Here, the government pledged to “phase out” permanent residence permits for asylum seekers, in favour of a new system which would be based on temporary permits. It would, under this policy, aim to give affected permanent residence permit holders the possibility to gain citizenship before a certain deadline.
What's the status of this proposal?
On October 5th, the government launched an inquiry on tightening asylum rules to the EU legal minimum, which will include an examination of how the law could be changed to stop asylum seekers from getting permanent residency, and also how permanent residency could be stripped away from those who have already been awarded it.
Judge Josephine Boswell, who has been appointed to lead the inquiry, is being asked to examine how residency permits can be recalled if the situation in the home countries of those granted asylum changes so that they are no longer at risk.
The directive also states that "those affected [by phasing out permanent residence permits] should be given realistic opportunities to gain citizenship".
In addition to this, Boswell is being asked to look at how clear-cut cases, where the applicant clearly has no grounds for asylum, can be handled in a rapid way, without going through a full assessment process, and at how resources such as translators might be restricted. Under EU rules, member states are only required to supply translators in situations where they are necessary for a fair legal process.
Boswell has until January 2025 to submit her conclusions on which laws need to be changed to reach the EU legal minimum.
- Propose policy to revoke citizenship for people with dual citizenship who have committed crimes which “threaten the system”, or whose citizenship was granted based on incorrect information
What’s this proposal about?
Under this policy, the government would like to include activity in a criminal gang as “crimes which threaten the system”, making it possible to deport gang members who don’t have citizenship and withdraw citizenship from those who do, if this would not make them stateless.
What's the status of this proposal?
A "constitutional committee" with representatives from all parliamentary parties was formed this June, which was tasked with, among other things, looking at whether the right to citizenship as mentioned in the Swedish constitution should be changed so that it would be possible to revoke citizenship for dual citizens if they had committed “system-threatening crimes, crimes against humanity, certain other international crimes, or other crimes of a serious nature, as well as those whose citizenship was granted due to incorrect information or through other improper means”.
The committee will assess this issue and any potential changes to the constitution which will be required, and will propose which changes should be made, if any. It will present its final report by December 1st, 2024.
It will only look at the possibility of revoking Swedish citizenship for dual citizens, but Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer went one step further in a recent interview with public broadcaster SVT, and suggested that international law allows citizenship to be revoked even if it would leave the person in question stateless in cases where the citizenship was granted due to bribes, threats or false information.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.