There has been more than a few different media reports on how long it takes someone to get Swedish citizenship these days. In case you haven’t boned up on the requirements recently, you must:
- be able to prove your identity,
- have turned 18,
- have a permanent residence permit, a right of residence or residence card,
- have conducted yourself well, and
- have lived in the country for a “certain amount of time.” (What this time is varies, so if this is actual for you check the details.)
At any rate, it seems like a popular thing to apply for. The Swedish Migration Agency (migrationsverket) reports having a backlog of 100,000 applications, and the waiting period for a decision is reported to be over 30 months ().
With Brexit looming, there has also been an influx of questions regarding the differences between having citizenship and permanent residence. For one thing, you need to be a citizen to work as a cop or as a judge, to be a career soldier or get elected to parliament. You also need to be a citizen to vote in a federal election, though for more local elections residency is enough. It’s also easier to move out of Sweden if you’re a citizen, and to move back if you find life easier here.
These are all good things, making the question rather ”why the wait?” rather than ”why the application?” There is more than one answer to that question, naturally. Brexit uncertainty is one – it can be time to get off the pot and get one’s citizenship in order. Then, it’s been a few years since Sweden’s population from Syria and other countries started to rise significantly – many of these people are in a position to apply and qualify for citizenship. In addition, after that rush of immigration calmed down, the migration agency had to downsize and there are now fewer people to process applications. Finally, citizenship quite frankly doesn’t have priority over asylum applications ().
And now for a little bit of irony. Long application times were such an awful, horrible thing that they made a new rule: If you have waited six months and haven’t gotten an answer, you can write in and ask for expedited handling. After this, the Migration agency has four weeks to make a decision. This has resulted in over 30,000 new instances of paperwork (that doesn’t even end always in a yes-or-no citizenship decision). No, wait, it gets worse. The migration agency often replies that they can’t yet make a yes-or-no decision. Then, that decision too can be appealed, in which case it becomes incumbent upon the migration agency to make a decision. All of which, again, increases the application waiting times for the vast majority of people. Only for the person in the know, and willing to push, is the process faster.
Squeaky wheel – meet grease. Maybe it “wasn’t supposed to work that way,” but this was the result. The process is about as clear as what the requirement “conducted yourself well” actually means.