Dropping out of SFI can now cost you citizenship — and the first citizenship test is on 15 August
Since 6 June 2026, anyone applying for Swedish citizenship has had to prove they can speak Swedish and know something about Swedish society. The requirement is being applied to applications that had not yet been decided, which means people who applied long before the change are now being judged against it.
What counts as proof is a document, not your actual fluency. Migrationsverket accepts an approved grade in Swedish or Swedish as a second language from grundskola, gymnasium or adult education, a pass in SFI course D, or qualifications from komvux or folkhögskola. If you have none of those, the remaining route is the citizenship test.
The dates matter. The first test on Swedish society takes place on 15 August 2026. The separate language test is not expected to run until sometime in 2027, according to Migrationsverket. So for now the society test is the only exam available to fill the gap.
The language requirement came in alongside several others. You now need eight years of residence in Sweden rather than five. The conduct requirement is stricter, so anyone with past offences waits longer. There is a new income requirement: an annual income of at least three income base amounts, roughly 20,000 kronor a month before tax, from work or from running a business, and it has to be lasting. You also cannot have received försörjningsstöd for more than six months in total over the last three years.
The gap is catching people who did what they were told to do. Jamil Albakar has lived in Sweden for ten years and has run a hairdressing salon in Kil for seven. He left SFI to start working, and his application, submitted a year and a half ago, has been refused because he has no certificate to show. Sara Sjudin, a section head at Migrationsverket, said he is not alone and that many applicants have fallen into the same gap. If you are waiting on a decision, it is worth digging out paperwork for any Swedish course you completed.