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Local France
4 days ago
- Politics
- Local France
How alarmed should we be about Europe's tightening citizenship rules?
In recent months, several countries in Europe have announced plans, or said they are at least considering, new rules on obtaining citizenship. In Sweden, an inquiry recently proposed extending the residency requirement to eight years from the current five, and since April 1st, the Migration Agency has toughened security checks on applicants, which led to a temporary freeze on the processing of applications . Sweden has also talked of introducing language and civics tests for citizenship applicants. Last year, Finland extended the required residency period for naturalisation from five to eight years and shortened the time limits for allowed absence. In Germany, the new government has passed a bill to scrap the fast-track path to citizenship, which requires only three years of residence for people considered "highly integrated". The bill, which still needs the approval of the Bundestag, reverses part of the citizenship reform adopted in 2024. In Italy, a referendum aiming to reduce the residency requirement to get citizenship didn't receive enough participation to be valid. Separately, the parliament recently adopted new rules that limit to two generations the possibility to obtain citizenship by ancestry . In Denmark authorities hiked the citizenship fee by 50 percent on May 1st. Months earlier the country's Immigration Ministry also appointed an expert panel to look into the possibility of screening applicants for views considered 'antidemocratic'. Elsewhere in the Nordics, Norway will hold a general election in September, and both the Conservative Party and Progress Party, which could form a right-wing coalition, said they want to tighten citizenship requirements. Advertisement In France, where the anti-immigration far-right has been growing in popularity in recent years, the country's Interior M inister Bruno Retailleau t alked of his plans to 'toughen up' the citizenship regime , including the possible addition of a history and civic test. Nationality reforms were also at the centre of the political agenda in the Netherlands, where the far-right government, which has recently collapsed, wanted to increase the residence requirement from five to ten years. A similar plan to lengthen the residency qualification period has been taken by the Labour government in the UK, as part of proposals to further tighten immigration rules. Why so many changes? Professor Maarten Vink, Chair of Citizenship Studies at the Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute in Florence, suggested citizens around Europe shouldn't be too alarmed at all the tightening and changing of the rules. 'It is quite common that countries change citizenship rules every couple of years," Vink said. 'We are in a democracy, so if in elections the political balance shifts, it is normal that this is reflected in legislation. When migration is a very important topic in politics, issues that are related to migration, such as citizenship, are also part of this dynamic,' he said. Professor Vink said that citizenship laws in Europe have recently been 'more dynamic than in other parts of the world', although 'changes go in different directions.' Advertisement Dual citizenship The most significant trend that has emerged, and is 'unidirectional', he argued, is the acceptance of dual citizenship. 'Back in the 1960s, most countries around the world restricted dual citizenship because this was seen as a problem of loyalty and allegiance, especially at times of more warfare and military conscription," said Vink. Although exceptions remain in Austria, the Netherlands, the Baltic countries and several Eastern European states, this is an area that has seen 'a very clear liberalisation trend globally and in Europe'. Vink said this was partly driven by migration as more people moved and built a life in another country and maintained family ties to the country where they came from, or where their parents and grandparents came from. Another factor was gender equality. Advertisement 'In the past, a woman marrying a man from another country would automatically become a citizen of that country, or lose hers, and the children would be only citizen of the father's country. Recognising a woman and a man as both independent in citizenship law, as it happened in all European countries, allowed for the creation of mixed citizenship families,' he explained. Vink points out that even the new German government, which has proposed a step back on the "modernisation'" of citizenship laws by removing a fast-track procedure , has agreed to maintain the main elements of the landmark 2024 reform – the acceptance of dual citizenship and the reduction of the residency requirement from eight to five years. Developments in family law also affect citizenship, for example with the right to transmit citizenship from the non-biological parent to a child in a same-sex family. 'Scandinavian countries have been very proactive in incorporating these family law elements in citizenship law, while in countries like Italy there are still restrictions,' Vink said. Crucially most governments in Europe can't just do anything they want when it comes to citizenship laws In most European countries the area is also regulated via the European Convention on Nationality , signed in 1997 under the Council of Europe (not an EU institution). Some 29 European countries signed the Convention, but 8 (Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland and Russia) have not ratified it. For example under the rules set by the convention, the residence requirement for citizenship cannot exceed 10 years, an upper limit that is met by all European countries, with the most common requirement set at 5 years.
