Sweden wants to narrow path to citizenship

STOCKHOLM: Sweden´s government said on Tuesday it wanted to toughen the rules for obtaining Swedish nationality, with a government probe recommending “honest living” as a prerequisite.

It also recommended extending the required duration of time spent in the country prior to obtaining citizenship.

To become Swedish, a foreigner would have to live in Sweden for eight years -- as opposed to the current five -- pass a test on Swedish society and values, and do a language exam, according to the probe ordered by the centre-right government in 2023.

“Citizenship must be earned, not be handed out unconditionally,” Migration Minister Johan Forssell said in a post on Instagram.

Forssell told a press conference that citizenship also helped tie people of disparate background together under “a common Swedish identity”.

“This is particularly important at a time when Sweden has welcomed hundreds of thousands of people from many parts of the world in recent years,” he said.

Following a large influx of asylum seekers to Sweden during the big 2015 migrant wave, successive left- and right-wing governments have tightened immigration and asylum rules.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson´s centre-right minority government, which is propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, introduced ever harsher curbs after it came to power in 2022.

Forssell said it was “crucial” to “always be very clear about the values that must apply in Sweden”.

“The family is important but it does not stand above the law. There is equality between the sexes. You can marry whoever you want.

“Girls and boys have the right to bathe and play football. If you don´t accept that, Sweden is not the country for you,” the minister said.

The probe recommended tightening up the requirement for “honest living”.

In concrete terms, this would mean it will be harder for a person who has committed a misdemeanour or a crime, or who is in debt, to obtain Swedish nationality, said Kirsi Laakso Utvik, who led the probe.

Sweden once considered itself a haven for the war-weary and persecuted but has over the years struggled to integrate many of its newcomers.