Naturalization To naturalize, an applicant is required to prove his or her identity according to the Act on Swedish Citizenship, Section 11, and the Government Bill on Citizenship and Identity.136 The residency requirement has been reduced for stateless applicants for naturalization, to four years (from five years, which is the rule for other non-Nordic nationals). According to the Government Bill on the Act on Swedish Citizenship,137 this preferential treatment of stateless applicants shall only apply to those who have not themselves taken steps to become stateless, while stateless persons who would be able to acquire the citizenship of another country shall fall within the scope. The Citizenship Unit of the SMA places the burden of proof mainly on the applicant and is not bound by previous assessments of nationality, or lack thereof, undertaken by other units of the SMA or by the Swedish Tax Agency. The applicant for naturalization, or the parents of a child applying for notification, bear the main responsibility for providing information, and proving their statelessness when applicable. In this regard, it should be noted that the 1954 Convention requires a negative to be proven – that an individual is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law. While individuals are obliged to cooperate in establishing relevant facts, they will often face challenges accessing the relevant evidence and documentation needed to prove their absence of nationality. They should thus not bear sole responsibility for establishing relevant facts. Sharing the burden of proof will also recognize the role of the State in obtaining more reliable information from the competent authorities of other States. The Citizenship Unit does not follow any specific guidelines when determining statelessness but each caseworker is expected to be able to make the determination based on the available information regarding the applicant and the nationality laws of relevant countries. Identity may be proven by showing an original national passport or an original identity document. The passport or identity document must have been issued by a public authority in the country of origin, be of good quality and not be too rudimentary. There must be a photograph of the individual on the document, and the SMA must be able to easily see that it is the applicant on the photograph. There must be no doubt that the document is genuine and has been officially issued, and the person in question must have applied for the document and/or collected it in person from the issuing authority. If the applicant has many documents, which do not individually fulfil the requirement, the SMA may decide whether they can jointly prove the identity. If an applicant for naturalization does not have an original passport or national identity document meeting the standards described above, the applicant’s husband or wife or a close relative (parents, adult children or siblings) may attest the individual’s identity. In such cases, the relative attesting the identity must have become a Swedish citizen him or herself, and have proven his or her own identity through a passport or an accepted identity document from the country of origin. Also, the applicant and his or her relative must have submitted consistent information regarding the identity, relationship, background, family circumstances, etc. in previous applications or documentation within administrative procedures. In order for an applicant’s husband or wife to attest to the applicant’s identity, the couple must have lived together before coming to Sweden for such a period that the spouse has knowledge of the applicant’s background and life story, so that the partner’s identity can be attested to without doubt. However, an applicant for naturalization who cannot prove his or her identity, but is able to make the claimed identity “probable”, can acquire citizenship through naturalization after eight years of residence in Sweden pursuant to the Act on Swedish Citizenship, Section 12. As mentioned above, the Government Bill refers to stateless persons as one group who may have difficulties in proving their identity through passports or ID documents. 136 Proposition (1997/98: 178) Medborgarskap och identitet, available at: https://goo.gl/XFAodT. 137 Regeringens proposition (1999/2000: 147) Lag om svenskt medborgarskap. UNHCR STOCKHOLM, 2016 41