Maria Malmer Stenergard

To enhance the value of Swedish citizenship, the Government considers that the requirements that must be met to become a Swedish citizen need to be more stringent. For this reason, on Friday 5 May, Minister for Migration Maria Malmer Stenergard convened a press briefing along with the Sweden Democrats group leader in the Riksdag, Linda Lindberg. At the briefing, they outlined what measures the Government intends to take to strengthen Swedish citizenship.

Today, Inquiry Chair and Judge Fredrik Fries presented his inquiry report to Minister for Migration Maria Malmer Stenergard. The Inquiry proposes introducing requirements of Swedish language skills and knowledge of Swedish society as conditions for being granted a permanent residence permit.

The memorandum ‘An increased maintenance requirement for labour immigration’ was today circulated for comment. In the memorandum, the Government proposes that to be granted a work permit, a labour migrant must have a wage amounting to at least 80 per cent of the median wage.

Today, the interim report of the inquiry En ny ordning för asylsökandes boende (A new system for asylum seekers' accommodation), SOU 2022:64, has been circulated for consultation.

The Government has decided to provide a grant of USD 75 000 to the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) to conduct a survey. The survey targets adult Ukrainian citizens in Sweden who have been registered under the Temporary Protection Directive, and will include questions about their situation in Sweden.

At Thursday’s government meeting, the Government tasked the Swedish Migration Agency with making it easier for people with visa exemptions to show their original passport when applying for a temporary residence and work permit.

On 26–27 January, Minister for Justice Gunnar Strömmer and Minister for Migration Maria Malmer Stenergard will lead the first informal ministerial meeting of the Presidency in Sweden. The agenda includes EU migration policy, the fight against organised crime and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

The Government has today decided that the Swedish Migration Agency will take measures to strengthen work on residence and work permit with­drawal. The aim is to ensure that the system of regulated immigration is not abused.