GlobeQuest

Sweden visas and residency

Who can visit Sweden without a visa, and the 5 long-stay routes that let you actually live there.

Short stay

Visiting Sweden, by passport

How the 198 passports we track get in. A visitor entry is never permission to work, study or settle — that is what the routes further down are for.

United StatesVisa-free · 90 daysUnited KingdomVisa-free · 90 daysIndiaVisa requiredCanadaVisa-free · 90 daysAustraliaVisa-free · 90 daysGermanyFree movementFranceFree movementNetherlandsFree movementIrelandFree movementSpainFree movementItalyFree movementPortugalFree movementPolandFree movementSwitzerlandFree movementSouth AfricaVisa required
No visa at all

Who can simply move to Sweden

EU/EEA and Swiss free movement

Citizens covered by EU/EEA and Swiss free movement need none of the routes below

Citizens of EU and EEA countries and Switzerland can live, work and study in each other's countries without a visa or a work permit.

For the first three months a valid passport or national ID card is all you need. Beyond that you may have to register as a resident, and if you are not working or studying you need enough money to live on and health cover. Switzerland issues an EU/EFTA residence permit on the same terms.

Verified November 2026:Your Europe — residence rights when living abroad in the EUState Secretariat for Migration — free movement of persons Switzerland–EU/EFTA
Long stay

How you actually move to Sweden

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Work permit (arbetstillstånd)

The mainstream route for a non-EU professional with a Swedish job offer. Sweden has no employer-sponsorship licensing — any employer can hire you — but the salary bar was raised substantially in 2026 and is now the binding constraint.

What you need
  • A job offer advertised in Sweden and the EU/EEA for at least 10 days, normally through Arbetsförmedlingen's Platsbanken
  • Gross monthly salary of at least 90% of the Swedish median salary — SEK 34,470 per month under the rules that took effect 1 June 2026
  • Terms of employment at least equal to the applicable Swedish collective agreement or industry practice
  • Health, life, employment and occupational pension insurance provided by the employer from day one
  • A written offer signed by the employer, and an opinion from the relevant trade union
  • A passport valid for the full permit period
How long it lasts
Up to 2 years at a time, never longer than the employment contract or the passport. Total work-permit time is capped, after which you must qualify for permanent residence or leave.
Path to permanent residence
Yes. You may apply for a permanent residence permit once you have held a work permit for at least 4 years and worked in Sweden for 4 of the previous 7. You must also be self-supporting from employment or your own business — in 2026 your income must leave at least SEK 6,243 per month for a single adult after housing costs — and satisfy a good-conduct test that looks at offences committed abroad as well as in Sweden.
Cost
SEK 2,200 for the applicant; SEK 1,500 per accompanying adult and SEK 750 per child.
Processing time
Varies widely by occupation and completeness. Employers who apply through the certified-operator route see materially faster decisions.
Worth knowing
  • SEK 34,470 is the figure for the current cycle. It is 90% of the median salary published by Statistics Sweden and is recalculated, so state the mechanism and confirm the number on the day you apply.
  • A defined exemption list — several IT and engineering roles, assistant nurses and care assistants, agriculture and forestry, welders and mechanics, food-processing operators, former students and researchers already holding Swedish permits, and staff of early-stage tech and life-science companies — is assessed at 75% of the median instead, around SEK 28,725.
  • There is a six-month transition, and it is a lower bar rather than no bar: if your current permit was granted before 1 June 2026 and you apply to extend it between 1 June and 1 December 2026, the previous maintenance requirement applies instead — a salary of at least 80% of the median rather than 90%. Note also that the new floor is tested at the date of decision, not the date of application, so a file lodged before 1 June that is decided after it is caught.
  • The permit is tied to a specific employer for the first two years and to the occupation for four. Changing jobs early means a fresh application, not a notification.
  • Sweden has no digital nomad visa. Remote work for a foreign employer is not a basis for a Swedish residence permit, whatever the length of stay.
Sources:Migrationsverket — salary requirements for a work permitMigrationsverket — new rules for work permits now apply (1 June 2026)Migrationsverket — Swedish Migration Agency
Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

EU Blue Card

Highly qualified employees who want intra-EU mobility as well as a Swedish permit. Since 15 July 2026 the Swedish Blue Card is issued for longer than the ordinary work permit, which changes the calculation for people who previously defaulted to arbetstillstånd.

What you need
  • A university degree equivalent to at least 180 Swedish higher-education credits, or at least 5 years of relevant professional experience
  • A signed contract for highly qualified employment lasting at least 6 months
  • Gross monthly salary of at least 1.25 times the average gross salary in Sweden — SEK 53,625 per month from 15 July 2026
  • Terms of employment at least equal to Swedish collective agreements
  • Authorisation first, if the profession is regulated
How long it lasts
Issued for at least 9 months and up to 4 years — extended from the previous 2-year maximum by the July 2026 change.
Path to permanent residence
Yes, and Blue Card time in other member states can count toward EU long-term resident status. Note that since 12 July 2026 Sweden issues a five-year residence permit rather than a permanent one to people granted EU long-term resident status.
Cost
SEK 2,000 for the applicant, SEK 1,500 per accompanying adult, SEK 750 per child. Japanese citizens are exempt from the fee under a bilateral agreement.
Processing time
Around three-quarters of complete applications are decided within a month; incomplete ones typically take two.
Worth knowing
  • The threshold is a multiple of the average salary published by the National Mediation Office (Medlingsinstitutet) and Migrationsverket resets it annually. SEK 53,625 is the figure that took effect 15 July 2026.
  • The Blue Card bar sits well above the ordinary work-permit bar. For most people the standard work permit is the realistic route and the Blue Card is only worth it if you value EU mobility or the longer permit.
  • A Blue Card issued by Denmark does not exist — Denmark's EU opt-out excludes it from the directive — so intra-Nordic Blue Card mobility only works between Sweden and Finland here.
Sources:Migrationsverket — EU Blue CardMigrationsverket — Swedish Migration Agency
Freelance / self-employedMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Residence permit to run your own business

People starting or buying a Swedish business, or working as genuine self-employed contractors. Sweden assesses the business, not just your intent, and the bar is real.

