Successive governments have gradually tightened migration and citizenship requirements since 2016, when around 160,000 asylum seekers sought refuge in a country of fewer than 11 million people.

The main requirements for obtaining status as a naturalized citizen are as follows:

"These requirements ‌are much tougher than the situation as it is ‌today ⁠because currently there are basically no requirements [to become a citizen]," Migration Minister Johan Forssell told reporters at a press conference on Monday.

The residency requirement changes go in the opposite direction to relatively recent ones in Germany, where a required period of residency of typically eight years was reduced to five.?

The income requirement of 20,000 crowns per month is considerably less than the median wage in Sweden or the typical entry-level pay scale for full-time work in unskilled sectors, such as hospitality. Therefore, almost anyone working full time should qualify. Sweden doesn't have a fixed national minimum wage making a comparison against that figure impossible.

Migration Minister Forssell portrayed the planned citizenship test as comparatively simple in nature, saying: "It seems reasonable that you should know whether Sweden is a monarchy or a republic, if you want to be a citizen."

The rules for convicted criminals, whether they have a record in Sweden or abroad, will vary. But as an example, someone who had served four years in jail would need to reside in Sweden for 15 years before they could apply.?

The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, who are not part of but back the minority coalition government, have blamed what they say are decades of failed immigration policies for a wave of gangland crime that has swept the country.?

National elections are scheduled this September in Sweden.

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko