The new citizenship law has no transition rule. If your application was in the queue before 6 June 2026, it is judged by the new, stricter rules, not the ones from the day you applied.
Many people wanted a transition rule to protect those already waiting. The Riksdag (the Swedish parliament) voted against it, by one vote. This article explains what happened.
What a transition rule would have done
A transition rule (övergångsregler) would let an application sent under the old rules be judged by the old rules. Without one, the date your case is decided sets which rules apply.
The Riksdag approved the whole reform on 29 April 2026, and it took effect on 6 June 2026. It applies to the more than 100,000 cases already in the queue.
Who wanted one
Lagrådet (the Council on Legislation, which reviews new laws before parliament) warned against this on 20 February 2026. It advised against applying the new rules to pending cases with no transition period, and said the approach risks rättssäkerhet (legal certainty).
The four opposition parties put forward a joint motion for transition rules. They were the Social Democrats, the Centre Party, the Green Party and the Left Party.
The Riksdag rejected that motion by 147 votes to 146. Opposition parties disputed how the governing side secured the result. The rule stayed out of the law.
Where it stands now
The law is in force and still has no transition rule. A public campaign called Fair Transition Sweden is asking for one to be added. Nothing in the law has changed yet, and a campaign is not a decision.
For your own case, whether the new rules apply is for Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency) to decide. You can read what the new rules ask for on our citizenship requirements page. A difficult case is worth putting to a qualified lawyer.
Sources
Official details can change. Always confirm what applies to your own case directly with the responsible authority.
