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Nya medborgarskapsregler halverar antalet godkända – avslagen når rekordnivå

Svenska (Lätt svenska) – sammanfattning (English version below)

Sverige har fått nya, strängare regler för medborgarskap. Reglerna började gälla den 6 juni 2026. Nu måste man bo längre tid i Sverige, klara prov i svenska och samhällskunskap, och visa högre inkomst.

De nya reglerna gäller även personer som redan väntat länge på beslut, även om de sökte innan reglerna ändrades.

I juni fick bara 1 646 personer medborgarskap, jämfört med 3 970 i maj — en minskning med 58 procent. Samtidigt fick 3 259 personer avslag, vilket är en avslagsandel på 66 procent. Det är mycket högre än snittet på 35 procent för hela första halvåret 2026.

Störst minskning syns bland personer från Syrien, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Polen och Indien. Personer från de nordiska länderna fick istället fler godkännanden — Finland gick om Syrien som landet med flest nya medborgare i juni.

Migrationsverket säger att flera saker bidrar till nedgången: juni är semestermånad, de nya reglerna kräver mer utredning, och kunskapsprovet som krävs finns ännu inte.

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English version:

New Citizenship Rules Cut Sweden's Approvals in Half — and Rejections Hit a Record High

The number of people granted Swedish citizenship dropped by more than half in June, following the introduction of tougher new citizenship rules, according to fresh statistics from the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket).

What changed: New, stricter citizenship rules came into force in Sweden on 6 June 2026. The revised law introduced longer residency requirements, mandatory tests in Swedish civics and the Swedish language, and broader income requirements, among other changes. Crucially, the law was passed without transitional provisions for the hundreds of thousands of people whose applications were already sitting in the processing backlog. As a result, anyone whose application was still pending after 6 June 2026 risks being assessed — and potentially rejected — under rules that didn't even exist at the time they applied.

June's numbers: Only 1,646 people were granted citizenship in June, down from 3,970 in May — a month-on-month drop of 58%. At the same time, 3,259 applicants were refused, pushing the rejection rate to 66%, well above the 35% average rejection rate for the first half of 2026 as a whole. Compared with June 2025, however, when citizenship awards were limited by a newly introduced requirement for applicants to attend in-person meetings, this June's total was actually slightly higher (1,501 granted in June 2025 vs. 1,646 in June 2026).

Which countries were hit hardest: Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Poland, and India — together accounting for more than a third of all citizenships granted in 2026 — saw the sharpest declines. For example, only 114 Syrians were granted citizenship in June, down from 539 in May; Afghan approvals fell from 243 to 66; and Indian approvals dropped from 219 to 75.

Why the drop isn't only about rejections: A Migration Agency spokesperson noted that several factors are at play beyond the higher rejection rate itself. June is a holiday month, meaning fewer applications get processed overall. The new law also requires additional conditions to be investigated, which takes extra time — so fewer cases can be completed early on. In addition, many applicants must pass a knowledge test to prove they meet the new requirements, but no such test has been held yet.

The Nordic exception: Nordic nationals saw the opposite trend. Citizenship awards to Norwegians rose from 15 to 81, Danes from 27 to 62, Finns from 25 to 167, and Icelanders from 2 to 18 — allowing Finland to overtake Syria as the nationality with the most new citizens in June. According to the Migration Agency, this is because the new law ended the option for non-Nordic nationals to obtain citizenship via simple notification, leaving staff to focus mainly on clearing the Nordic caseload.

Sources