What you need
  • Proven experience of the industry and of running a business, plus documented Swedish or English language ability sufficient to run it
  • Ownership of at least half the company and demonstrable control over it
  • Documented capital sufficient to support you and your family for the first two years — Migrationsverket publishes the current amounts and they are revised
  • A budget and evidence that the business will be profitable enough to support you within two years, backed by contracts, customer contacts or supplier agreements
  • Evidence that services or goods are sold or produced in Sweden
How long it lasts
Up to 2 years initially, extendable by 2 years once Migrationsverket is satisfied the business is performing to plan.
Path to permanent residence
Permanent residence can be applied for after 2 years, but only if the business has delivered on the plan — this is where most of these permits fail.
Cost
SEK 2,000 for the applicant, with separate fees for family members.
Processing time
Long. This is one of Migrationsverket's slower categories and multi-month waits are normal.
Worth knowing
  • Migrationsverket audits the plan at extension. A business that survived but did not deliver the projected income is refused, and the extension refusal is where most people are caught rather than the first application.
  • Being a sole contractor for a single client will usually be treated as disguised employment, and assessed as an employment case instead.
  • Sweden has no startup-accelerator visa comparable to Denmark's or Finland's. This permit is the whole of the entrepreneurial route.
Sources:Migrationsverket — residence permit to run your own businessMigrationsverket — Swedish Migration Agency
StudentHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Residence permit for higher education studies

Non-EU students admitted to a Swedish university. Historically one of the better student-to-work bridges in Europe, and tightened on 11 June 2026.

What you need
  • Admission to full-time studies at a Swedish higher education institution
  • Comprehensive health insurance, and proof of paid tuition where fees apply
  • Documented funds for living costs for the whole period applied for
  • From 11 June 2026: completion of 37.5 credits in the first year and 45 credits per year from the second, as a condition of extension
  • From 11 June 2026: notification of your address to Migrationsverket within 30 days of receiving the permit or moving
How long it lasts
Granted for the study period and extended year by year against the credit requirement.
Path to permanent residence
Not directly. Study time does not count toward the permanent-residence clock, but graduates can change to a work permit — and from 11 June 2026 that normally requires having completed a programme of at least two semesters.
Cost
SEK 1,500 for a first application.
Processing time
Several weeks to a few months; apply as soon as you are admitted.
Worth knowing
  • The June 2026 rules cap work alongside study at 15 hours a week during semesters, with unrestricted work in June, July and August. Exceptions cover teaching, traineeships, research and artistic work tied to your institution.
  • Permits granted before 11 June 2026 keep the old conditions until the holder applies to extend.
  • Non-EU students pay full tuition at Swedish universities, which is substantial. EU/EEA and Swiss students, and Nordic citizens, do not.
Sources:Migrationsverket — new rules for residence permits for studies in higher educationMigrationsverket — Swedish Migration Agency
FamilyMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Residence permit to move to a family member in Sweden

Spouses, registered partners, cohabiting partners and children of someone living in Sweden. The route most people actually arrive on, and the one with the maintenance requirement that catches households out.

What you need
  • A relationship documented to Migrationsverket's satisfaction — for cohabiting partners who have not lived together abroad, a two-year 'intention to marry or cohabit' permit is granted first
  • A maintenance requirement on the person in Sweden: sufficient income and a home of adequate size and standard for the household
  • A valid passport for the full permit period
  • Interviews at a Swedish mission for both parties in partner cases
How long it lasts
Normally 2 years at a time, aligned to the sponsor's own permit where that is shorter.
Path to permanent residence
Yes, typically after the relationship has been established in Sweden for the required period, subject to the same self-sufficiency and good-conduct tests applied to other permanent-residence applicants.
Cost
SEK 2,000 for an adult, SEK 1,000 for a child.
Processing time
Long — family cases are among Migrationsverket's slowest, and multi-year waits have occurred in the partner category.
Worth knowing
  • The maintenance requirement is on the sponsor in Sweden, not the applicant, and the housing standard is tested as well as the income. A studio flat is not adequate for a couple with a child.
  • Family members of work-permit holders normally get work rights of their own, which is a genuine advantage over several other European systems.
  • A grant of EU long-term resident status has come with a five-year permit rather than a permanent one since 12 July 2026. That change is narrow and often misreported as Sweden abolishing permanent residence — it did not; the work-permit route to permanent residence still exists.
Sources:Migrationsverket — live with someone in SwedenMigrationsverket — apply for long-term resident status in SwedenMigrationsverket — Swedish Migration Agency
On the ground

Where you'd land in Sweden

Stockholm

The Nordics' biggest tech scene, on fourteen islands with a decade-long housing queue.

Full Stockholm guide
Gothenburg

Volvo's home town and Scandinavia's largest port — Sweden's second city at two-thirds of Stockholm's rent, and a housing queue you still join on day one.

Full Gothenburg guide
Malmö

Sweden's warmest, flattest, cheapest big city — and functionally a Copenhagen suburb, with a cross-border tax rulebook to match.

Full Malmö guide

Sweden at a glance

Capital
Stockholm
Population
10.6M
Languages
Swedish
Currency
SEK