Automatic citizenship through birth, adoption or the parents’ marriage
Here you will find information about how children can automatically become Swedish citizens through birth, adoption, or the marriage of their parents, or if one of their parents becomes Swedish through notification. If children do not obtain citizenship automatically, there may be a possibility to apply for Swedish citizenship.
If a child is born after 1 April 2015, he or she is automatically a Swedish citizen if either of the parents is a Swedish citizen regardless of where the child is born.
A child who is born after 1 April 2015 always obtains Swedish citizenship if
- either of the parents is a Swedish citizen at the time of the child’s birth
- a deceased parent of the child was a Swedish citizen at the time of his or her death.
If your child is born outside Sweden
You need to contact the Swedish Tax Agency to register the child in Sweden and file a name registration.
You can apply for a passport for the child with the police during a visit in Sweden.
If you want to apply for a Swedish passport for the child abroad, contact the Swedish embassy or consulate-general.
Swedish embassies and consulates-general
External link, opens in new window.
If a child is born before 1 April 2015, but after 1 July 2001, it is the parents’ citizenships that determine what citizenship their child obtains.
A child with a Swedish mother
A child of a Swedish mother always becomes a Swedish citizen. It does not matter if the child is born in Sweden or abroad.
Children with a Swedish father and a non-Swedish mother
A child of a Swedish father and a non-Swedish mother always becomes a Swedish citizen if the child is born in Sweden. If the father is married with the mother, the child obtains Swedish citizenship at birth regardless of where in the world the child is born.
A child of a non-Swedish mother, who is married to, a registered partner of or cohabitating partner of a Swedish woman
A child of a non-Swedish mother, who is married to, a registered partner of or a cohabitating partner of a Swedish woman, also becomes a Swedish citizen if the child is born in Sweden and an insemination has taken place with the Swedish woman’s consent.
Swedish citizen through the parents’ marriage
When a non-Swedish woman has a child with a Swedish man and the child is born abroad, the child does not obtain the father’s Swedish citizenship unless the parents are married to each other.
If the parents later get married with each other, the child becomes a Swedish citizen (if he or she is under 18 at the time and unmarried). It is said that the child has become a Swedish citizen through legitimation. It is the Swedish Tax Agency External link, opens in new window. that registers the child as a Swedish citizen. The child’s Swedish citizenship is then counted from the date the parents got married with each other.
Swedish citizenship for children of a parent who becomes a Swedish citizen through notification
If you have under the age of 18 who live in Sweden, they become Swedish citizens at the same time as you if
- you have sole custody of the child or children, or
- you share joint custody with the child’s other parent and he or she is a Swedish citizen, or
- the other parent becomes a Swedish citizen at the same time as you.
If your child has reached the age of 15, in some cases it may also be required that
- it must have been proven probable that the child’s identity is correct
- the child must not be reasonably suspected or convicted of certain crimes*
- the child must not pose a threat to Sweden’s national security or public safety
- the child must not be associated with groups or organisations that have committed abuse against other people.
*The child must not be reasonably suspected or convicted of a crime for which the punishment under Swedish law is four years or more years in prison. The child must also not have been convicted of repeated crimes which, under Swedish law, can neither be considered minor nor committed long ago. This applies regardless of whether the suspected or committed crimes took place in Sweden or another country.