Local Spain
4 days ago
- Politics
- Local Spain
How alarmed should we be about Europe's tightening citizenship rules?
In recent months, several countries in Europe have announced plans, or said they are at least considering, new rules on obtaining citizenship. In Sweden, an inquiry recently proposed extending the residency requirement to eight years from the current five, and since April 1st, the Migration Agency has toughened security checks on applicants, which led to a temporary freeze on the processing of applications. Sweden has also talked of introducing language and civics tests for citizenship applicants. Last year, Finland extended the required residency period for naturalisation from five to eight years and shortened the time limits for allowed absence. In Germany, the new government has passed a bill to scrap the fast-track path to citizenship, which requires only three years of residence for people considered "highly integrated'. The bill, which still needs the approval of the Bundestag, reverses part of the citizenship reform adopted in 2024. In Italy, a referendum aiming to reduce the residency requirement to get citizenship didn't receive enough participation to be valid. Separately, the parliament recently adopted new rules that limit to two generations the possibility to obtain citizenship by ancestry. In Denmark authorities hiked the citizenship fee by 50 percent on May 1st. Months earlier the country's Immigration Ministry also appointed an expert panel to look into the possibility of screening applicants for views considered 'antidemocratic'. Elsewhere in the Nordics, Norway will hold a general election in September, and both the Conservative Party and Progress Party, which could form a right-wing coalition, said they want to tighten citizenship requirements. In France, where the anti-immigration far-right has been growing in popularity in recent years, the country's Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau t alked of his plans to 'toughen up' the citizenship regime, including the possible addition of a history and civic test. Nationality reforms were also at the centre of the political agenda in the Netherlands, where the far-right government, which has recently collapsed, wanted to increase the residence requirement from five to ten years. A similar plan to lengthen the residency qualification period has been taken by the Labour government in the UK, as part of proposals to further tighten immigration rules. Why so many changes? Professor Maarten Vink, Chair of Citizenship Studies at the Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute in Florence, suggested citizens around Europe shouldn't be too alarmed at all the tightening and changing of the rules. 'It is quite common that countries change citizenship rules every couple of years," Vink said. 'We are in a democracy, so if in elections the political balance shifts, it is normal that this is reflected in legislation. When migration is a very important topic in politics, issues that are related to migration, such as citizenship, are also part of this dynamic,' he said. Professor Vink said that citizenship laws in Europe have recently been 'more dynamic than in other parts of the world', although 'changes go in different directions.' Dual citizenship The most significant trend that has emerged, and is 'unidirectional', he argued, is the acceptance of dual citizenship. 'Back in the 1960s, most countries around the world restricted dual citizenship because this was seen as a problem of loyalty and allegiance, especially at times of more warfare and military conscription," said Vink. Although exceptions remain in Austria, the Netherlands, the Baltic countries and several Eastern European states, this is an area that has seen 'a very clear liberalisation trend globally and in Europe'. Vink said this was partly driven by migration as more people moved and built a life in another country and maintained family ties to the country where they came from, or where their parents and grandparents came from. Another factor was gender equality. 'In the past, a woman marrying a man from another country would automatically become a citizen of that country, or lose hers, and the children would be only citizen of the father's country. Recognising a woman and a man as both independent in citizenship law, as it happened in all European countries, allowed for the creation of mixed citizenship families,' he explained. Vink points out that even the new German government, which has proposed a step back on the "modernisation'" of citizenship laws by removing a fast-track procedure, has agreed to maintain the main elements of the landmark 2024 reform – the acceptance of dual citizenship and the reduction of the residency requirement from eight to five years. Developments in family law also affect citizenship, for example with the right to transmit citizenship from the non-biological parent to a child in a same-sex family. 'Scandinavian countries have been very proactive in incorporating these family law elements in citizenship law, while in countries like Italy there are still restrictions,' Vink said. Crucially most governments in Europe can't just do anything they want when it comes to citizenship laws In most European countries the area is also regulated via the European Convention on Nationality, signed in 1997 under the Council of Europe (not an EU institution). Some 29 European countries signed the Convention, but 8 (Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland and Russia) have not ratified it. For example under the rules set by the convention, the residence requirement for citizenship cannot exceed 10 years, an upper limit that is met by all European countries, with the most common requirement set at 5 years.
Local Germany
4 days ago
- Politics
- Local Germany
How alarmed should we be about Europe's tightening citizenship rules?
