Swedish Residence Permits Explained: Which Permit or Right Lets You Live in Sweden

Stay in Sweden longer than three months and you are on one of two legal tracks. Either you need a residence permit (uppehållstillstånd, utlänningslagen 1 kap. 5 §), or, as an EU/EEA citizen or the family member of one, you live here without a permit because you have a right of residence (uppehållsrätt, utlänningslagen 3 a kap.). Everything else in this article is about which of the two applies to you, who decides, and how the routes connect.

This article is for anyone planning to move to Sweden, whatever your citizenship or reason. It maps the system; the guides it links to carry the step-by-step detail.

It is not for two groups, and it does not cover Nordic citizens. If you already hold permanent residence or are working toward citizenship, go to Citizenship and permanent residence. If you are only visiting, planning a trip is the right place.

What you need before the rest applies

Check these first, because the routes below assume them.

• Your citizenship. EU/EEA citizens use the right of residence. Swiss citizens and everyone else apply for a permit.
• A valid passport. As a rule, a temporary residence permit is not granted for longer than your passport is valid (utlänningsförordningen 23 §), though there are exceptions.
• A reason that matches a route: a job offer, study admission, a partner or family member in Sweden, a qualifying degree for job-seeking, or EU/EEA citizenship.
• Where you are when you apply. For the job-seeker permit you must be outside Sweden, and for the partner permit as a rule too (with some exceptions): "Du ska befinna dig utanför Sverige" (you must be outside Sweden) (job-seeker page, partner page).

Folkbokföring (registration in the population register, run by Skatteverket) and the personnummer (personal identity number) are separate steps handled by Skatteverket, not by Migrationsverket. They are covered under personnummer, ID and BankID.

Who runs the system

Migrationsverket's stated mission is "att pröva ansökningar för personer som söker sig till Sverige av olika skäl, till exempel för att arbeta, studera eller få skydd" (Migrationsverket). In plain terms, it examines applications. It does not write the rules: the Riksdag passes the law (utlänningslagen, SFS 2005:716) and the government issues the ordinance (utlänningsförordningen, SFS 2006:97). Migrationsverket's own page says "Regering och riksdag är våra uppdragsgivare."

Two other bodies appear later in the process. Skatteverket, the tax agency, decides on folkbokföring: "Det är Skatteverket som beslutar om du uppfyller förutsättningarna för att bli folkbokförd" (Skatteverket decides whether you qualify for registration; Migrationsverket). It also issues the samordningsnummer, a coordination number for people who are not registered in the population register, which a Swiss employee needs so the employer can pay tax.

Six terms that get mixed up

Swedish keeps these separate. Mixing them is the most common reason people look in the wrong place.

Visa versus permit. A visum is for short visits: "ett tillstånd för att få resa in och vara i Schengenområdet upp till 90 dagar under en period av 180 dagar" (Migrationsverket). It does not let you live in Sweden. The law is direct: "En utlänning som vistas i Sverige mer än tre månader ska ha uppehållstillstånd" (utlänningslagen 1 kap. 5 §): the main rule is that a foreign citizen staying more than three months must have a residence permit. EU/EEA citizens and their family members can instead live in Sweden without one if they have uppehållsrätt (utlänningslagen 3 a kap. 1–3 §§).

Uppehållstillstånd and arbetstillstånd. An uppehållstillstånd is "ett tillstånd att vistas i Sverige under viss tid (tidsbegränsat uppehållstillstånd) eller utan tidsbegränsning (permanent uppehållstillstånd)" (1 kap. 4 §): permission to stay for a set time or without a time limit. An arbetstillstånd is the work side, regulated in 6 kap. of the law, which opens: "Arbetstillstånd får ges till en utlänning som har ett anställningsavtal" (a work permit may be granted to a foreigner who has an employment contract, 6 kap. 2 §).

