Swedish citizenship and permanent residence routes after 12 July 2026

Swedish citizenship (medborgarskap) is granted under one law, lag (2001:82) om svenskt medborgarskap, and decided by one agency, Migrationsverket. Since 6 June 2026 the main residence requirement is 8 years, and since 12 July 2026 the permanent residence permit (permanent uppehållstillstånd, PUT) is no longer open to several groups. This article explains how the pieces fit together. The detailed guides on requirements, the 8-year rule, the spouse route, dual citizenship and waiting times all start from it.

The new rules apply to every application decided from 6 June 2026, including ones filed before that date, per Migrationsverket.

Who this article is for

This article is for you if you hold or are heading towards permanent residence, or want to become a Swedish citizen. That covers permanent residents, partners of Swedish citizens, work-permit holders and EU/EEA citizens living in Sweden.

It is not for you if you are on a study permit, on a job-seeker permit or visiting. Students should start with studying in Sweden as a non-EU citizen. Job seekers should read the Swedish job-seeker visa. Visitors do not need this article.

How the system is built: the law, the agency and three ways in

The law is lag (2001:82) om svenskt medborgarskap, often called medborgarskapslagen. Its first paragraph describes citizenship as a legal relationship: "Det svenska medborgarskapet är ett rättsligt förhållande mellan medborgaren och staten som medför rättigheter och skyldigheter för båda parter."

Migrationsverket, the Migration Agency, decides citizenship cases. It also decides who may live in Sweden, under utlänningslagen (2005:716), the Aliens Act. Two ladders therefore meet at one agency: first a residence status, then citizenship.

There are three ways to become a citizen, according to Migrationsverket:

• Ansökan (application): the route for adults, with all requirements assessed.
• Anmälan (notification): a procedure open only to certain groups, such as Nordic citizens and young adults who have been stateless since birth.
• Automatically at birth or adoption.

UHR designs and runs the citizenship test. Migrationsverket directs applicants to it.

Prerequisites before any route applies

Migrationsverket lists the requirements that must be met before you apply as an adult:

• A qualifying status. This is one of: PUT, residence status under the Brexit withdrawal agreement (uppehållsstatus), EU/EEA right of residence (uppehållsrätt) or residence card, Nordic citizenship, or a temporary permit covered by the 20 § exemption below.
• Proven identity, with an original identity document and a personal visit to Migrationsverket.
• Hemvist, meaning that you live in Sweden with the intention to stay, for the required number of years.
• Knowledge of Swedish and of Swedish society if you are between 16 and 66.
• Self-support from work or business: at least three income base amounts a year before tax, which is 250,200 SEK for 2026, or 20,850 SEK a month. Pay from a subsidised job (nystartsjobb, särskilt anställningsstöd, etableringsjobb) does not count, and the income must not be temporary. You are exempt if you are entitled to a Swedish old-age pension, study full time with passing results, or in some other cases (11 b–11 c §§). In practice Migrationsverket applies the requirement to applicants aged 18 to 67.
• A respectable way of life (skötsamt och hederligt levnadssätt), checked against records at Kronofogden (the enforcement authority), Polisen (the police) and Säkerhetspolisen (the security service).

You also cannot have received försörjningsstöd, social assistance, for more than six months in total during the three years before you apply (11 b § lag 2001:82). An application fee applies and is not refunded if you are refused; Migrationsverket sets it on its Medborgarskap för vuxna page.

Permanent residence after 12 July 2026

Section 11 of the law still says that an adult applicant must have permanent uppehållstillstånd. The change on 12 July 2026 is narrower than "PUT is abolished". It removes the route to a PUT for people with protection-based permits and for people with the status varaktigt bosatt (long-term resident), together with their relatives.

If you were granted that status, you now receive a residence permit valid for five years instead of a PUT. People who already hold a PUT are not affected. Applying for varaktigt bosatt status is a choice. If you take it, you can never get a PUT afterwards on any ground, including work or a partner. Holders still reach citizenship through the 20 § prospects rule.

