Visit Sweden for more than 90 days

If you want to visit Sweden for more than 90 days, you must apply for a visitor’s permit. If you are in Sweden and want to extend your visit so that it will be more than 90 days in total, you must also apply for a visitor’s permit.

If you are exempt from the visa requirements and have a valid residence permit, issued by Sweden or another Schengen country, you do not need to apply for an extension of your visit if your stay will be shorter than 90 days after your residence permit expires. If you have visa-free days left, they may be reactivated. With the help of the EU’s visa calculator External link, opens in new window. you can calculate how many days you can stay. This may also apply if you have a valid Schengen visa.

Before you apply for a visi­tor’s permit

If you already have an on-going application for a residence permit at the Swedish Migration Agency, you cannot be granted two permits at the same time. You will only receive a decision in the application considered to be most advantageous for you, which most often is an application for a residence and work permit as it gives you the right to settle in Sweden. If the application for a visitor’s permit is made while you are in Sweden, you are at risk of having your application for a residence and work permit rejected. If you are outside Sweden, you must wait until a decision is made in the application that is most advantageous for you. This may mean that the dates that you apply for a visitor’s permit may have passed when the decision is made. The Swedish Migration Agency therefore recommends that you do not apply for a visitor’s permit in these cases.

Requirements for a visitor's permit

To be eligible for a visitor’s permit, you must

  • be able to support yourself during the time you will be in Sweden
  • have a valid passport (the passport must be valid for at least three months after the end date of the visit)
  • have a return ticket or money to buy a ticket.

Condi­tions for your visit and what you must enclose with your appli­ca­tion

What you must enclose with your application and what terms apply for your visit depend on the reason for your visit. Choose the heading that suits you.

If you have travelled into Sweden on a visa or a visa exemption and turn in your application from inside Sweden, you can normally apply for a visitor’s permit for another 3 months. In certain cases, you can apply for a permit for up to 9 months in total.

If you turn in your application before entry into Sweden, you can normally apply for a visitor's permit for up to 6 months.

For the applicants who are no longer professionally active and plan, for example, to visit their children and grandchildren for a longer time, they can apply for a permit for up to one year.

You may not work

The visitor’s permit is only valid for a visit and not for you to work or settle in Sweden.

You are not registered as a resident

You are not registered as a resident in Sweden and are not entitled to social welfare benefits. It is therefore important that you have individual medical travel insurance that covers the costs that may arise in connection with emergency medical assistance, urgent hospital care or transport to your home country for medical reasons. The insurance should cover costs of at least EUR 30,000 and be valid in all Schengen countries.

In the application, you must enclose:

If the application concerns a child under the age of 18 travelling without a parent/legal guardian, you who represent the applicant must enclose:

If you have travelled into Sweden on a visa or a visa exemption and turn in your application from inside Sweden, you can normally apply for a visitor’s permit for another 3 months. In certain cases, you can apply for a permit for up to 9 months in total.

If you turn in your application before entry into Sweden, you can normally apply for a visitor's permit for up to 6 months.

You may not work

The visitor’s permit is only valid for a visit and not for you to work or settle in Sweden.

You are not registered as a resident

You are not registered as a resident in Sweden and are not entitled to social welfare benefits. It is therefore important that you have individual medical travel insurance that covers the costs that may arise in connection with emergency medical assistance, urgent hospital care or transport to your home country for medical reasons. The insurance should cover costs of at least EUR 30,000 and be valid in all Schengen countries.

In the application, you must enclose the following:

If the application concerns a child under the age of 18 travelling without a parent/legal guardian, you who represent the applicant must enclose:

You are not registered as a resident

You are not registered as a resident in Sweden and are not entitled to social welfare benefits. It is therefore important that you have individual medical travel insurance that covers the costs that may arise in connection with emergency medical assistance, urgent hospital care or transport to your home country for medical reasons. The insurance should cover costs of at least EUR 30,000 and be valid in all Schengen countries.

In the application, you must enclose the following:

If the application concerns a child under the age of 18 travelling without a parent/legal guardian, you who represent the applicant must enclose:

You may not work

The visitor’s permit is only valid for a visit and not for you to work or settle in Sweden.