Two cards, easy to confuse. The uppehållstillståndskort is the card issued to permit holders. It is "ett bevis på att du har rätt att vara i Sverige" (proof of your right to be in Sweden) but "inte en officiell identitetshandling eller resehandling" (not an official ID or travel document) (Migrationsverket). The uppehållskort is a different document, for non-EU family members of an EU/EEA citizen: "Om din familj är medborgare i ett land utanför EU/EES behöver de ansöka om uppehållskort om de ska vara i Sverige längre än tre månader" (non-EU/EEA family must apply for an uppehållskort to stay longer than three months) (Migrationsverket).

The five routes and how they connect

Most people fit one of five main routes.

Work

Non-EU/EEA citizens need an arbetstillstånd to take a job. You must have the offer first, since "den som vill flytta till Sverige för att arbeta måste ha fått en anställning i Sverige" (whoever wants to move to work must already have a job in Sweden) (Migrationsverket). The salary rule and the exemptions are explained in the next section. The full process is in the permits section, and the question of working remotely is covered in the digital nomad visa guide.

Family

A partner or family member of someone in Sweden applies for a permit to live with them. The person already in Sweden must hold something durable, such as Swedish citizenship, a permanent uppehållstillstånd or permanent uppehållsrätt (Migrationsverket). Migrationsverket's work-permit page also notes that new rules for family migration of work-permit holders took effect on 1 October 2026, so check the current rules before you apply. Details are in the sambo visa guide. Family of an EU/EEA citizen follow the EU route instead.

Study

Non-EU/EEA citizens generally need a permit to study, and "uppehållstillståndet måste vara klart innan du reser till Sverige" (the permit must be ready before you travel) (Migrationsverket). You must be finally admitted to full-time study: "Du ska vara slutligt antagen till studier på heltid i Sverige." For higher-education permits granted from 11 June 2026, you may work at most 15 hours a week, with exceptions the page lists ("Du får arbeta mer än 15 timmar per vecka om arbetet:" followed by the conditions). See studying in Sweden as a non-EU citizen.

Job-seeker

There is a permit for graduates: you must have completed studies equal to an advanced-level degree and plan to look for work or explore starting a business. You must show bank assets of at least SEK 13,000 for each month you apply for, and the permit runs for at most nine months (Migrationsverket). The job-seeker visa guide covers it.

EU/EEA

EU/EEA citizens (EES in Swedish) need no permit. "Rätten för EU/EES-medborgare att vistas i Sverige utan uppehållstillstånd kallas uppehållsrätt" (Migrationsverket). The first three months need nothing but a valid passport or national ID card. Beyond that, the law sets four grounds: you work or run a business, you came to look for work with a real chance of getting it, you study with enough means and full health insurance, or you have enough means and full health insurance (utlänningslagen 3 a kap. 3 §). If you plan to stay a year or more you register with Skatteverket, which is how you get a personnummer. Your non-EU family members apply for an uppehållskort, described in the EU family member residence card guide.

Swiss citizens are a separate case. Migrationsverket says: "Om du ska stanna längre än tre månader behöver du uppehållstillstånd." They may start work or study the moment they arrive, without waiting for the decision (Migrationsverket). So Swiss citizens sit between the two systems: free movement on arrival, a permit after three months.

How the routes connect

The routes are not sealed off from each other. A student permit holder who has found a job can apply for a work permit in Sweden (Migrationsverket), and someone who holds a student or researcher permit when they first apply for a work permit is exempt from the 90 percent test and needs 75 percent of the median instead. A family permit, in turn, depends on the status of the person already in Sweden.

The work-permit salary rule, settled

Four numbers circulate in older guides. Here is what the official sources say.

The rule now. The law says a work permit may be granted if "lönen minst uppgår till 90 procent av medianlönen i Sverige vid tidpunkten för ansökan" (utlänningslagen 6 kap. 2 §). Migrationsverket states it as "Från 1 juni 2026 gäller ett nytt lönekrav" (Migrationsverket). The median is published by SCB (Statistics Sweden). From 16 June 2026 the median is SEK 38,300, so the requirement is SEK 34,470 a month. For reference, 90 percent of the median that applied from 17 June 2025 to 15 June 2026 is SEK 33,390; the old 80 percent test applied in that period.

