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SWEDISH CITIZENSHIP

Do children born in Sweden automatically get Swedish citizenship?

A Swedish passport comes with many benefits, and the country allows dual citizenship. But what are the rules for the children of foreign nationals born in Sweden?

Published: 24 March 2022 15:06 CET
Updated: 5 April 2024 12:41 CEST
Do children born in Sweden automatically get Swedish citizenship?
Not all newborn babies in Sweden are eligible for Swedish citizenship upon birth. Photo: Christine Olsson/TT

Sweden allows dual citizenship, meaning it is possible for foreign residents to gain Swedish citizenship without giving up their old citizenship, if their country of origin also permits dual citizenship. There are a few benefits that only Swedish citizens have, such as an absolute right to live and work in the country and the right to vote in Swedish parliamentary elections.

Some jobs are only open to Swedish citizens as well: you must be a Swedish citizen if you wish to be elected to parliament or join the police or armed forces.

In addition to this, Swedish citizens hold EU citizenship, which gives them the right to free movement in EU member states, making it easier for them to live and work in other parts of the bloc.

Swedish at birth

Unlike other countries such as the US, people born in Sweden do not automatically gain Swedish citizenship.

Swedish citizenship is granted at birth to children who have at least one Swedish parent, regardless of whether the child is born in Sweden or not. This also applies to the children of deceased Swedes. If a child’s deceased parent was a Swedish citizen when they died, the child is also entitled to Swedish citizenship.

Children under the age of 12 who are adopted by a Swedish citizen automatically gain Swedish citizenship if they fulfil the following criteria:

  • the official adoption decision was made in Sweden or another Nordic country
  • the child was adopted through a foreign adoption decision approved by the Family Law and Parental Support Authority (MFoF)
  • the adoption is legally valid in Sweden

This applies to adoptions occurring after June 30th, 1992.

Children over the age of 12 at the time of adoption must apply for Swedish citizenship.

Does a child born to foreigners need a residence permit?

A child of foreign nationals who is born in Sweden will not automatically gain Swedish citizenship upon birth. Depending on their parents’ citizenship, they may need to apply for a residence permit in order to live in Sweden legally.

Children with EU citizenship who have at least one parent with EU right of residence in Sweden (uppehållsrätt) do not need a residence permit to live in Sweden, as they inherit their parent’s right of residence on birth.

A child born in Sweden to non-EU parents will need a residence permit to live in Sweden. The Migration Agency will contact the parents once a non-Swedish child is born in Sweden with information on how to apply for a residence permit on the child’s behalf.

Once granted, the child’s residence permit will be valid for no more than two years, and parents will have to reapply once it runs out.

In order to be granted a temporary residence permit, applicants must have a valid passport, meaning that parents without EU citizenship should apply for a passport on their child’s behalf as soon as possible after the child is born. You don’t need to wait to apply for a residence permit though. The application can still be submitted before the child has a valid passport.

When can my child gain Swedish citizenship?

A child can gain Swedish citizenship after they have had the right of residence, a residence card, or a permanent residence permit in Sweden and once they have lived in Sweden for at least three years (two, if the child is stateless).

Both the child’s guardians (or one guardian, if the child only has one) must apply on their behalf, and the child must sign the application if they are over the age of 12.

Current citizenship application fees for children are 175kr (2024).

Member comments

  1. Apply for the resident permit as soon as you can. Until you do, you won’t get child support and after some time your parental leave benefit will also stop if you have not applied for the permit. As mentioned in the article, a valid passport is not a requirement to apply for a permit, you can do both in parallel.

  2. I’m surprised the Local, a left-wing rag, allows this comment to stand. Suprise suprise.

    Again – all those immigrating to Sweden and struggling with it – should consider Canada. Doors are wide open.

  3. Well well. What do we have here.
    I’m surprised The Local, a left-wing rag at best, would allow such comments to stand.

    And all I’ve ever done is encourage immigrants to consider Canada as another and better option. Especially those struggling to find a permanent place after their Ph.D (which is all but certainly useless).

    Expect to be deleted soon.

  4. I thought troll classes would cover copy-paste and semi-coherence in comment flooding. Guess I was wrong…

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

What will Europe’s EES passport checks mean for dual nationals?

