Permanent residence permits for doctoral students
If you have lived in Sweden and had a residence permit for doctoral studies for a total of four years over the past seven years, and are in employment or self-employed in Sweden, you may be able to get a permanent residence permit. Studies at a PhD-/doctoral level are studies that will lead to a licentiate degree, licentiate degree in design, doctoral degree or a doctoral degree in design.
Requirements for obtaining a permanent residence permit
To obtain a permanent residence permit, you must
- have lived in Sweden with a residence permit for doctoral studies and/or a work permit as an employee for a total of four years over the past seven years
- be planning to live in Sweden
- be able to support yourself financially via employment or self-employment
- be living an orderly life.
You cannot have more than one permit at once during the same time period. Since a permanent residence permit is valid from the date the decision is made, the application for such permit should not be submitted earlier than 14 days before your current permit expires.
Read about the special requirements in order to obtain a permanent residence permit
Requirements to use the e-service
In order to use the e-service, you need
- copies of the pages in your passport that show your personal information, photograph, signature, passport number, passport-issuing country, the validity period of the passport, entry stamps and whether you have permission to live in countries other than your country of origin
- a copy of your place of study’s earlier decision showing that you have been accepted for doctoral studies in Sweden
- a certificate from your supervisor that you have studied or are still studying at doctoral level and giving the start and finish dates of your studies
- documents showing that you can support yourself financially. If you are an employee, you must submit a copy of your certificate of employment and your most recent payslip (if you have started your employment). If you are self-employed, you must submit a copy of the registration certificate from the Swedish Companies Registration Office and a copy of your F-tax card. If you are supporting yourself financially in some other way, enclose documents in support of this
- be able to pay a possible fee for the application with a credit card or charge card (fees for residence permits for studies).
Check that the information on the documents you send is clearly visible. On passport copies, the figures and characters at the top and bottom of the passport pages must also be clearly visible and legible. The documents should be translated into Swedish or English by an authorised translator. You must always send us a copy of the original document.