Information regarding the situation in Afghanistan

After the Taliban movement took control of the country during the summer of 2021, the security situation in Afghanistan changed drastically. For women and girls in particular, the situation has gradually deteriorated. If you are from Afghanistan, this page provides information that may be relevant to your case and situation.

The situation in Afghanistan has changed drastically as a result of the Taliban’s takeover. The changes have taken place quickly and it is difficult to know how the Taliban will act and how the security situation will develop in the country. It is therefore the assessment of the Swedish Migration Agency that:

  • the situation for girls and women is so difficult that they risk persecution solely on the basis of gender and will be granted refugee status when they apply for asylum in Sweden
  • the country now has more risk groups that include more people, compared to before the Taliban took power. The groups that may be in need of protection include people who have held key positions in, e.g., the military or the police, LGBTQI people, people who work for foreign governments or are perceived to support them, religious leaders or converts, journalists and human rights defenders
  • there is no effective protection to be obtained from the country’s authorities and internal displacement is only an option in exceptional cases
  • due to the new situation in the country, people who have already received a deportation decision will be able to have their grounds for asylum re-examined.

The Swedish Migration Agency continues to closely monitor developments in Afghanistan and will, if necessary, update the legal guidance, which serves, among other things, as the basis for our decisions.

Women and girls

Due to the Taliban regime’s increased oppression of women, as of December of 2022, the Swedish Migration Agency assesses that all women risk persecution in Afghanistan solely for being women. Therefore, all Afghan girls and women who apply for asylum in Sweden will receive refugee status, which entails a three-year residence permit.

Read more about the Swedish Migration Agency's new assessment of Afghan women's and girl's need for protection

Internal displa­ce­ment

When the Swedish Migration Agency assesses that an asylum seeker is in need of subsidiary protection or protection as a refugee, the next step is to assess whether the person can be protected in another part of the country of which he or she is a citizen, i.e., become a refugee in her/his own country. This is called internal displacement. Only after it has been established that there is no protection to be had in the person’s own country can the possibility of protection in Sweden be considered. According to the Swedish Migration Agency’s latest assessment, the security situation in Afghanistan is too bad for internal displacement to be possible, except in clearly exceptional cases. In general, however, it is required that a person should be able to live a relatively normal life, have access to food and shelter, be able to support her/himself, and have access to healthcare and education for her/his children.

Apply to have your protec­tion reasons re-examined

If you have received a valid refusal of entry or deportation decision and there are new reasons why you cannot return to Afghanistan and you want these reasons to be examined, you have the opportunity to apply for a re-examination of your protection reasons.

The examination takes place in two steps. The Swedish Migration Agency will first review whether you can be granted a re-examination of your right to protection in Sweden. The agency then investigates your right to protection. This may mean that you might need to undergo a new oral investigation. Only after your case has been investigated can you receive a decision granting you a residence permit.

The right to have your grounds for asylum re-examined applies to people who have received a deportation decision and who are currently in Sweden.

Read more about how to apply for a re-examination of your case

If you have or have had a resi­dence permit under the Upper Secon­dary School Act

If you are an Afghan citizen and have had a residence permit under the Upper Secondary School Act and still have a copy of your deportation decision, you can apply for a re-examination of your grounds for asylum.

It is perfectly understandable that persons who have family members and close relatives in Afghanistan are worried about recent developments.

In certain cases, your family member can be granted a residence permit to move to Sweden and join you here. Your family member must fulfil the same requirements as everyone who applies for a residence permit due to family ties. The Swedish Migration Agency cannot make exceptions or prioritize applications from Afghanistan. The application process is the same for everyone. When applying for a residence permit due to family ties your family member will also have to visit a Swedish embassy in New Delhi, Teheran or Islamabad.

It is primarily your nuclear family that can be granted a residence permit to move to you in Sweden. Nuclear family means spouse, registered partner or cohabitant, and children under 18 years of age. Only in exceptional cases can other family members be granted a residence permit to move to you in Sweden.

In order for your family member to be granted a residence permit so that they can come join you here, one of the main requirements is that you must be a Swedish citizen, have a permanent residence permit, or have a temporary residence permit with status as a refugee or person in need of alternative subsidiary protection.

If you have been granted a residence permit due to special or exceptionally distressing circumstances or impediments to enforcement, you will also have the opportunity for family reunification even though you do not have a permanent residence permit. The precondition is that you have a well-founded prospect of being granted a residence permit for an extended period of time.

If relatives outside the nuclear family want to move to Sweden

In order for your relatives, other than your nuclear family, to be granted a residence permit you must be able to prove that you and your relatives have lived together immediately before you moved to Sweden. You must also show that it is difficult for you to live apart because you are socially and emotionally dependent on each other, and that you were so already when you lived in your home country.

In these cases, the application must be submitted as soon as possible after you moved to Sweden. The general rule is that it is not possible to get a residence permit if the application is made after a long period of time has passed or if dependency between you has arisen after you moved to Sweden.

If you have come to Sweden as an unaccompanied child

If you came to Sweden as an unaccompanied child the requirements for your parents to be granted a residence permit to join you is usually that you have been given a residence permit in Sweden on the of grounds for asylum, and that you are still under the age of 18 at the time of the application.

Read more about the possibilities for your family member to apply to move to Sweden to join you

The Swedish Migration Agency determines that Afghan passports fulfil the Swedish requirements on passports.

At present, if you, as an Afghan citizen, do not have a passport you do not need to obtain a new passport when applying for an extended residence permit on the grounds of impediments to enforcement, or studies at the upper secondary level, or to look for work after studies at the upper secondary level. It may be required in the future that you obtain a new passport when this is possible.

Family members who wish to move to Sweden

Anyone applying for a residence permit to move to Sweden to join a family member who is already here must have a valid passport. Ideally, it should be a national passport. However, in some cases persons who are unable to obtain a national passport can obtain an alien’s passport instead. If your family member (spouse, cohabiting partner, child under the age of 18 or parent of a child under the age of 18) who wishes to apply for a residence permit to move to Sweden does not have a passport, nor can get one, they can apply for an alien’s passport at a Swedish embassy or consulate when they apply for the residence permit.

Read a news release about the new assessment of Afghan passports

Read what is required in order to obtain an alien’s passport

Read more on the website of the Swedish Migra­tion Agency

Judicial position. Prövning av skyddsbehov m.m. för medborgare från Afghanistan External link, opens in new window. (Examination of the need for protection, etc. for citizens from Afghanistan; text in Swedish)

Frequently asked questions about the Swedish Migration Agency's new assessment of Afhan women's and girls' right to asylum

Read more about how to apply for protection in Sweden

Read more about extended residence permits for former asylum seekers and their families

Read more about the Upper Secondary School Act

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