Swedish residence permits for long-term residents of another EU country
Persons who have lived in an EU country for at least five years with a residence permit may apply for long-term resident status in that country. Persons who are granted long-term resident status receive a special EC/EU residence permit. This gives them certain rights, similar to those of an EU citizen. This makes it easier for them to move to another EU country in order to work, study, start their own business or live on their pension, for example.
If you are a long-term resident of an EU country, you may move to Sweden to work, study or live by your own means, for example on a pension from your country of origin. If you wish to stay for longer than three months, you must apply for a residence permit.
Read more about the requirements for Swedish residence permit
Long-term resident status in Sweden
If you have previously held long-term resident status in another EU country and now fulfil the requirements for long-term resident status in Sweden, you may apply to transfer the status from the other country to Sweden. Contact the Swedish Migration Agency if you have any questions about how to apply to transfer your status.
Who can be granted long-term residence status?
In order to be granted long-term resident status, you must have lived in an EU country for at least five years with a residence permit. You must also be able to support yourself. To be granted this status, you need to apply for a special EU residence permit. Contact the Migration Agency of the country you currently live in for information about how to apply.
Please note that Denmark and Ireland are not covered by the rules governing long-term resident status. It is not, therefore, possible to apply for long-term resident status in these two countries.
Countries which are covered by the directive on residence permits for long-term residents
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
If you have been granted long-term resident status, your residence permit card will state
Austria:
Daueraufenthalt – EG
Belgium:
Résident de longue durée – CE or
EG – langdurig ingezetene
Bulgaria:
дългосрочно пребиваващ в ЕC
Croatia:
Osoba s dugotrajnim boravištem – EZ
Czech Republic:
Povolení k pobytu pro dlouhodobě pobývajícího rezidenta – EU
Cyprus:
Long term resident – EC
Estonia:
Pikaajaline elanik – EÜ
Finland:
P EY 2003/109 EY or
P EG 2003/109 EG
France:
Carte de résident de longue durée – CE (prior to 20 June 2011)
Carte de résident de longue durée – Communauté Européenne (after 20 June 2011)
Germany:
Daueraufenthalt – EG or
Daueraufenthalt – EU
Greece:
επί μακρόν διαμένων – ΕΚ
Hungary:
Huzamos tartózkodási engedéllyel rendelkező – EK
Italy:
Soggiornante di lungo periodo – UE or Soggiornante di lungo periodo – CE
Latvia:
Pastāvīgī dzīvojosa persona – ES
Lithuania:
Ilgalaikis gyventojas – EB or
Leidimas nuolat gyventi ilgalaikis gyventojas ES
Luxemburg:
Resident de longue duree – UE
Malta:
Residenti għat-tul – KE
Netherlands:
EG – langdurig ingezetene
Poland:
Pobyt rezydenta długoterminowego UE
Portugal:
Residente CE de longa duração
Romania:
Rezident pe termen lung – CE
Slovakia:
Osoba s dlhodobým pobytom – ES
Slovenia:
Rezident za daljši čas – ES
Spain:
Residente de larga duración – UE or
Residencia re larga du UE
Some countries also use the English term for long-term resident status. In which case it will state: Long-term resident – EC on the residence permit card. Please note that there may be other ways of indicating the status than those above.