Questions and answers about certification

The Swedish Migration Agency strives to make decisions in complete cases within 10 workdays for a first-time application and 20 workdays for an extension application. A complete case means that the Swedish Migration Agency will be able to make a decision directly without more information needing to be requested and without the case needing to be investigated more. The Swedish Migration Agency may need to investigate a case further, for example if the employee did not receive the salary he or she was offered. It can take up to four months to get a decision if the case requires more information or investigation.

Yes, an application can take more time to process if the Swedish Migration Agency discovers things in the case that mean that it needs to be supplemented or investigated more. It may be that the information in the appended documents mean that the Swedish Migration Agency must investigate the application more, such as that the employee did not receive the salary that he or she was offered. Applications that must be investigated more are instead processed within four months.

The certification applies to first-time and extension applications for work permits and applications from former students who had residence permits in Sweden and apply for work permits. Family members applying at the same time as the employee are also included in the certification.

The certification covers employers that offer terms of employment for employees that meet the requirements in Chapter 6 Section 2 of the Aliens Act.

First-time applications refer to applications from people who are outside Sweden.

Family members must apply at the same time as the employee for their applications to be covered by the certification.

Examples of case categories that are not covered by the certification are

• people who have visited an employer in Sweden and want to apply for a work permit from within Sweden
• former asylum seekers who had their asylum application denied and apply for a work permit from within Sweden
• ICT permits
• EU blue card
• berry pickers
• au pair
• trainees
• athletes and coaches
• seasonal workers
• researchers.

These categories can accordingly not be processed within the certification.

No, an application for a work permit that was submitted before the employer has been certified is not included in the certification process.

Yes, the certification process also covers applications where the applicant is in Sweden and previously had a residence permit as a student.

Yes, the certification process also applies to a person who already has a work permit as an employee with a different employer and is now applying for a work permit with an employer covered by the certification.

No, for the application to be covered by the certification process, the employer must provide information about the employment in the e-service on the Swedish Migration Agency website.

Yes, an authorisation must be appended in order for the case to be handled within the certification process.

If you are an employer, you append an authorisation where the employee gives you or another person at the company the right to represent him or her regarding the work permit case.

If you are a representative who represents an employer, you must append two authorisations:

• one authorisation where the employer gives you or another person at the company the right to represent the employer regarding the work permit case, and
• one authorisation where the employee gives you or another person at the company the right to represent him or her regarding the work permit case.

An authorisation must also be appended for each family member.

If an authorisation is missing, the case is not complete and cannot be processed within 10 or 20 workdays.

Yes, all documents must be in Swedish or English in order for the case to be handled within the certification process.

For an extension application, the following must be appended:

• compilation of all statements of earnings from Swedish Tax Agency from the previous year
• a copy of information submitted in the PAYE tax returns at the individual level for the current year.

For employees who are not subject to taxes in Sweden, documents that show this must also be appended (such as a SINK decision from the Swedish Tax Agency) together with salary specifications for income from the company in the home country.

If the employee is not subject to taxes in Sweden, documents that show this must be appended to the application. Such as a SINK decision from the Swedish Tax Agency and salary specifications for income from the company in the home country.

Yes, salary specifications must be appended for the current year. For previous years, the employee’s compilation of all statements of earnings from the Swedish Tax Agency is enough.

Family members are covered by the certification process when they apply for a residence permit at the same time that the employee submits his or her application. If family members submit their application at a different time, the certification process does not apply.

Yes, but marriage certificates for spouses and birth certificates for children must be translated to Swedish or English by a certified translator.

No, a copy of the decision will come in the post.

No, a foreign company cannot be certified before the company has created a Swedish company, subsidiary or a registered branch in Sweden.

No. The Swedish Migration Agency has currently chosen to not cover these cases in the certification process. An ICT case shall be decided within 90 days if the case is complete.

An employer who is certified must still represent the applicant by submitting the application together with an authorisation. The application process for certified employers is therefore the same even if the application pertains to an ICT permit.