Swedish citizenship for a child 2026: three years

Your own citizenship case is in the queue, and you assumed the children would come with it. They will not. A child whose parent becomes Swedish through an application has to have an application of their own, with its own years of residence, its own consents and its own fee.

Anmälan or ansökan, and what each costs

Two notification routes survive. A child born in Sweden who has been stateless since birth is registered as a citizen through an anmälan that costs 175 kr. A Nordic citizen aged 18 or over who has lived in Sweden for five years also uses an anmälan, at 475 kr, and can bring an under-18 child into it if that parent has sole custody, or if the other parent is or becomes Swedish at the same time.

Everyone else applies. For a child under 18 that is an ansökan submitted by the custodians, and the fee is 475 kr. It is not refunded if the application is refused, which is the reason to count the years first and pay second.

The child also needs a permit. Migrationsverket lists four that qualify: a permanent residence permit, uppehållsstatus, uppehållsrätt or a residence card (uppehållskort).

The Swedish citizenship requirements for a child: how many years

The main rule for a child is three years of residence in Sweden. From the age of 15 it is five years, and for a stateless child under 15 it is two. A Nordic citizen needs two years at any age.

Migrationsverket assesses the conditions when it decides, not when you send the form, so a birthday inside the queue can move the child from the three-year group into the five-year group. If your child turns 15 while the case is open, ask Migrationsverket what applies to that case before you count on the shorter rule.

Time in Sweden is not automatically hemvist. Migrationsverket says so in as many words on the children’s page, and on the adult page it gives the rule it applies: if you have been abroad more than six weeks during a year, the whole time outside Sweden is deducted. Plan long summers with that in mind.

Custody, consent and the identity check

The application is made by the child’s custodians (vårdnadshavare). If the child has more than one, all of them have to approve it, including a parent who lives in another country. This is the single most common reason a child case stalls.

From the age of 12 the child gives their own consent. It has to come from the child, not from a parent on the child’s behalf.

The identity requirement is strict. Migrationsverket wants an original identity document issued by a competent authority in the child’s home country, containing a photo of the child, and the child has to attend in person for the identity check.

The e-service is open to custodians and to children over 12 who have Swedish e-identification. Without it, use the paper form Ansökan om svenskt medborgarskap för barn under 18 år (317011) and send it to Migrationsverket’s citizenship unit in Norrköping.

Amir, three years and one long summer

Amir came to Sweden with his mother on 20 March 2023, both with permanent residence permits. He was 11. Three years of hemvist would be complete on 20 March 2026.

The family spent nine weeks abroad in the summer of 2024. Because that is more than six weeks in one year, the whole stay is deducted, not only the days over the line: 63 days come off, and the date moves to 22 May 2026.

Processing times vary. Migrationsverket’s current waiting-time service describes recently decided cases, not a deadline for your case. Check it before planning; an old range or backlog count cannot predict a decision date.

Children born abroad, and children who become Swedish without an application

Some children are Swedish already. A child born after 1 April 2015 is Swedish from birth if one parent was a Swedish citizen at the birth. A child under 12 who is adopted by a Swedish citizen becomes Swedish at the adoption, on the conditions Migrationsverket sets out.

A parent who becomes Swedish through an anmälan can bring an under-18 child living in Sweden along automatically, subject to the custody conditions. A parent who becomes Swedish through an ansökan cannot, and that is the difference that surprises most families. The parent’s own case runs on the Swedish citizenship requirements and process.

One rule works the other way. Under 14 § of the citizenship act, a child born abroad who has never had habitual residence in Sweden, and has not been here under circumstances showing a connection with the country, loses Swedish citizenship at the age of twenty-two.

What we do not know yet

The agency has also not published how it counts hemvist for a child in the situations families actually have, such as a long stay with grandparents abroad during a school year, or a child who arrived on one permit and changed to another. Where the answer decides whether you pay 475 kr this year or next, ask Migrationsverket in writing before you send anything.