A government inquiry into tightening the rules for Swedish citizenship, by for example extending the residency requirement from the standard five to eight years and rolling out language and civics tests, is due to present its conclusions in January.
In an opinion piece, far-right Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson argues no citizenships should be granted until the tougher rules have been introduced.
“Unfortunately, tidying up policies takes time, which means we seriously have to consider alternative solutions as long as the inquiry is ongoing,” he writes in the Aftonbladet tabloid.
“We have long insisted on a moratorium on citizenship in our negotiations with the government. The implication is straightforward: stop all new issuances of citizenship until the new, stricter regulations are in place.”
His comments come after Christian Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch argued in an interview with Aftonbladet that the Migration Agency should slow down its processing of citizenship applications until the new rules are in place.
The Local has on several occasions written about the long waits for citizenship, and the Parliamentary Ombudsmen – the Swedish watchdog that ensures public authorities follow the law – is currently investigating the agency over its long processing times.
According to the Migration Agency, 75 percent of recently closed cases received a decision within 31 months. Reports from The Local’s readers vary greatly, from some who receive citizenship within weeks to some who have to wait years for a decision.
Åkesson writes that the government parties were not interested in a moratorium on citizenship when the Sweden Democrats tried to push for one when it was time to renegotiate the Tidö Agreement – the deal that enabled the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals to take office with the support of the far right – last year.
But he adds that Busch’s recent comments suggest that the government is open to discussing the issue, “which is a conversation we are keen to be a constructive part of”.
“We maintain, however, that we should be able to go further than simply calling for a slower pace. If the Migration Agency were to instead pause the processing of citizenship cases completely, we would be able to prevent the issuing of tens of thousands of new citizenships,” he adds.
Between January and October this year, the Migration Agency issued 55,301 Swedish citizenships (including children and applicants who had their application approved on appeal by a court). A total of 89,624 applications are currently waiting for a decision.
The Local has reached out to the office of the migration minister (who is a member of the Moderate Party) to find out whether or not his party or the government back the proposals to either slow down or halt citizenships, but has yet to receive a reply.
In 2022, a newly-elected member of parliament for the Moderates called for a moratorium on citizenship until the government’s tougher rules come into place.
Top ten nationalities who have become Swedish citizens this year
Syria: 6,748
Afghanistan: 5,272
Eritrea: 4,850
Poland: 2,342
Somalia: 2,308
India: 2,206
Iraq: 2,031
Romania: 1,158
Germany: 1,154
Turkey: 977
(1,353 citizenships were issued to stateless applicants and 983 were issued to applicants whose nationality was registered as unknown)
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