The Swedish Migration Agency reported that fewer than 100 citizenship applications were approved in July 2026, marking a substantial decrease immediately following the implementation of more rigorous citizenship regulations. Of the 99 total approvals recorded by the agency in July, only 20 were categorized as standard naturalization cases, which typically represent the majority of such applications. The agency's spreadsheet confirms 99 grants, although the website lists the figure as 98.
This sharp decline follows the introduction of stricter laws on June 6th, 2026. The updated legislation mandates longer residency periods, the successful completion of Swedish language and civics tests, and more stringent income requirements. Because the government did not implement transitional provisions for the roughly 100,000 individuals already in the application backlog, those with pending cases as of June 6th, 2026, faced the risk of rejection based on these new criteria.
Statistical data highlights the impact of the policy shift: while 3,970 citizenships were granted in May and 1,646 in June, the figure fell to just 99 in July. Beyond the 20 naturalization cases, the July data included 64 citizenship through notification cases—a simplified process currently reserved for stateless people born in Sweden, Nordic citizens, and children born abroad to a Swedish father who was not married to the child's mother. Additionally, there were nine applications approved for retaining citizenship and six citizenship declarations for individuals verifying their status.
Nordic nationals accounted for the majority of the July approvals, including 26 Finnish citizens, 19 Danish citizens, and 19 Norwegian citizens. Other successful applicants included five people from Syria, three from Eritrea, three from the United Kingdom, and two each from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Iraq. One person each from Australia, Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sri Lanka also received citizenship. Furthermore, the agency granted ten citizenships to individuals whose existing citizenship was listed as "unknown" and two to stateless applicants, with no other nationalities represented in the monthly figures.
