Considerable inefficiencies in processing citizenship cases

The Swedish National Audit Office has examined the Swedish Migration Agency’s processing of citizenship cases. The overall assessment is that it is not effective.

Deficiencies include unreasonably lengthy processing times. Many cases are over four years old and are hardly being processed at all. The Swedish Migration Agency’s management by objectives creates incentives at several levels to prioritise simpler cases, while those that require more investigation may have to wait for several years without action.

For those affected, the long waiting times, in addition to causing uncertainty and worry, mean that they cannot be considered for certain jobs or training, nor can they vote in parliamentary elections.

The long processing times also mean that it may take several years before the Swedish Migration Agency discovers deficiencies in cases, such as circumstances that indicate that a residence permit should be revoked or that citizenship should not be granted.

The Swedish Migration Agency is also deficient, in certain respects, in ensuring correct decisions. It is a matter of insufficiently clear procedures and shortcomings in decision-making documentation and processing systems. For example, the Swedish Migration Agency may sometimes receive information that may suggest that citizenship should not be granted in a case, but that does not trigger an alert in the processing system. Thus, there is a risk that this information will not be noticed by case officers and decision-makers.

Another problem is that the Swedish Migration Agency’s assessment of the identity and residency of applicants is sometimes based on uncertain information. This is partly because the Swedish Migration Agency lacks legal conditions for effective access to information from the Swedish Tax Agency.

“We also note that the lack of adequate support in the examination process poses a risk of failure to assess cases uniformly. There is a lack of sufficiently clear and readily available supportive documents, and the forums that are supposed to promote uniform assessments and working methods do not function sufficiently well,” says Lovisa Ingström, project leader for the audit.

Due to the Swedish Migration Agency’s long processing times, the majority of citizenship applicants submit a ‘request to conclude a case’. The possibility of submitting such a request has improved the prospects for many applicants, but has led to considerable delays for those who have not submitted such a request. Many people who applied for citizenship several years ago remain in the queue, while the Swedish Migration Agency makes decisions on applications received in the past year. The Swedish Migration Agency’s processing has also created lock-in effects for several thousand applicants. There is currently no plan for when they will have their cases processed.

“The Government has been made aware of the adverse consequences that requests to conclude a case have had for individuals, but has not taken any measures to rectify the shortcomings. The Swedish Migration Agency and the Government have a joint responsibility in this respect,” says Auditor General Christina Gellerbrant Hagberg.