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Extending a residence permit under the temporary law
If you have previously applied for asylum or if you are a family member of someone who has previously applied for asylum and received a temporary residence permit under the temporary law, you must apply for an extension of your residence permit if you wish to remain in Sweden.
This information applies if you have a temporary residence permit under the temporary law because
- you require protection (asylum)
- you are studying at upper secondary school level
- you have particularly or exceptionally distressing circumstances
- there are temporary impediments to enforcement
- you are a family member of someone who has been given a residence permit on grounds of protection (asylum).
Apply online
To apply online, you will need a personal code. The code will be sent to you in a letter from the Swedish Migration Agency two months before your residence permit expires.
The Swedish Migration Agency sends the code to your officially registered address in the population registry. You must therefore remember to notify the Swedish Tax Agency if you change your home address. You will also need the case number stated on decisions and letters sent to you by the Swedish Migration Agency.
Apply before your residence permit expires
It is important that you apply for an extension before your temporary residence permit expires, but not earlier than two months before it expires.
If several of your family members have permits that expire around the same time, you should apply for extensions at the same time. If you apply through the post, you must complete one application form for each family member and post them to the Swedish Migration Agency in the same envelope.
If you do not apply for an extension before your residence permit expires, you may not work while you are waiting on a decision. You also risk losing certain benefits, such as establishment support, study allowance or parental benefits.
Appendices
In your application, you state why you want to apply for a residence permit extension. In order for your application to be complete, in many cases you must send in appendices, in other words additional forms or documents that show that you meet the requirements. Which appendices you must send in depends on why you want to stay in Sweden. Since there may be several different reasons why you wish to remain in Sweden, you can submit several appendices. The appendices must be sent to the Swedish Migration Agency in the post. This also applies to you if you apply for a residence permit extension online. It takes more time to process your application if we have to remind you to send in your appendices.
You can apply for an extension of your residence permit if
- you require protection (asylum)
- you can financially support yourself as an employee or self-employed person in Sweden
- you are a family member of a person living in Sweden
- you are studying at the upper secondary school level
- you want to apply for work after completing studies at the upper secondary school level
- you need to remain in Sweden for health reasons.
Click on the headings to read more about what appendices you need to send in depending on what reasons you have.
You can apply for a residence permit extension because you can support yourself as an employee or a self-employed person. If you meet all of the requirements, you can get a permanent residence permit. You can add together your incomes from several jobs, or from employment and as a self-employed person. If you do not meet all of the requirements to get a permanent residence permit on the basis of your work, you can still get a residence permit extension for other reasons that you provide in your application.
To apply, you must send in the form Information on financial support, number 202011, in addition to the online application or application form. It says on the form what other appendices you may need to send in. If you are employed, you must send in your employment contract.
Uppgifter om försörjning (Information on financial support), form number 202011 (in Swedish)
If you have a residence permit because you are a spouse or cohabiting partner of a person with a temporary residence permit according to the temporary law, you can get a residence permit extension if you still live together. When we process your application, we will check that you are registered at the same address.
You must therefore send in the appendix
You must complete the form together and you must both sign it.
You do not need to send in this form for children under the age of 18. For children, it is enough to send in the application form or do an online application. The Swedish Migration Agency uses information in your earlier applications, or the Swedish Tax Agency’s national population register, to confirm that you are a family.
You can also apply for a residence permit extension because you have a new family relationship. This applies to you both if you have had a residence permit in Sweden up to now because you have grounds for protection and if you have had a residence permit on the grounds of family ties with a person in Sweden.
A new family relationship means that you have met somebody who you have married or started living with in Sweden. The Swedish Migration Agency needs to know more about this person and about your relationship and you must therefore send in these appendices:
- A copy of the pages in your passport that show your identity and the passport’s period of validity
- Frågeformulär om nyetablerade förhållanden (förlängning) (Questionnaire on newly established relationships (extension)), form number T78 (in Swedish)
It is the person you are married to or live with who must complete the questionnaire.
If you want to apply for an extension because you have had a child who is a Swedish citizen or has a permanent residence permit, you must send in the appendix
Read more about what is required to be granted a residence permit as a family member
Note that you may not use any of the online applications that are on the pages under the heading “Moving to someone in Sweden”.