You are not registered as a resident

You are not registered as a resident in Sweden and are not entitled to social welfare benefits. It is therefore important that you have individual medical travel insurance that covers the costs that may arise in connection with emergency medical assistance, urgent hospital care or transport to your home country for medical reasons. The insurance should cover costs of at least EUR 30,000 and be valid in all Schengen countries.

In the application, you must enclose the following:

  • a copy of your home country passport that shows personal information and all pages in the passport that show entry and exit stamps and visas (read more about making correct passport copies)
  • a copy of a valid residence permit in another Schengen country if you already have one
  • an authorisation if somebody else represents you and fills in the application for you (Power of attorney, form 107011 Pdf, 641.6 kB, opens in new window.)
  • doctor’s certificate (the certificate must include the doctor's name, department, care facility, diagnosis, treatment, post-treatment, time for treatment, cost, payment for the planned treatment and post-treatment)
  • receipt of paid treatment or other support for the treatment.

If the application concerns a child under the age of 18 travelling without a parent/legal guardian, you who represent the applicant must enclose:

If you will visit Sweden for studies or research, you can apply for a permit for up to 1 year. If you have been admitted to a university, you must instead apply for a residence permit for studies.

Read more about applying for a residence permit for doctoral studies

You may not work

The visitor’s permit is only valid for a visit and not for you to work or settle in Sweden.

You are not registered as a resident

You are not registered as a resident in Sweden and are not entitled to social welfare benefits. It is therefore important that you have individual medical travel insurance that covers the costs that may arise in connection with emergency medical assistance, urgent hospital care or transport to your home country for medical reasons. The insurance should cover costs of at least EUR 30,000 and be valid in all Schengen countries.

In the application, you must enclose the following:

  • a copy of your home country passport that shows personal information and all pages in the passport that show entry and exit stamps and visas (read more about making correct passport copies)
  • a copy of a valid residence permit in another Schengen country if you already have one
  • an authorisation if somebody else represents you and fills in the application for you (Power of attorney, form 107011 Pdf, 641.6 kB, opens in new window.)
  • invitation from the university in Sweden (the invitation must state how long the visit is expected to last)
  • certificate or admission letter from your home university
  • appendix for support (own funds or scholarship).

If you will visit Sweden as a missionary, you can apply for a permit for up to 1 year. In exceptional cases, the permit can be extended by up to a maximum of 3 years.

Monks and nuns can apply for permits for as long as the monastery period runs although initially a maximum of 1–2 years. After 2 years your right to a permanent residence permit will be considered by the Swedish Migration Agency. If you are not granted a permanent residence permit you can instead be granted an extension of your temporary residence permit. After another 2 years your right to a permanent residence permit can be considered again.

If you are an imam and are invited to Sweden to participate in activities covered by your regular duties, such as providing visiting sermons and lectures, you must have a work permit to be permitted to conduct the activities in Sweden.

Read more about how to apply for a work permit

You are not registered as a resident

If you are granted a permit for a period of less than one year, you will not be registered as a resident and then are not entitled to social welfare benefits. It is then important that you have individual medical travel insurance that covers the costs that may arise in connection with emergency medical assistance, urgent hospital care or transport to your home country for medical reasons. The insurance should cover costs of at least EUR 30,000 and be valid in all Schengen countries.

If you are granted a permit for longer than 1 year, you must visit the Swedish Tax Agency.

In the application, you must enclose the following:

If you will visit Sweden as a volunteer or trainee, you can apply for a permit for up to 1 year.

If you are paid for your trainee work, different rules apply:

Traineeship through international exchange

Traineeship with ties to higher education

You may not work

The visitor’s permit is only valid for a visit and not for you to work or settle in Sweden.

You are not registered as a resident

You are not registered as a resident in Sweden and are not entitled to social welfare benefits. It is therefore important that you have individual medical travel insurance that covers the costs that may arise in connection with emergency medical assistance, urgent hospital care or transport to your home country for medical reasons. The insurance should cover costs of at least EUR 30,000 and be valid in all Schengen countries.

In the application, you must enclose the following:

If you are applying within the scope of the European Solidarity Corps, the following are also required

  • comprehensive medical expense insurance
  • appendix for support.

