What do we know about the tests so far?
The tests were originally floated by the Social Democrat government under Stefan Löfven back in 2019, with a government inquiry reporting its findings in January 2021.
The inquiry proposed two tests, which would both be digital – one testing applicants’ level of Swedish and another in “basic civics”.
It concluded that applicants for citizenship should be able to listen to and read Swedish at B1, the third of the six levels in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), equivalent to having completed level D, the highest level in the Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) course.
This is a fairly high level of Swedish. It’s enough to get the gist of what’s in Swedish newspapers, listen to the radio, or to follow a lecture without too much difficulty.
When it comes to speaking or writing Swedish, the inquiry suggested requiring a lower level, A2, or the second level in the CEFR. This is equivalent to SFI level C.
The civics test would test “basic knowledge needed to live and function in Swedish society, focusing on democracy and the democratic process”. It would be conducted in Swedish at a B1 level, based on the content of a book produced specifically for the test.
What exactly would the civics test cover?
We don’t know yet, but here’s a list of the topics proposed by the inquiry back in 2021:
- Sweden's geographical and geopolitical situation.
- Historical events of importance for what Sweden is like today (agrarian society, industrialisation, world wars, the postwar period, technology society and digitalisation).
- How traditions are of importance and how they have affected Swedish society.
- Structure of Sweden’s welfare services and their financing.
- Labour market, working life and private finances.
- The importance of the climate and environment for our living conditions and the importance of sustainable development.
- Integration and segregation.
- Sweden’s constitution, the Swedish legal system and principles for the rule of law.
- Sweden’s democratic and political organisation at local and national level.
- Political elections and parties in Sweden. Popular movements and universal suffrage.
- What it means to be an active, responsible and engaged citizen.
- Familiarity both with fairness, equity and gender equality and with human rights and democratic values, principles and processes.
- Familiarity with world religions and outlooks on life and what importance they have for people’s identity, group membership and lifestyle.
- General knowledge about the EU and other important international cooperation.
In January 2025, a different inquiry on Swedish citizenship proposed adding another section to the civics test on “The role of media as disseminators of information, formers of opinion and examiners of society’s power structures,” as well as ensuring that information on the rights of children according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are included in the section on human rights.
The 2021 inquiry proposed making the citizenship test textbook available digitally in Swedish and “ten immigrant languages”.
How often will the test be held, and how much would it cost?
It hasn't been formally decided yet, but the original inquiry proposed that the test be held regularly throughout the year, with the exact dates decided by the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR), the Swedish National Agency for Education and the institutions who would be responsible for arranging the test.
It also proposed a 2,000 kronor charge for the Swedish test and a 500 kronor charge for the civics test, with exceptions for stateless people who have been given a declaration of refugee status or a travel document by a Swedish authority.
You would be able to take the test more than once if you didn’t pass the first time, paying the same fee each time.
Would it be possible to prove knowledge of Swedish language or culture in some other way?
Yes, if the government chooses to follow the recommendations of the original 2021 inquiry.
That inquiry proposed that the following would be considered as equivalent to passing the Swedish language test:
- A pass in Swedish for Immigrants course D
- A pass in Swedish or Swedish as a Second Language from Year 9 of compulsory education, or a course in one of those subjects from upper secondary school or Komvux (municipal adult education) at basic or upper secondary level
- A pass in the Tisus test
- A pass in Danish, Norwegian or Swedish in a leaving certificate from a Nordic school or upper secondary school
It proposed that the following would be equivalent to a pass in the civics test:
- A pass in civics from Year 9 of compulsory education
- A pass in a civics course from upper secondary school or Komvux at basic or upper secondary level
- A pass in a course in social subjects from Komvux
Will there be any exemptions?
The 2021 inquiry proposed that the tests would only be required for people aged between 16 and 66, with exemptions for “special reasons”.
It adds that “special reasons” should “cover significant functional disabilities or other personal circumstances” which are “of a scale and duration that mean it is not reasonable to require that they prove knowledge.
Will these rules be applied retroactively?
Maybe.
The 2021 inquiry recommended that transitional rules should also be implemented, meaning that those who apply for citizenship before the tests come into force be judged based on the previous criteria (i.e. no tests) in order to ease the administrative burden on the Migration Agency and other authorities, who would otherwise have to contact applicants to get them to send in additional information.
Similarly, the 2025 inquiry, which mainly dealt with other new citizenship rules, which among other things included increasing the residency requirement from five to eight years, suggested that those rules should not be applied retroactively to applications already in the queue.
Despite this, Sweden’s Migration Minister Johan Forssell confirmed in February 2025 that the the current right-wing government intended to overrule this part of the latter inquiry’s conclusions, although he didn't specifically mention civics and language tests.
This means that the bill to be submitted to parliament based on the 2025 inquiry is likely to require the Migration Agency to judge applications based on the rules in place at the time the decision is made, rather than the rules in place at the time of application.
It’s not clear yet whether this includes the requirement to have passed the language and civics test, but it could happen.
When will the test be rolled out – can I take it already if I have an ongoing citizenship application?
You can’t take the citizenship tests yet – they don’t exist yet – although the government said in February 2025 that it aims to roll them out “as soon as possible”.
In a statement, the government wrote that in order to fast track the introduction of the test, it should be rolled out in two steps: first, a test which will quiz citizenship applicants on their knowledge of Swedish society as well as their Swedish reading and listening abilities.
It wrote that the second step, which will take longer to prepare, will test applicants on their written and oral Swedish.
The first step of the citizenship test should be introduced "as soon as possible, but by August 17th 2026 at the latest" the government said.
You could try and meet the requirements pre-emptively by taking one of the equivalent courses – a Komvux or SFI course in civics or Swedish from the list above, for example. Bear in mind, however, that the government may decide to overrule the inquiry’s proposals and that those courses may not be accepted as equivalent to a Swedish or civics test in the final law.
Is there any chance the tests will be implemented later?
Maybe. Stockholm and Gothenburg Universities have been tasked with putting together the language and civics tests by August 2026, but they argue that they don't have nearly enough time to do so.
In an official response to the government's proposal, the vice-chancellors of both universities questioned whether this is a task that the universities should be responsible for, as well as warning that the proposed deadline is too soon.
"The timeline we've been given for the first part of this task is around a year," Vendela Blomström, the person responsible for test construction at Stockholm University, told the Universitetsläraren newspaper in June 2025.
"If you know what is required to produce a test like this you understand that that's nowhere near enough time."
Blomström told the newspaper that this type of test usually takes at least three years to construct. On top of that, she said that the universities don't have the extra staff to put together tests, and it will take time to hire new people with the right skills.
In November 2025, the government agencies responsible said meeting the proposed start date of August 2026 is impossible, and that the Swedish test won't be ready by autumn 2028, at the earliest.
It's by no means definite that the government would give the universities the time they're asking for to develop the tests ‒ these tests are important policy for the government and it would most likely want them to be in place before the next election in September 2026.
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