What came before. Until 31 May 2026 the test was god försörjning (sufficient livelihood): a monthly salary of at least 80 percent of the median (Migrationsverket). That was SEK 29,680 for applications from 17 June 2025 to 15 June 2026. The same 80 percent test, now SEK 30,640 a month, still applies during a transition period to people extending a permit they got under the old rules (more below). So SEK 29,680 and SEK 30,640 are both 80 percent figures from different periods, and neither is the current rule for a new applicant.

The date. The new rule applies to first applications decided on or after 1 June 2026, even if the application was sent earlier. Extensions by holders of old-rule permits follow the transition described below. The 16 June date is not a second rule: it is when SCB updated the median and the SEK amount rose.

The exemptions. Some occupations are exempt from the 90 percent test and need only 75 percent of the median, SEK 28,725 a month from 16 June 2026. The list is in utlänningsförordningen 5 kap. 6 § and contains 27 occupation groups under SSYK 2012, among them IT support technicians (supporttekniker, it), care assistants such as "Undersköterskor, hemtjänst, hemsjukvård och äldreboende" (undergrupp 5321), welders and slaughterers. SSYK is the Swedish standard occupational classification. The government can change the list, and the one in force at the time of the decision applies. Some groups are exempt as well: people holding a student or researcher permit when they first apply, and employees of a tech or life-science company that is "under uppbyggnad, yngre än fem år och ha färre än hundra anställda" (under development, younger than five years, fewer than a hundred employees). They also pay 75 percent.

Extensions and permanent status

Extensions follow the same logic as first applications, with one transition. Anyone who got a permit under the old rules and applies to extend between 1 June and 1 December 2026 is tested on the old 80 percent rule. "Alla förlängningsansökningar som registreras hos Migrationsverket från och med 2 december 2026 kommer att omfattas av det nya lönekravet" (Migrationsverket). Anyone whose current permit was decided after 1 June 2026 is already under the new rule: "Lönekravet gäller även dem som ansöker om förlängt tillstånd om de fick beslut om sitt nuvarande tillstånd efter 1 juni 2026" (the salary requirement also applies to extensions when the current permit was decided after 1 June 2026).

A work permit is limited too. It is tied to one employer and one kind of work, and after two years in total it is tied to the kind of work only (utlänningslagen 6 kap. 2 a §).

Permanent residence has two separate tracks:

• Permanent uppehållstillstånd for permit holders. For work it takes four years of permits and work within the last seven years ("i sammanlagt fyra år under de senaste sju åren", utlänningslagen 5 kap. 5 §), plus the ability to support yourself.
• Permanent uppehållsrätt for EU/EEA citizens, after five years of lawful, uninterrupted residence (3 a kap. 6 §). It lapses only after more than two consecutive years outside Sweden (3 a kap. 9 §).

What changes if you lose your job

A work permit assumes the job. If it ends early, "uppfyller du inte längre kraven för det arbetstillstånd du har fått" (you no longer meet the conditions of your permit), but you can stay: "Du har ändå möjlighet att stanna kvar i Sverige i tre månader efter din sista arbetsdag för att söka nytt arbete, förutsatt att ditt arbetstillstånd fortfarande är giltigt under den perioden" (Migrationsverket).

Whether a new job needs a new permit depends on how yours is limited. If it is limited to employer and occupation, a new employer means a new application. If it is limited to occupation only: "Om du får en ny anställning inom samma yrke som ditt arbetstillstånd är begränsat till, behöver du inte ansöka om ett nytt arbetstillstånd" (a new employer in the same occupation needs no new permit). A new occupation does. You can start the new job once you have applied, as long as you applied before your current permit expired.

If you find nothing within three months, or your permit ends first, and you have no other right to stay, "måste du lämna landet" (you must leave the country). EU/EEA citizens are under a different system: the right of residence rests on the four grounds in the EU section above, not on a permit tied to one job.