You have become a Swedish citizen and now you want to apply for citizenship for your child under the age of 18. The information on this page also applies to you who are a Swedish citizen and adopt a child who has turned 12 years old.
It is the guardian who is a Swedish citizen who must make the application. If the child has more than one parent/legal guardian, all their parents/legal guardians must approve the application.
Children who have reached the age of 12 must consent to become a Swedish citizen by signing the notification.
The information on this page also applies to you who are a Swedish citizen and adopt a child who has turned 12 years old.
In some situations, a child automatically receives Swedish citizenship when they are born.
In order for the child to become a Swedish citizen, they must meet certain requirements. Before applying for the child, the following requirements must be met:
The child must be less than 18 years old
The child should have one of the following:
The child’s identity must be verified
You can prove the childs identity through an original identity document. This could be a national passport or an identity card.
The identity document must be issued by a competent authority in the child's country of origin. It also must include a photo of the child. You must have applied for the document and/or collected it in person from the competent authority. A passport can be accepted as proof of the child's identity even if its period of validity has expired.
If you have previously submitted the child's passport to the Swedish Migration Agency, you can refer to this when you apply. You do this under the heading “Övrig information” [“Other information”] in the e-service or on the form.
In some cases, the Swedish Migration Agency may consider that you have verified your child's identity even though the identification documents do not meet all of the requirements. If you have several different documents that do not meet the requirements individually, we will assess whether together they can prove the child's identity.
You should not submit the child's identity document when you apply. The Swedish Migration Agency will contact you if we need it.
Identification documents from certain countries are subject to special requirements. These countries are:
Read more about the Swedish Migration Agency’s assessment of identification documents
If the child does not have an identification document, in some cases a family member (parent or sibling) can certify the child's identity. For a family member to prove the child's identity, the following is required:
If the child has reached the age of 15, the following requirements also must be met in order for the child to become a Swedish citizen:
The child must have lived in Sweden for a period of three years (period of habitual residence)
The child must have lived an orderly life in Sweden
Read more about the requirements for the period of habitual residence time, and having lived an orderly life:
If the child has reached the age of 15, it must have lived in Sweden for three years to become a Swedish citizen – it must have had it's habitual residence here. Habitual residence means that you are a resident of Sweden and intend to stay here.
Even if the child has lived in Sweden for a certain amount of time, it is not certain that it may count all it's time in Sweden towards it's period of habitual residence. In most cases, it is the child's time with the residence permit that was the basis for it's permanent residence permit that counts, but the period of habitual residence can be calculated differently, depending on the type of permit the child has had and why it has settled in Sweden.
If the child has had a temporary residence permit in Sweden, such as a visitor’s permit, the time during which the child had that permit is not included in the period of habitual residence.
If the child travelled abroad briefly, e.g. for visits or holidays, this has no impact on it's period of habitual residence in Sweden. However, if the child was abroad for more than a total of six weeks in a year, the entire time it was outside Sweden must be subtracted from the period of habitual residence.
If the child moves to a different country and settles there, the period of habitual residence in Sweden ends. You can start over and begin adding up a new period of habitual residence in Sweden from the day the child moves back here.
In order for their time here to count as a period of habitual residence and be able to apply for Swedish citizenship, EU/EEA citizens and their family members must have met the requirements for right of residence.
If the child has had right of residence in Sweden for five years, but have not requested a certificate of a right of permanent residence or applied for a permanent residence card, the Swedish Migration Agency assesses whether the child meets the conditions for right of residence in connection with the application for Swedish citizenship.
In order to become a Swedish citizen, the child must have lived an orderly life. For example, this means that the child cannot become a Swedish citizen if it is deemed to pose a threat to Sweden’s national security or public safety, or if it is affiliated with certain groups or organisations that have committed extensive abuse of people.
The Swedish Migration Agency requests information from other authorities to check if the child has committed any crimes in Sweden. The information is retrieved from the Swedish Police and the Swedish Security Service.
The Swedish Migration Agency also uses the child's personal data to check if it is registered in the Schengen Information System (SIS).
