NORDIC CITIZENSHIP RULES

There are as many as 400 000 Nordic nationals living in North America, where the United States and Canada have always generously permitted dual citizenships.

Until now all the Nordic countries have taken a stance against dual citizenship. There has been a general feeling that every person should be the citizen of one country only because this works best especially during times of crisis or, when someone is stranded in a foreign country.

On July l, 2001, a new Swedish law regarding citizenship will come into effect and the most important change is that dual citizenship will now be allowed.

The new law did not come about to make it easier for Swedes living abroad, it was rather to help immigrants in Sweden, many of whom are not able or willing to renounce their original citizenship, to have a better chance at integration by becoming Swedish citizens.

Sweden has already in exceptional cases allowed dual citizenship so some 300 000 Swedes are already dual citizens. This is also the case for Denmark. The Danes, on the other hand, have no plans of changing their citizenship laws and neither do Norway or Iceland. But Finland that has been vehemently opposed to dual citizenships may now follow Sweden's example.

The new rules for Sweden state that a Swedish citizen who acquires citizenship in another country will not lose his/her citizenship. A foreigner who becomes a Swedish citizen will be able to keep his/her other citizenship, if permitted by the other country involved.

A person who lost Swedish citizenship when becoming a citizen of another country, can regain it by notifying the authorities. Notification has to be made during the period July 1, 2001-June 30, 2003.
A child automatically becomes a Swedish citizen if the mother is Swedish, or if the father is Swedish and is married to the mother. According to the new law, a child also receives Swedish citizenship if it is born in Sweden and has a Swedish father, regardless of whether the parents are married or not. If the child is born abroad a notification is enough for the child to become a Swedish citizen and there is no requirement for the father to participate in the custody of the child. Persons born outside of Sweden and who received their Swedish citizenship automatically through one of their parents must apply to retain their Swedish citizenship before the age of 22. This rule still applies.

Children born to Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Icelandic parents outside of their homeland also retain their citizenship until the age of 22. At that time they lose their citizenship unless they have made an application to keep it. The applicant, depending on citizenship, then undergoes an exam of sorts where his/her command of language, how often he/she has visited the homeland and other such indications of "connection" are probed.

A former Dane, regardless of citizenship, always has the right to live and work in Denmark.
Although Iceland is regarded as the most difficult of the Nordic countries to become a citizen of, more than 20 000 foreigners have received Icelandic citizenships during the last ten years. The granting of citizenship is based on various principles. A Nordic national has to have been a permanent resident of Iceland for five years while a non-Nordic national has to prove ten years of residence in the country. A man or a woman who is married to an Icelandic national may be granted Icelandic citizenship after three years (five for a common-law relationship) permanent residence in Iceland "following the solemnization of the marriage" and providing the Icelandic national has been a citizen of the country for five years.

An Icelandic woman who. has lost her Icelandic nationality due to marriage may be granted Icelandic nationality in her first year of residence in Iceland, if her marriage has come to an end and she has declared her intention to continue residence in Iceland. The same applies to any children accompanying her if they are under sixteen years of age.

The principles of citizenship have been quite similar for all the Nordic countries, but Iceland is unique with its name rule. New citizens who have not been born in Iceland must adopt an Icelandic first name (so Mary Brown gets a new middlename and becomes Mary Maria Brown) but not a surname that follows the ancient Nordic name principle, with a surname that included their father's name, like Sigurdsson or Sigurdsdóttir.

Scandinavian Press, Issue 3, 2001