Sweden Democrats call for ban on new citizenships until tougher rules are in place

The Sweden Democrats are calling for a complete moratorium on Swedish citizenship until the right-wing government it helps prop up has introduced new and tougher rules.

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.

Advertisement
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.

Advertisement
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)

#Swedish citizenship
#Politics
#Immigration

Comments (7)

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.

Jerard

2024/11/22 09:39

This is preposterous! If they want to change the rules of the game that’s their prerogative but they should grandfather in people who moved to Sweden before the new laws go into effect. I moved from the USA under the assumption that I will get Swedish citizenship after 5 years of residency but if they increase that then I will return to the States (where I earned twice as much as I do and paid lower taxes to boot!)

Kourosh

2024/11/21 20:27

I’m an immigrant myself. I think it’s quite understandable from the perspective of Swedes, given the economic situation, rise in violence and crimes, rise in extremism specifically Islamic extremism, bad job market and low population which makes the Swedish cultural demography fragile. however, I think governments with this mindset and people backing them are missing a part of the picture, from the perspective of a skilled immigrant, the fact that given all the problems I mentioned, also for us immigrants, Sweden is at best an “ok” option to work in and not the most desirable one

Ehsan

2024/11/21 16:26

Good job working so hard and giving space to far right to make high skilled immigrants run away from Sweden.
Sweden already advertising itself negatively within the PhD area and work permits for highly skilled people.
In the other hand US is promoting skilled workers and tightening for illegal residents.

ankit

2024/11/21 14:37

Is this fair for high skill loyal residents who been staying and waiting since long time on those applications?

right after another government is only taking steps to push away legal high skill foreigners. Not a single statement from government that supports this group of people. It feels bad thay we waited this long and being nice and loyal to economy and system.

Dawn

2024/11/21 13:45

Death rate is rising and birth rate is falling, and the number of those reaching pensionable age is rising too. How does Sweden plan to offset these trends, to ensure an adequate workforce over the next couple of decades?

2024/11/21 12:50

What about people whose citizenship applications are in process?? This seems unfair to those who have been waiting and biding their time, contributing to society and economy of Sweden in the hopes of one day belonging to this beautiful country.

Martin

2024/11/21 12:16

You do a great job, thanks! I would like to learn more about the arguments of the right-wing parties and the government to strengthen the requirements to both get the residency permit and apply for citizenship. It seems to be a global trend in developed countries but particularly in Sweden it seems the government is moving forward with whatever measure their allies come up with while the Swedish society seems to be dormant. I would like to understand if it’s just a perception or indeed it is a social movement in Sweden to enforce this measures and keep turning all the way to the right. I think these issues have a lot to do with the current gång crime escalation but is it getting rid of all inmigrants the only measure the government can think of? for sure immigration has sadly played a role in this problem but that’s more to do with the current economic situation, the lack of strong measures from the state to help people in precarious or vulnerable situations and the complete failure of the government in the task of integrating them in the Swedish society

See Also

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)

Trending now