In recent months, several countries in Europe have announced plans, or said they are at least considering, new rules on obtaining citizenship. In Sweden, an inquiry recently proposed extending the residency requirement to eight years from the current five, and since April 1st, the Migration Agency has toughened security checks on applicants, which led to a temporary freeze on the processing of applications . Sweden has also talked of introducing language and civics tests for citizenship applicants. Last year, Finland extended the required residency period for naturalisation from five to eight years and shortened the time limits for allowed absence. In Germany, the new government has passed a bill to scrap the fast-track path to citizenship, which requires only three years of residence for people considered "highly integrated'. The bill, which still needs the approval of the Bundestag, reverses part of the citizenship reform adopted in 2024. In Italy, a referendum aiming to reduce the residency requirement to get citizenship didn't receive enough participation to be valid. Separately, the parliament recently adopted new rules that limit to two generations the possibility to obtain citizenship by ancestry . In Denmark authorities hiked the citizenship fee by 50 percent on May 1st. Months earlier the country's Immigration Ministry also appointed an expert panel to look into the possibility of screening applicants for views considered 'antidemocratic'. Elsewhere in the Nordics, Norway will hold a general election in September, and both the Conservative Party and Progress Party, which could form a right-wing coalition, said they want to tighten citizenship requirements. Advertisement In France, where the anti-immigration far-right has been growing in popularity in recent years, the country's Interior M inister Bruno Retailleau t alked of his plans to 'toughen up' the citizenship regime , including the possible addition of a history and civic test. Nationality reforms were also at the centre of the political agenda in the Netherlands, where the far-right government, which has recently collapsed, wanted to increase the residence requirement from five to ten years. A similar plan to lengthen the residency qualification period has been taken by the Labour government in the UK, as part of proposals to further tighten immigration rules. Why so many changes? Professor Maarten Vink, Chair of Citizenship Studies at the Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute in Florence, suggested citizens around Europe shouldn't be too alarmed at all the tightening and changing of the rules. 'It is quite common that countries change citizenship rules every couple of years," Vink said. 'We are in a democracy, so if in elections the political balance shifts, it is normal that this is reflected in legislation. When migration is a very important topic in politics, issues that are related to migration, such as citizenship, are also part of this dynamic,' he said. Professor Vink said that citizenship laws in Europe have recently been 'more dynamic than in other parts of the world', although 'changes go in different directions.' Advertisement Dual citizenship The most significant trend that has emerged, and is 'unidirectional', he argued, is the acceptance of dual citizenship. 'Back in the 1960s, most countries around the world restricted dual citizenship because this was seen as a problem of loyalty and allegiance, especially at times of more warfare and military conscription," said Vink. Although exceptions remain in Austria, the Netherlands, the Baltic countries and several Eastern European states, this is an area that has seen 'a very clear liberalisation trend globally and in Europe'. Vink said this was partly driven by migration as more people moved and built a life in another country and maintained family ties to the country where they came from, or where their parents and grandparents came from. Another factor was gender equality. Advertisement 'In the past, a woman marrying a man from another country would automatically become a citizen of that country, or lose hers, and the children would be only citizen of the father's country. Recognising a woman and a man as both independent in citizenship law, as it happened in all European countries, allowed for the creation of mixed citizenship families,' he explained. Vink points out that even the new German government, which has proposed a step back on the "modernisation'" of citizenship laws by removing a fast-track procedure , has agreed to maintain the main elements of the landmark 2024 reform – the acceptance of dual citizenship and the reduction of the residency requirement from eight to five years. Developments in family law also affect citizenship, for example with the right to transmit citizenship from the non-biological parent to a child in a same-sex family. 'Scandinavian countries have been very proactive in incorporating these family law elements in citizenship law, while in countries like Italy there are still restrictions,' Vink said. Crucially most governments in Europe can't just do anything they want when it comes to citizenship laws In most European countries the area is also regulated via the European Convention on Nationality , signed in 1997 under the Council of Europe (not an EU institution). Some 29 European countries signed the Convention, but 8 (Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland and Russia) have not ratified it. For example under the rules set by the convention, the residence requirement for citizenship cannot exceed 10 years, an upper limit that is met by all European countries, with the most common requirement set at 5 years.
