Although the text was not formally presented at the the first preparatory meeting for the bill held by the Social Insurance Committee on Tuesday morning, the Social Democrats, Green Party, Centre Party and Left Party, the four parties have agreed to submit a joint reservation.
"There will be common suggestion put forward to the parliament that all the opposition parties will be united behind," Niels Paarup-Petersen, immigration spokesperson for the Centre Party, told The Local.
"It's being chiselled out at the moment exactly how it's going to be written – it has to go through all the different party organisations. So the next time it comes up in the committee, I expect that there will be a common suggestion."
Ida Karkiainen, who represents the Social Democrats on the committee, also said that the four parties had agreed to write a joint text.
"We will try to write a joint reservation by the next meeting," she told The Local. "It is normal that we sync our proposals at the second or third preparatory meeting."
If two or more MPs from government-supporting parties vote in favour of the reservation when it goes before the full chamber, it will then become part of the law when passed.
READ ALSO: Your questions answered about Sweden's new citizenship law
The Stricter Rules for Citizenship bill, which comes before parliament on April 29th, will increase the residency requirement for Swedish citizenship from five to eight years in most cases, will require applicants to prove Swedish language ability and knowledge of Swedish society, and will require them to meet a new self-sufficiency requirement.
Transitional rules would mean that the roughly 100,000 people who have already applied for Swedish citizenship and are waiting for the Migration Agency to make a decision would not have to fulfil these new requirements, even if their case is decided after the new law comes into force on June 6th.
READ ALSO: Does the Fair Transition campaign for transitional rules stand a chance?
The absence of transitional rules in the bill as submitted by the government has been criticised by the Council on Legislation, which is responsible for vetting new legislation in Sweden.
It has also generated an energetic campaign, Fair Transition, led by foreigners who have already applied for citizenship.
All four opposition parties proposed adding transitional arrangements in individual motions submitted last month.
Comments (6)