a link with Sweden. The person has domiciled for 7 years in a country participating in the Nordic Council. In such cases the Swedish citizenship is retained. Dual citizenship With effect from 1 July 2001, a Swedish citizen acquiring a foreign citizenship does not lose Swedish citizenship. Former Swedish citizens who lost Swedish citizenship prior to this date (upon naturalisation in another country) were given a two-year period to re-acquire Swedish citizenship by declaration. Children of former Swedish citizens were also eligible to acquire Swedish citizenship by declaration. The deadline for submission of applications was 30 June 2003. The changes to the law also mean that foreigners seeking naturalisation as a Swedish citizen do not need to renounce their former citizenship. They may retain it if the law of the other country permits them to do so. Swedish citizens who nonetheless hold Japanese citizenship must normally, under Japan's nationality law, notify Japan's Ministry of Justice, before turning 22, whether to keep their Swedish or Japanese citizenship. Prior to 1 July 2001, Swedish citizens were still able to legally hold dual citizenship in certain circumstances, for example, if the other citizenship was acquired automatically at birth. Citizenship of the European Union Because Sweden forms part of the European Union, Swedish citizens are also citizens of the European Union under European Union law and thus enjoy rights of free movement and have the right to vote in elections for the European Parliament. When in a non-EU country where there is no Swedish embassy, Swedish citizens have the right to get consular protection from the embassy of any other EU country present in that country. Swedish citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in Article 21 of the EU Treaty. Travel freedom of Swedish citizens Visa requirements for Swedish citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Sweden. As of May 2018, Swedish citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 187 countries and territories, ranking the Swedish passport third in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index. The Swedish nationality is ranked seventh in The Quality of Nationality Index (QNI). This index differs from the Visa Restrictions Index, which focuses on external factors including travel freedom. The QNI considers, in addition, to travel freedom on internal factors