(edit title) Swedish Citizenship through Birth Distinct Question Options

[bradahrens]

Hello,

I have an interesting case and am looking for advice and/or a good immigration lawyer with whom to speak.

Here is my case:

I was not born in Sweden. My mother, however, is a Swedish citizen. I have read that I can become a Swedish citizen through birth*. On migrationsverkets website**, it states that "According to Swedish law, it is the parents' nationality that determines the nationality of the child — the principle of descent. The child of a Swedish mother will always become a Swedish citizen, irrespective of whether the child is born in Sweden or abroad." This should mean that I am eligible for Swedish citizenship.

But... at my time of birth, my mother had accepted Canadian citizenship in order to have health insurance while in Canada, etc. etc., which at the time meant that she, in theory, gave up her Swedish citizenship as Sweden did not recognize dual citizenship at that time. However, she did not make any formal statements giving up her Swedish citizenship. She also kept her Swedish passport. Then, in 2003 she was told that dual-citizenship was again possible and renewed her Swedish citizenship.

Despite not having Swedish citizenship at birth, I grew up speaking Swedish, spent most of my summers as a youth with family in Sweden, and continue to have a strong connection with my mother's family, which numerically counts for almost all of my extended family.

Since I never received Swedish citizenship at birth, but feel that I am qualified under the guidelines given by migrationsverket and have a strong emotional connection to the country, I would like to apply for my Swedish citizenship. Does anyone know if I am eligible and if so how do I apply for citizenship?

I appreciate your help and any advice you can give me. If you have any contact information for a good immigration lawyer or anyone else who could help, I would thoroughly appreciate it.

Thanks,

Brad

*http://www.swedenabroad.com/Page____33206.aspx
**http://www.migrationsverket.se/info/283.html

[Puffin]

I don't think you are eligible as you mother was not technically a Swedish citizen at the time of your birth and did not register you with the Swedish authorities. However you should check with Migrationsverket about the specific circumstances of your case. Did your mother actually reapply for citizenship in 2003?

I know someone else in very similar circumstances as you (also in Canada) and his attempts to regain Swedish citizenship failed however his brother succeeded (something about applying before a cut off date- however he was told that he could become Swedish through residence.

My own children are in a similar position having lost their Danish citizenship when their father became Swedish (Denmark does not allow dual citizenship)

[bradahrens]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, she applied and received her Swedish citizenship in 2003 (or about that time).

[johnjohn]

Try asking you question At Yahoo Answers, Politics and Government / immigration.

[bradahrens]

Thanks johnjohn, but those sources are often ambiguous or false-leading. I was more interested in finding someone in the same or similar situation who has used an immigration lawyer successfully.

[johnjohn]

Agreed however there are some top contributors who are lawyers and some indeed from Canada. Lucky on this forum there are never false leads or ambiguous answers

[byke]

Dual citizen here ... and have been since birth.

[johnjohn]

Having read Bykes imput I rest my case regarding ambiguous answers.

[byke]

Its a strange situation, as I have heard of cases on here where dual citizenship is questioned pre 2000 ... yet, I myself have had dual citizenship since birth and was born and raised in the UK to an English mother.

I also know of a person who was born pre 2k and is and has always been a dual citizen of canadian and Swedish nationalities ... and grew up in Sweden.

[intrepidfox]

My daughter was born in the UK and moved to Sweden with her Swedish mother when she was 3 and is a Swedish citizen without being registered at birth in Sweden. She later moved to the UK when she was 21 and now has dual nationality. I´ve no idea how she managed to get that but she now has 2 passports.

[oddsock]

I guess it depends on your mother's situation.

When she got her Canadian passport, did she officially renounce her Swedish citizenship? If she never bothered to tell Sweden she got a Canadian passport, then there's no way Sweden would ever have found out and she would have been Swedish all this time!

So, as Puffin said, when she "reapplied", did she reapply for Swedish citizenship, or simply just get a new Swedish passport?

You see, the problem with these laws banning dual citizenship is that they are impossible to police. If one never tells country A about another passport from country B, then country A will never find out, unless one shows the passport from country B when landing at the airport in country A. So there is a chance that your mother showed her Canadian passport when landing in Sweden and the Swedish authorities may have found out this way. However... there is no Swedish personnummer on the Canadian passport, and as we all know, Swedish authorities can't even put two and two together when there is no Swedish personnummer involved.

But in your case, you were never registered as Swedish at birth, which is a shame. You could still have been Canadian as well, nobody in Sweden would ever have found out. These laws banning dual citizenship are a bit of a joke, but it seems that many people took them seriously.

[oddsock]

By the way Brad, are you under the age of 22?

[oluies]

Why dont you apply for your based on your family relation ? Then you will know?

[Pursuivant]

Wasn't there a "grace period" in 2003 when the law changed to allow those kids who were denied the "descent" due to parent losing citizenship to "declare" citizenship? I think that train went though.

Migrationsverket page is down, but theres a clause there about "relations with Sweden" and something about "former citizenship". Might require you to actually live in Sweden for a while.

[Max Reaver]

Agree with oddstock, if your mom never told the Swedish authority of her renouncement from Swedish citizenship, then she never lost it. I think you should be able to claim your citizenship one way or another, just a matter of time and strategy.