If the child has committed a crime, a certain amount of time must pass before the child can become a Swedish citizen. How much time depends on the sentence received.
The time that must pass after the crime before you can apply for Swedish citizenship for the child is called a “qualifying period”. The qualifying period is usually counted from the date on which the crime was committed, but if a a long prison sentence is received, the time is calculated from the date the child started serving the sentence.
Before you can apply for Swedish citizenship for the child:
Each application for citizenship is examined individually. The table contains the Swedish Migration Agency’s guidelines for qualifying periods.
Sentence | Qualifying period |
|---|---|
Day fines (30–) | At least one year after the crime. 50 day fines, the qualifying period can be estimated at 1.5 years. |
Day fines (60–) | At least two years after the crime. |
Day fines (100–) | At least three years after the crime. |
Suspended sentence | At least 3 years after the jugment has been gained the force of law (begun to apply). |
Probation | At least 4 years from the date of the start of the probation. |
Prison (1 month) | At least 4 years after the crime. |
Prison (4 months) | At least 5 years after the crime. |
Prison (8 months) | At least 6 years after the crime. |
Prison (1 year) | At least 7 years after the crime. |
Prison (2 years) | At least 8 years after serving the sentence. |
Prison (4 years) | At least 9 years after serving the sentence. |
Prison (6 years) | At least 10 years after serving the sentence. |
If the child has committed a crime multiple times, the qualifying period may be longer than the time specified in the table.
If the child has been sentenced to special care after a crime, the Swedish Migration Agency looks at what punishment you would normally receive for the crime.
If the child is a Nordic citizen, in some cases you can choose to file a notification for the child to become a Swedish citizen. The child must have lived in Sweden for at least three years.
If the child lives in Sweden and has the right of residence as a family member of an EU/EEA citizen, you must submit documents showing that you, as the guardian, meet the conditions for the right of residence or a residence card. You must therefore submit documents showing that you work, are self-employed, have your own funds to support yourself, or study in Sweden.
If the child is over 15 years old, an assessment is made of whether you have met the conditions for the right of residence for the past three years.
If you work or have worked here, you must attach
If you are or have been self-employed, you must attach
If you have or have had your own funds, you must attach
If you are studying or have studied, you must attach
It is not possible to say exactly how long you will need to wait for a decision. There are many things that affect the waiting time, for example whether your application is complete to begin with or whether we need to request more information, or whether we need to check with other authorities when investigating your case.
Here we show statistics on how long it has taken for people who have applied for the same permit as you.
Fee: SEK 1,500
You will not receive a refund if your application is rejected.
It is the guardian who is a Swedish citizen who must make the application. Both parents/legal guardians must approve the application.
Children who have reached the age of 12 must sign with their own e-ID. If the child has reached the age of 12 but does not have an e-ID, you need to submit your notification via a paper form.
To use the e-service, the following is necessary:
Be aware that if the child is an EU/EEA citizen or a family member of such a person, you must attach the documents required. See which documents you must attach under the Important to know tab.
By logging in you accept the terms of use
If you cannot apply in the e-service, you must fill in the form:
Send the application to:
Migrationsverket
Medborgarskapsenheten
601 70 Norrköping
If you are not applying or notifying online, you pay the fee to bankgiro number 5223-6999. The IBAN for the account is SE59 1200 0000 0128 1010 6894 and the BIC/SWIFT code is DABASESX (Danske Bank). In the box for messages to the recipient, you write the name and surname of the person the fee is for, as well as their personal identity number. If you are paying the fees of several people at the same time, write the personal identity number for each of them. If you are including children under 18 years of age in your application, you do not need to pay any fees on their behalf. Write on the application- or notification form when and how you paid the fee.
When you send in the application or notification, enclose the receipt of the application fee.
2025-03-05
The Swedish Migration Agency's new website has now been launched
On 5 March, the Swedish Migration Agency launched a completely new version of migrationsverket.se, with a new structure and a more user-friendly navigation. The purpose of the new website is primarily to make it easier for visitors to find the information they need.