The routes to a PUT that remain for most readers of this article:

• Work permit: you can apply for PUT with your extension after at least four years of work permit. You must have worked in Sweden four of the last seven years and support yourself from work or business. See the permits guides.
• Partner permit: after at least three years with a residence permit you can apply for PUT with your extension, if you support yourself from work or business. See sambo to permanent residence.
• Exception for partners: there is no PUT if your permit rests on a relationship to someone with an international-protection permit. The same holds for a relationship to someone with varaktigt bosatt status, exceptionally distressing circumstances or an enforcement obstacle.

Most non-EU applicants still need a PUT before citizenship

Section 20 of the law lists who is exempt from the PUT requirement, and who is treated as holding one.

• Exempt: citizens of Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway.
• Exempt: citizens of other EEA countries and their family members, because their uppehållsrätt counts as a PUT.
• Exempt: people with uppehållsstatus under the withdrawal agreement, which also counts as a PUT.
• People on a temporary permit as varaktigt bosatt, on protection grounds, for exceptionally distressing circumstances or because of enforcement obstacles, and their relatives. They need well-founded prospects (välgrundade utsikter) of a lasting permit.
• The prospects test is waived after 10 years of hemvist.

A non-EU worker or partner who holds none of these permits still needs a PUT.

Every route to Swedish citizenship

The table shows the residence period (hemvist) each route requires. It reflects the law as amended from 6 June 2026 and, for the status requirements, from 12 July 2026.

Three points cut through the table:

1. There is no single "10-year route". Ten years appears in three different places: the identity rule above, the waiver of the prospects test, and the 10-year total for people stateless since birth. They are separate rules.
2. The spouse route needs all three parts. Seven years of hemvist alone is not enough. If you were earlier in Sweden under a false identity or made removal harder, Migrationsverket applies 8 years instead.
3. Children apply separately. A guardian files a separate application for the child, and a child aged 12 or over must consent. A child under 15 needs 3 years of hemvist, or 2 if stateless. A child aged 15 or over needs 5 years, and a Nordic child needs 2.

If you are an EU/EEA citizen, your hemvist counts only for the time you met the conditions for uppehållsrätt, so you must document it for the whole qualifying period: 8 years under the general rule. Migrationsverket asks for documents showing that you worked, ran a business, had own means or studied. Family members show it through their relative.

The society test: where it stands

The law says you show knowledge of Swedish society by passing the medborgarskapsprov i samhällskunskap, or by a pass grade in samhällskunskap from year 9, upper secondary school, folk high school or komvux (adult education). This applies to applicants aged 16 to 66.

The status in October 2026, according to UHR:

• The first sitting took place in August 2026. UHR describes it as an utprövningsprov, a trial sitting where the questions were used under real conditions for the first time.
• Registration is closed. UHR says information on when registration opens for the next sitting is to come. You can only register for the test if you have received a letter from Migrationsverket.
• The test is in Swedish, on paper, with multiple-choice questions.
• The Swedish-language test has not been introduced. UHR has recommended postponing it, and the government is to decide when it can start. The requirement for Swedish remains. Meanwhile you can prove it in other ways (13 a §), for example with a pass grade in Swedish from school or komvux, the highest course of sfi (Swedish for immigrants), or a result on Tisus, the Swedish test for university admission.

So the society test is neither "coming in August" nor "cancelled": it has run once and the next date is pending.

Dual citizenship

Sweden allows dual and multiple citizenship, covered in the dual citizenship rules. Migrationsverket states that if you become a Swedish citizen you can keep your earlier citizenship if the law of the other country allows it, and that you must find that out yourself.

How long a decision takes

Migrationsverket does not give an exact time. On its adult citizenship page in October 2026, it states that 75 percent of recently decided cases were decided within 52 months, based on cases decided during the last 12 months. The guide on citizenship processing time explains what drives that spread.

Where to go next

• Which route applies to you and what each requirement means: Swedish citizenship requirements.
• The 8-year rule and its exceptions: the 8-year hemvist rule.
• Married to or living with a Swedish citizen: the spouse 7-year rule.
• Choosing between permanent residence and citizenship: permanent residence or Swedish citizenship.
• Keeping another passport: dual citizenship rules.
• How long you will wait: citizenship processing time.
• If your application is refused: appealing to Migrationsdomstolen.