The Local spoke with Åsa Holmes, head of the Gothenburg citizenship unit at the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket), to get some key questions answered for the 100,000 people with citizenship applications currently in the agency's backlog.
Here's what you need to know.
We've heard that the Swedish Migration Agency is trying to process as many applications as possible before June 6. Is this true?
It's not true in that way. We're always trying to be as efficient as possible, but there's no special effort to target applications ahead of the change in rules. We are processing applications continuously and in order, and according to our regular prioritisation rules, where we are prioritising older cases. We're also prioritising cases where the Court has said that we need to decide these cases. So we're doing both, but it's just in line with how we work normally.
Is the agency expecting any processing delays after June 6th, with the need to implement all these new rules?
There will possibly be some delays as more steps will be introduced. It's quite difficult to say how it will pan out, really, but we are expecting an initial slight delay because we have to do staff training, and there's an implementation period, but we don't think that that will affect the applicants that much. Once we're up and running, we think we can get quite efficient with it, but obviously there's going to be more steps, which will take more time per case, but we we don't anticipate big delays.
After June 6th, how will the Swedish Migration Agency handle assessment of citizenship applications that have been in the queue?
All applications in the queue will be assessed according to the new rules, including those submitted prior to the changes. There are, as decided by parliament, no transitional provisions. If an application has not yet been decided by June 6th, it will be assessed according to the new requirements once it gets allocated a case officer. Then the applicants will be given the opportunity to supplement their application before a decision is made.
So, after June 6th, a case officer will not just reject an application that does not meet the new rules, they will first reach out to the applicant to see if they can provide any supplementary material to prove that they meet the new rules. Is that correct?
Yes, that's correct. So we won't be rejecting any applications without contacting the applicant first to see if they have some information that can be provided towards the new criteria.
Ludvig Aspling, the migration spokesperson for the Sweden Democrats, has been saying that people currently in the citizenship application queue will be able to pause their applications until they meet the new criteria. Is this true?
This, I think, is a matter for the political representative to clarify what is meant by that. We don't have any knowledge of such an arrangement about pausing applications, so you're going to have to ask him about clarifying that point.
So, to your knowledge, is there any way for an applicant to request a pause on their application until they meet the new criteria?
It's not possible at the moment to have a pause in your application. Once you get allocated a case officer, that's when you have to meet the requirements of the new law, if it's after June 6th. If you don't meet the requirements once we're assessing your application, it will be rejected.
So if an applicant is rejected because they no longer meet the requirements under the new law, even though they did when they applied, will they receive a refund?
No, as part of our standard process at the moment, you don't receive a refund once your application is rejected. What you can do if you feel that you might not meet the requirements, is to withdraw your application and request a refund. Whether and how much you are refunded at that stage, depends on where you are in the processing. So if you've already been allocated a case worker who's been working with your case for quite a while, it's highly unlikely that you will get any refund, but if your application is still in the queue, you can receive up to half of your application fee as a refund.
If applicants who are rejected in this way, or who only receive a partial refund or no refund, if they then wish to apply for citizenship again once they meet the new requirements, will they have to pay again for a new application? Or will the fee for a second citizenship application perhaps be waived for those whose citizenship applications were rejected due to the rules being changed while their applications were in process?
No, we won't have any arrangements like that. If you apply again, you need to pay a new application fee. We have people that apply again who have been rejected in the past. It's the same thing; you have to apply and pay every time you apply.
So there's no special consideration for people who paid a fee when the rules were different?
No.
Is there anything else that applicants in the queue should know?
Just a final clarification that all applications in the queue will be assessed according to the new rules after June 6th, and a refund is only possible if the applicant chooses to withdraw their application and requests it – and only in certain cases, depending on how far the processing of their application has progressed.
As of today, you can also get more information on our website regarding these new rules, so we recommend that you go and have a look there as well.
This interview has been shortened and lightly edited for clarity.
Comments (25)