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Unaccompanied minors and families with children who applied for asylum on or before 24 November 2015 can be granted a permanent residence permit. The children must be under the age of 18 when the Swedish Migration Agency makes the decision.

It is possible to be granted a permanent residence permit as an employee or self-employed person if you can demonstrate that you are able to support yourself.

Learn more about permanent residence permits for employees or the self-employed

If you live together with a partner who is a Swedish citizen or has a permanent residence permit, you can be granted a residence permit on the grounds of your relationship to your partner. If you have lived together for at least two years, you can be granted a permanent residence permit, otherwise, you will be granted a temporary residence permit that is valid for up to two years.

Learn more about residence permit on the grounds of relationship to a partner in Sweden

Permanent residence permits are the norm for quota refugees.

Learn more about quota refugees

Asylum seekers with refugee status may be able to reunite with their families. (The following are counted as family members: wife/husband, cohabiting partner, registered partner and children under the age of 18, or a parent to a child under the age of 18).

Learn more about the different forms of protection

The maintenance requirement means that the person that has a residence permit in Sweden needs to be able to support their family member(s) and have a home of sufficient size and standard for the family.

Learn more about the maintenance requirement

How long you will have to wait depends on what kind of application you have made and if we need to supplement or investigate your application further. The Swedish Migration Agency can not give you the exact waiting time for processing your application. There are many factors that affect how long you will have to wait and the time may vary from one application to another.

Learn more about time to a decision

You can check if a decision has been made in your case.

Check if a decision has been made

Several case officers or assistants may work with an application initially. Their work includes for example collecting information, verifying documents and carry out certain checks with other authorities. The collected information serves as the basis for the case officer who will be investigating and make a decision about the application. The Migration Agency will contact you if more information is needed from you. If you have any further questions regarding your application please contact our Contact Centre by phone or email.

Your permit must be ready before you travel to Sweden. However, it is not forbidden to visit Sweden while you are waiting for the decision about your permit. You can apply for a visa to temporarily visit Sweden. Your application for a visitor´s visa is processed by the embassy in the country where you live and the embassy always judge applications on an individual basis. If you are granted a visitor’s visa, it is important that you return home when the visa expires and wait there for the decision regarding your residence permit. A residence permit will not usually be granted if you are in Sweden. People with visa exemptions who are waiting for a decision regarding their residence permit are recommended to inform the Swedish Migration Agency if they plan to visit Sweden.

The Swedish Migration Agency needs your passport in original in order to process an application for Swedish citizenship. You will get your passport back when your application has been processed.

If you need your passport back before your application has been processed, you can require to have it back. If you are travelling you must give us the travel dates too.

You should not send your passport back until the Swedish Migration Agency asks you to do so. We will write to you when we start processing your application and need you to send your passport back to us.