Employing highly qualified staff (EU Blue Card)

If you, as the employer, want to employ highly qualified staff, the employee can apply for an EU Blue Card. The employee must have the equivalent of 180 credits of tertiary education or five years' professional experience and a salary that is the equivalent of at least one and a half times the average gross salary in Sweden.

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Requi­re­ments for obtai­ning an EU Blue Card

As the employer, you must

  • provide information on a qualified job that lasts for at least one year
  • offer a salary that is the equivalent of at least one and a half times the average gross salary in Sweden
  • offer conditions of employment that are at least at the same level as Swedish collective agreements or what is customary in the profession or industry
  • give the relevant trade union the opportunity to comment on the conditions of employment
  • have advertised the position in Sweden and the EU/EEA and Switzerland for at least 10 days.
  • intend to provide health insurance, life insurance, occupational injury insurance and occupational pension insurance when the employee begins to work.

Requi­re­ments for using the e-service

In order to use the e-service and provide information about the employment, you must

  • have an e-identification
  • know the email address of the person you want to employ.

An EU Blue Card issued by Sweden gives the employee the right to live and work in Sweden. When the worker has had an EU Blue card in Sweden or other EU countries for five years, he or she may apply for long-term resident status in the country in which he or she lives, provided that he or she has been living in that country for the last two years.

Salary thres­hold

Each year, the Swedish Migration Agency establishes the salary threshold that needs to be exceeded in order to obtain an EU Blue Card. The salary threshold is the equivalent of one and a half times the average gross salary and the amounts are determined in consultation with the Swedish National Mediation Office which is the authority responsible for the official statistics on wages and salaries in Sweden.

From 3 October 2022, the salary threshold is SEK 55,650 per month.

Once you have provided information about the employment in the e-service, select the trade union that is relevant to the work that the employee will perform. You submit the information for a statement via the e-service. The trade union reviews the terms of employment and sends its statement to you via the e-service.

As an employer, once you have provided information about the employment via the e-service, an email with a link will be sent to the person you wish to hire. The employee then submits an application for a work permit via the link.

As an employer, you can track the case by logging in to the e-service.

If you do not use the e-service, send the form Information about the employment to the trade union organisation that is relevant to the work that the employee is to perform. They will then send their statement back to you.

LO trade unions External link, opens in new window.

SACO trade unions External link, opens in new window.

TCO trade unions External link, opens in new window.

When a decision has been made, a copy will be sent to you as the employer in Sweden stating whether or not a permit has been granted. If you want to know the reasons for the decision, you will need a power of attorney from the employee. The permit applies only for work for the employer and in the role specified in the information about the employment.

People who are granted a permit for three months or more will also be given a residence permit card issued by the embassy or consulate-general. The card must be presented together with a passport upon entry to Sweden and it is proof of the person’s right to be in Sweden. It takes up to four weeks to manufacture and deliver the card.

Read more about a residence permit card

When you employ someone from a country outside the EU, you must inform the Swedish Tax Agency. You do this by filling in the form "Notification – Employment of a Foreigner SKV 1160" stating the name, address and period of employment of the person who is going to work for you. The form can be found on the Swedish Tax Agency’s website.

Form for notifying the Swedish Tax Agency External link, opens in new window.

You must save copies of documents that show that the person has the right to be and work in Sweden. The documents must be archived for the entire period of employment and for 12 months thereafter.

If you as the employer are not able to use the e-service, you must provide information about the employment and send it together with the trade union statement to the job-seeker who must then submit them together with the work permit application.

You must fill in the form called Information about the employment, number 232511. If the information is regarding several persons with the same work tasks and conditions of employment, you must also fill in the form called Name List, number 234011, and attach it.

Information about the employment, form 232511 Pdf, 818.4 kB, opens in new window.

Name List, form 234011 (in Swedish) Pdf, 816.9 kB, opens in new window.

In the information about the employment, you must state

  • the company’s registration number
  • the SSYK code
  • the personal details of the person you are employing
  • how and when you have advertised the job and the reference number or ID number of the advertisement (when new staff are being recruited).

When applying for a work permit, use Statistics Sweden's (SCB) codes according to the Swedish Standard Classification of Occupations (SSYK2012). You will find the SSYK codes in the document below or on Statistics Sweden's (SCB’s) website.

Search for SSYK2012 codes Pdf, 447.9 kB, opens in new window.

Statistics Sweden (SCB) External link, opens in new window.

If you use the e-service, you are given clear instructions on how to provide information about the employment and what you have to send in with it. It is easy to do it right from the beginning, which increases your chances of getting a decision faster.

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