The entire family must apply for an extension of their residence permits in the same way. This applies both to those who applied for asylum and those who came to Sweden later to be reunited with family members who applied for asylum.
- If you received a letter with a code, you can apply for an extension online. Each family member must have his or her own code and you complete one online application per person.
- If you cannot apply online, you must send in one application form for each family member. Preferably send the entire family’s forms in the same envelope.
Send forms and appendices by post
Where you send your forms and appendices depends on where you live. Use your postal code to find out what address you should use.
After submitting your application
After about a week, you will receive a letter with a confirmation that the Swedish Migration Agency has received your application. Not everyone who applies for a residence permit extension needs to visit the Swedish Migration Agency for an interview. We will contact you if we need more information. It may happen that we need to meet you to ask questions, for example if you have stated in your application that you have new reasons for applying for asylum. We may also ask you to send in supplemental information by letter.
You should not leave Sweden while you are waiting for a decision. In most cases the Swedish Migration Agency is not able to grant an extended residence permit to a person who is outside Sweden. To enter Sweden you need a valid residence permit card. This means that you will not be able to come back to Sweden if you are abroad when your residence permit expires.
After the decision has been made
Once the Swedish Migration Agency has made a decision, we send a letter home to you. We most often use so-called simplified notification, which means that we send the decision home to you. In some cases, you receive a summons where we ask you to come to a meeting at the Swedish Migration Agency so that a case officer can tell you about the decision.
In order to send letters and summons home to you, the Swedish Migration Agency primarily uses your officially registered address, which we get from the Swedish Tax Agency. Therefore it is important that you notify the Swedish Tax Agency if you move. The Swedish Migration Agency cannot change your registered address.
Read more about simplified notification
If you are granted a residence permit extension, you need a new residence permit card. Then you need to book an appointment to provide fingerprints and be photographed so that the Swedish Migration Agency can make a new residence permit card for you. You have to book an appointment for every family member who needs a new residence permit card.
Read more about residence permit cards
Book an appointment before you visit us
The decision most often includes two parts. In the first part, the Swedish Migration Agency determines if you need protection and why (if you have stated in your application that you need protection). If the Swedish Migration Agency deems that you need protection, you receive a declaration of status as a person in need of protection, either as a refugee or as a person in need of subsidiary protection. The second part of the decision says if you have a right to a residence permit and how long it should be.
If you do not agree with the decision, you can submit an appeal. You can appeal if you do not get a residence permit, or if you do not receive the protective status declaration you want. You cannot appeal that you receive a temporary residence permit.
Permits of different lengths
How long a permit you are granted depends on several different things. The most common is that you receive a new temporary residence permit that is valid for two or three years. How long your permit is depends on if you have refugee status (three years) or status as a person in need of subsidiary protection (two years). If you are a family member of a person who came to Sweden as an asylum seeker, you are usually granted a residence permit for just as long as the one this person is granted. In some cases, the length of the permit may be shorter if you have committed a crime.
If you are studying at the upper secondary level, you can get a residence permit with a longer period of validity if you need it to finish your education. You can also receive a shorter permit if you have a permit on the basis of studies at the upper secondary level, and you have less than two years left in your upper secondary education. After completing your education, you may have a right to a residence permit for up to six months to seek employment.
If you show that you can financially support yourself as an employee or self-employed person, you can get a permanent residence permit. This also applies to your family members who have permits as your relatives and who apply for an extension together with you.
Stateless persons who are born in Sweden and have a residence permit under the temporary law may under certain circumstances be granted a permanent residence permit. It is required that you are stateless since birth, that you have not yet turned 21 and that you have lived in Sweden a certain amount of time.
If you do not apply online
If you cannot apply online, complete the form Application for extension of residence permit, form number 200011 (only available in Swedish). You can complete the form on a computer before you print it out, or print it out first and complete it by hand. If you do not have your own printer, you can get help to print the form out at the nearest library.
All family members must have their own form, even children. All family members who have temporary residence permits must apply for an extension of their residence permit at the same time. This applies both to those who applied for asylum and those who came to Sweden later to be reunited with family members who applied for asylum and received a temporary residence permit.
Remember to sign your form. Guardians sign the children’s forms.
Where you send your forms and appendices depends on where you live. Use your postal code to find out what address you should use.