Local Sweden
4 days ago
- Business
- Local Sweden
Sweden raises work permit salary threshold to almost 30,000 kronor
Statistics Sweden has released fresh median salary figures, pushing up the work permit salary threshold for all new applicants with immediate effect. Advertisement Sweden's median salary rose to 37,100 kronor in 2024, according to new figures posted by Statistics Sweden at 8am on June 17th. This means there's a new minimum monthly salary non-EU workers have to earn to be eligible for a work permit, as the work permit salary threshold is tied to 80 percent of the median salary. It previously stood at 28,480 kronor before tax, but as of June 17th it's gone up to 29,680 kronor. Salaries also need to be in line with industry standards or collective bargaining agreements to qualify for a work permit. It's the most recently published median salary at the time of your application (not the time of a decision) that determines how much you need to earn in order to be eligible for a work permit, so the new figure does not affect applications which are already in progress. The next median salary update will be published by Statistics Sweden in June 2026. Are there any plans to raise the salary threshold further? Yes. The government plans to raise the work permit threshold for new permits to 100 percent of the median salary at the time of application, with exemptions for some categories of workers. This is still winding its way through the legislative process, which means it is not yet a done deal. The proposed starting date for the widely criticised proposal was originally June 1st, 2025, but that deadline wasn't met. Sweden's Migration Minister Johan Forssell told The Local in May that 'no formal decision' has been made on where the final salary threshold will actually end up. The government in February asked the Migration Agency to present a list of which professions should be exempt from the salary threshold by August 1st, suggesting that the original plan to roll out the new threshold on June 1st will be postponed until at least the autumn. Advertisement This isn't the first time that we've seen an indication that the government hasn't fully committed to raising the threshold to 100 percent of the median salary. In January, Employment Minister Mats Persson said that his party, the Liberals, would even be willing to lower the threshold. There would be a one-year grace period for work permit renewals, so the current rule (80 percent of the median salary) would continue to apply for any applications for extensions submitted to the Migration Agency for twelve months from the date the law is implemented.
Local Sweden
5 days ago
- Business
- Local Sweden
Sweden set to raise work permit salary threshold this week
Sweden's yearly median wage is set to be released on Tuesday, which means the salary threshold for work permit holders is also expected to rise with immediate effect. Advertisement Sweden's number-crunching agency, Statistics Sweden, is expected to release the new median salary figure when it publishes its annual statistics on the Swedish labour market at 8am on June 17th. The Local will publish it as soon as we have it. The median salary currently stands at 35,600 kronor (technically that's the median in the year 2023, and the figure to be released on Tuesday is for the year 2024). In the past five years, it has risen on average 940 kronor every year, with higher increases in recent years, so you can almost certainly expect it to increase on Tuesday as well. Last year the median salary went up by 1,400 kronor. So why does this matter? Well, the work permit salary threshold – the minimum a non-EU foreigner has to earn to be eligible for a work permit – is set at 80 percent of the median salary. That means it is currently 28,480 kronor a month before tax, and it will likely rise on Tuesday. In other words, any work permit applicants (both first-time applications and extensions) applying before June 17th have to earn at least 28,480 kronor a month to qualify. If you apply on June 17th or later, whatever the new figure is will apply to you. Advertisement Salaries also need to be in line with industry standards or collective bargaining agreements, so the salary threshold is only the minimum for work permits. It's the most recently published median salary at the time of your application (not the time of a decision) that determines how much you need to earn in order to be eligible for a work permit, so the new figure will not affect applications already in progress. Are there any plans to raise the salary threshold further? Yes. The government plans to raise the work permit threshold for new permits to 100 percent of the median salary at the time of application, with exemptions for some categories of workers. This is still winding its way through the legislative process, which means it is not yet a done deal. The proposed starting date for the widely criticised proposal was originally June 1st, 2025, but that deadline wasn't met. Sweden's Migration Minister Johan Forssell told The Local in May that 'no formal decision' has been made on where the final salary threshold will actually end up. Advertisement The government in February asked the Migration Agency to present a list of which professions should be exempt from the salary threshold by August 1st, suggesting that the original plan to roll out the new threshold on June 1st will be postponed until at least the autumn. This isn't the first time that we've seen an indication that the government hasn't fully committed to raising the threshold to 100 percent of the median salary. In January, Employment Minister Mats Persson said that his party, the Liberals, would even be willing to lower the threshold. There would be a one-year grace period for work permit renewals, so the current rule (80 percent of the median salary) would continue to apply for any applications for extensions submitted to the Migration Agency for twelve months from the date the law is implemented.
