There are two ways to become Swedish:
Way One: Adapt and integrate yourself into the culture:
THE WAY YOU EAT
THE WORDS YOU SPEAK
HOW YOU DECORATE
HOW YOU WAIT IN LINE
Way two: Apply to become a Swedish citizenship
[DRUMROLL PLEASE]
Yep – I am officially Swedish! (Culturally and legally speaking!)
Quick facts/tips:
– After two years of living in Sweden you can change your temporary residency visa to a permanent visa by “extending” (not filing for new) about one month before your temporary expires (cannot do it sooner). This costs 1200 SEK and you must go to the nearest migrationsverket office to get a new card. LINK
– If you live in Sweden with a spouse or a sambo you can apply for citizenship after 3 years
– Other situations like work, school or refugee status requires 5 years
– Decision wait time can vary. The migrationsverket website says 8 months, but I got mine back in 2 weeks. Be prepared for the full wait since you need to send away your passport and Swedish Residency card.
– Application for citizenship is also 1200SEK
– Any trip outside Sweden for more than 6 months counts as an “interruption” and can affect your application/doesn’t count towards your time in Sweden.
– There is no language or history test to become a citizen.
– Once you are a Swedish citizen you are allowed to: vote in/be elected for Swedish elections, work as police/military, easier to live/work/travel anywhere in Europe
– Sweden allows dual citizenship. Having dual citizenship can mean that you need to pay double “world wide” tax (this applies to the USA).
– After getting your decision it is up to you to get your Swedish passport at the nearest police station. For me the whole process of waiting, taking finger prints, photo, signature and payment took ten minutes, cost 350 SEK and I got my passport in 4 days.
– It is recommended to use your own countries passport when visiting your own country.
– In 2014, Swedish citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 174 countries and territories, ranking the Swedish passport 1st in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index. (Wikipedia)
If I missed anything important or you have any questions – let me know in the comments!
(all pictures in this post were borrowed aside from the two last)
Something Swedish 