What the law says
The right to ask for a decision is set out in section 12 of the Administrative Procedure Act (förvaltningslagen). It applies to all cases you have started yourself with a public authority, so it also covers your application for citizenship. If the case has not been decided at first instance within six months, you can ask the authority in writing to decide it.
The Migration Agency must then, within four weeks from the day the request arrived, either decide the case or refuse the request in a separate decision. You can make this kind of request once while your case is being handled.
The law also has a rule for the agency. If the Migration Agency thinks the decision will be significantly delayed, it must tell you and explain why (section 11 of the Administrative Procedure Act).
When you can send the request
The six months are counted from the day your application or notification for citizenship arrived at the Migration Agency. So if your application arrived in March 2026, you can send the request in September 2026.
The rule applies while the Migration Agency is examining your case, because the law talks about cases that have not been decided at first instance. If you have already received a decision and appealed it, the case is with the court, and the court's handling is not covered by the rule.
As you can only make the request once, it is worth thinking carefully about the timing. If you send it as soon as six months have passed and it is refused, you cannot make a new request later in the same case.
How to send the request
The Migration Agency has its own form for citizenship cases: Begäran om att avgöra medborgarskapsärende (Request for a decision in a citizenship case), number 301011. You fill it in, sign it and send it by post to the address on the form.
If you have a representative (ombud), they can send the request for you. A power of attorney (fullmakt) must then be included, unless the Migration Agency already has one in the case.
What happens within four weeks
Either the Migration Agency decides the case, and you get a decision on citizenship, which can be yes or no. Or the agency refuses the request, which it does if it thinks the case cannot be finally decided within four weeks. Your application is then handled as usual.
Keep in mind which rules apply. Since 6 June 2026, the Migration Agency examines all applications for citizenship under the new requirements, including those that arrived earlier and had not been decided by that day. The main rule is now eight years of residence, and there are requirements on supporting yourself and on knowledge of Swedish and of Swedish society. So if you applied after five years and meet the old requirements but not the new ones, a faster decision could be a refusal.
That is why it pays to go through the requirements before you send the request. If you meet them today, you have a lot to gain from a decision. If you do not, it may be wiser to wait before making the request.
If the Migration Agency refuses the request
A refusal of the request is not a decision about your citizenship. It only means that the Migration Agency will not decide the case now. You can appeal this decision to the migration court (migrationsdomstolen), because that is the court that examines decisions on citizenship.
The appeal (överklagande) must be in writing and sent to the Migration Agency, which passes it on to the court. It must arrive within three weeks from the day you were notified of the decision. Write which decision you are appealing and what you want the court to do.
The court then only looks at whether the case has taken too long. If the court agrees with you, it must order the Migration Agency to decide the case as soon as possible or within a time set by the court. The court's decision on this question cannot be appealed, and the question of whether you become a Swedish citizen is still decided by the Migration Agency.
How we can help you
Before you send the request, we go through whether you meet the requirements for Swedish citizenship under the rules that have applied since 6 June 2026. Then you know what a decision would probably be and whether this is the right time to ask for one. With a power of attorney, we can send the request as your representative and appeal if it is refused.
Describe your case in the form and we will normally get back to you within one working day. You get a quote before we start.
