Sweden's government promised a paradigm shift on immigration and this was a week in which they moved ahead with some cornerstone policies.

As we spoke about in last week's podcast, enhanced security checks are expected to slow down decisions on citizenship by a migration authority already struggling to manage a backlog of more that 80,000 applications.

The head of a government inquiry this week recommended a grace period for existing applicants as Sweden moves to extend residency requirements from five to eight years for citizenship. In this week's episode politicians remind us that they're not obliged to follow the inquiry's recommendations.

For Membership+ subscribers we discuss why dual citizenship on the agenda this week after a parliamentary committee recommended changing the constitution to enable the revocation of Swedish citizenship for serious crimes including espionage, terrorism and treason. But a disagreement between the government and the Social Democrats on which crimes should be covered suggests this is an issue we'll be hearing much more about in the run-up to the 2026 election.

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined this week by regular panelists Emma Löfgren and James Savage.

Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:

• Swedish government inquiry proposes increasing citizenship wait to eight years
• KEY POINTS: Sweden's plans for tougher citizenship rules
• Readers' questions answered on Sweden's citizenship reforms
• How do foreigners feel about extending Sweden's citizenship wait to eight years?
• Swedish migration minister won't rule out making new citizenship rules retroactive

Sign up now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.

Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+

• For signed-in members: Upgrade to Membership+
• For new members: Get Membership+

Read more about Membership+ in our help centre.

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.