'Devastated' – Swedish citizenship hopefuls fear for the future as deadline looms

Sweden in Focus · May 26, 2026 · 26m

With just two weeks left until Sweden introduces a new citizenship law, how are applicants who are stuck in the queue feeling about their chances of becoming Swedish?

And what do they have to say about the government’s decision not to introduce transitional rules, meaning that they’ll be judged according to tougher new criteria, including longer residency, as well as language and knowledge requirements?

Around 100,000 applicants are currently waiting to become naturalised Swedes and The Local Sweden’s editor Emma Löfgren recently caught up with some of them.

In this week’s episode we hear…