Who doesn't have to take the citizenship test?
Many people never need to take the test. The knowledge requirement can be met with passed SFI, upper secondary or adult education grades, a university degree, or Tisus — and some groups are fully exempt.
This page is translated from Swedish and has not been reviewed by a native speaker. The Swedish version is the original.
This is the most misunderstood part of the whole reform. A great many people assume the test is mandatory for everyone applying for Swedish citizenship. That’s not correct.
The test is one way, not the only way
What’s been introduced is a knowledge requirement — not a test requirement. The test is one way to show the requirement is met. According to Migrationsverket, the requirement can also be met through:
- Passed SFI, specifically course D
- Grades from upper secondary school or municipal adult education
- A university or higher education degree
- Tisus (Test i svenska för universitets- och högskolestudier — a Swedish test for university studies)
If you have any of these, you likely don’t need to take the test at all — and you save both the SEK 2,000 test fee and the wait for a test slot.
This is worth checking before you plan around the test. A large share of the people currently looking for practice material should have checked their own grades first.
The age limit: 16 to 66
The requirement applies to people aged 16 to 66. If you’re younger than 16 or older than 66, it doesn’t apply to you.
Fully exempt groups
Beyond the age limit, some groups are exempt entirely:
- Stateless people born in Sweden who are under 21
- Nordic citizens who become Swedish citizens by notification
- People with disabilities or other circumstances that mean the requirement cannot reasonably be imposed
The last point is a case-by-case assessment, not an automatic right. How it’s applied in practice is something Migrationsverket decides on an individual basis.
What applies if you’ve already applied
A common question is whether the requirement applies to someone who submitted their application before the new rules took effect on 6 June 2026. That’s determined by the transitional rules and by when your case is processed — not something we can answer in general terms.
Check your own case. We’re a study aid, not an authority, and we can’t make assessments in individual cases. Questions about what applies to you specifically belong with Migrationsverket.
Two authorities, two roles
What confuses many people is that two authorities are involved, and they do different things:
| UHR | Migrationsverket | |
|---|---|---|
| Responsible for | The test itself | The citizenship application |
| Decides on | Test content, dates, registration, results | Whether you become a Swedish citizen |
| Fee | SEK 2,000 test fee | SEK 2,900 application fee |
| Answers | How the test works | Whether you need to take the test at all |
In short: questions about the test go to UHR, questions about your citizenship go to Migrationsverket. “Do I have to take the test?” is a Migrationsverket question.
And if you do need to take the test
Then what applies is what’s covered in our other guides: the test consists of around 60 questions in 90 minutes, it’s based entirely on the free study material Sverige i fokus, and UHR has not published a pass mark.
Sources: Migrationsverket’s information on the knowledge requirement and exemptions from it · UHR’s pages on the citizenship test · Förordning (2026:451) om medborgarskapsprov. We are not affiliated with either authority — always check against migrationsverket.se and uhr.se.