The EU's Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport checks will usher in big changes for travellers - here we answer readers' questions on the position for dual nationals.

Published: 22 April 2024 17:10 CEST
What will Europe's EES passport checks mean for dual nationals?

The EU is preparing, after many delays, to introduce the EES system for travel in and out of Europe.

You can find a full explanation of how it works HERE, but in essence it is an enhanced passport check – registering biometric details such as fingerprints and facial scans and introducing an automatic calculation of how long you have stayed within the EU/Schengen zone in order to detect ‘over-stayers’.

And it’s already causing stress for travellers. We asked readers of The Local to share their questions here – and one of the biggest worries was how the system will work for dual nationals ie people who have a passport for both an EU country and a non-EU country.

EES: Your questions answered

EU passports 

One of the main purposes of EES is to detect ‘over-stayers’ – people who have either stayed in the EU longer than their visa allows or non-EU nationals who have over-stayed their allowance of 90 days in every 180.

As this does not apply to EU nationals, people travelling on an EU passport are not required to do EES pre-registration and will continue to travel in the same way once EES is introduced – going to the ‘EU passports queue’ at airports, ports and stations and having their passports scanned as normal.

Non-EU 

Non-EU travellers will, once EES is up and running, be required to complete EES pre-registration.

This means that the first time they cross an EU/Schengen zone external border they will have to go to a special zone of the airport/port/terminal and supply extra passport information including fingerprints and a facial scan.

This only needs to be done once and then lasts for three years.

Non-EU residents of the EU/Schengen zone

This does not apply to non-EU citizens who are permanent residents of an EU country or who have a long-stay visa for an EU/Schengen zone country – click HERE for full details.

Schengen zone passports/Irish passports 

EES applies within the Schengen zone, so people with Swiss, Norwegian and Icelandic passports are treated in the same way as citizens of EU countries.

Ireland and Cyprus are in the EU but not the Schengen zone – these countries will not be using the EES system at their borders, but their citizens are still EU citizens so can continue to use EU passport gates at airports and will be treated the same as all other EU citizens (ie they don’t have to do EES pre-registration).

OK, so what if you have both an EU and a non-EU passport?

They key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any of the rules on immigration – it’s just a way of better enforcing the rules that are already in place. 

Therefore the rules for dual nationals remain as they are – for most people which passport to travel on is a matter of personal choice, although Americans should be aware that if you have a US passport and you are entering the USA, you must use your American passport. 

But it’s also important to remember that the passports of dual nationals are not ‘linked’ – therefore if you present an American passport at the Italian border, you will be treated exactly the same as every other American, there is no way for the border guard to know that you are also Italian.

Likewise if you are a UK-Germany dual national and you travel back to the UK on your German passport, you can expect to be treated the same as every other German at the border, and might be asked for proof of where you are staying in UK, how long you intend to stay etc – the system has no way of knowing that you are also British. 

Therefore whether you have to complete EES pre-registration or not is entirely a matter of which passport you are travelling on – if you use your EU passport you won’t have to do it, if you use your non-EU passport you will.

It’s also possible to use two passports for the same trip – so let’s say you’re travelling from Spain to Canada – you enter Canada on your Canadian passport, and show your Canadian passport again when you leave. However, once you re-enter Spain you show your Spanish passport in order to benefit from the unlimited length of stay.

If you’re travelling between France and the UK via the Eurostar, Channel Tunnel or cross-Channel ferry, you need to remember that the Le Touquet agreement means that French passport checks take place in the UK and vice versa. You can still use both passports, but you just need to keep your wits about you and remember to hand the French one to the French border guards and the British one to British guards.

In terms of avoiding immigration formalities using two passports is the most efficient way for dual nationals to travel, but some people prefer to stick to one passport for simplicity, or don’t want to keep both passports together in case of theft.

Basically it’s a personal choice, but you just need to remember that you will be treated according to the passport that you show – which includes completing EES pre-registration if you’re showing a non-EU passport.

It’s also worth remembering that if the changes do cause border delays (and there are fears that they might especially at the UK-France border), then these will affect all travellers – regardless of their passport. 

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