If the application concerns a child under the age of 18 travelling without a parent/legal guardian, you who represent the applicant must enclose:

If you want to extend your visit due to an extraordinary event, you cannot at the same time state other reasons for your visit. You must be prepared to travel home as soon as opportunity allows. An extraordinary event can, for example, be an ash cloud or a pandemic that means that it is temporarily not possible to travel. It is the Swedish Migration Agency that decides that an event is extraordinary and this will then be announced on the website. There is currently no ongoing extraordinary event. The corona pandemic is no longer classified as an extraordinary event in Sweden. You can therefore not state it as a reason when applying for a visitor’s permit. You must also pay the application fee when applying to extend your visit in Sweden.

You can only apply for an extension on the basis of an extraordinary event if you are in Sweden.

You may not work

The visitor’s permit is only valid for a visit and not for you to work or settle in Sweden.

You are not registered as a resident

You are not registered as a resident in Sweden and are not entitled to social welfare benefits. It is therefore important that you have individual medical travel insurance that covers the costs that may arise in connection with emergency medical assistance, urgent hospital care or transport to your home country for medical reasons. The insurance should cover costs of at least EUR 30,000 and be valid in all Schengen countries.

In the application, you must enclose the following:

If the application concerns a child under the age of 18 travelling without a parent/legal guardian, you who represent the applicant must enclose:

Shorter processing time for a complete application

In order for the Swedish Migration Agency to be able to make a decision in your matter, it is necessary that all information is entered and all necessary documents are included. The processing time will be shorter if everything required is present from the beginning than if the application needs to be supplemented afterwards. Note that the Swedish Migration Agency in some cases may need to investigate the application further even if all information is filled in and all documents have been included.

Apply for a visi­tor’s permit through the e‑service

You can use the e-service if you:

  • are in Sweden and want to extend your visit so that it will be a total of more than 90 days.
  • are outside Sweden and will make your application at the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok, Thailand  External link, opens in new window.– this applies to you who are a citizen of Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Laos, or are a permanent resident of one of these countries. The application requires that you visit the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok for an interview. If you are national or resident of a country that does not belong to the embassy’s jurisdiction, you can not apply through the e-service. You must fill in an application form and submit it at an embassy or consulate-general in the country where you reside or are a citizen of. 

In order to be able to use the e-service, you need to

When you conclude your application in the e-service, you will need to book an appointment at an embassy or consulate-general to show your passport and show that you are in your home country or country of residence (if you make your application outside Sweden) or in Sweden (if you make your application from Sweden). During the visit, you will also be fingerprinted and photographed. Please note that this also applies if you have previously had a residence permit card. This is because your photo and fingerprints are not saved. If you are abroad, you will also be interviewed at the embassy/consulate-general.

If you want to visit Sweden for less than 90 days, you should not apply for a visitor’s permit, but you may need to apply for a visa.

Read more about applying for an entry visa

Apply for a visi­tor’s permit if you are outside Sweden and are not applying in the e-service

If you are outside Sweden, you must submit your application at a Swedish embassy or consulate-general.

If you will apply at the Swedish embassy in Bangkok, Thailand External link, opens in new window., you can use the e-service.

If you want to visit Sweden for less than 90 days, you should not apply for a visitor’s permit, but you may need to apply for a visa.

Read more about applying for an entry visa

Fill in application forms and attachments:

Application for a visitor’s residence permit, form 165011 Pdf, 3.4 MB, opens in new window.

In the application, you enter information about yourself and the person or organisation that you will visit. You must fill out one application per person.

What you must enclose with the application

You need to enclose several documents with your application. What you must enclose depends on the reason for your visit. See the heading Conditions for your visit and what you must enclose with your application.

Submit your application

You must submit your application at the embassy or consulate general-of the country where you are a citizen or live. Not all Swedish embassies and consulates-general handle migration matters.

Find out which embassy or consulate-general you should contact on the page Embassies responsible for migration matters

You can see the opening hours of the embassies and consulates-general on their websites.

Swedish embassies and consulates-general External link, opens in new window.

Most people must pay a fee in connection with the application being submitted.

Fees for visas and visitor’s permits

Interview

You will need to attend an interview in connection with turning in your application. Contact the embassy or consulate-general for more information as to whether you need to book an appointment for the interview. During the interview, you will answer questions about your visit to Sweden. Children for whom applications are submitted must also attend.

Apply for a visi­tor’s permit if you are in Sweden and are not applying in the e-service

If you are in Sweden and want to extend an on-going visit so that it in total will be more than 90 days, besides sending in your application in the post, you will need to book an appointment to complete your application. In order to book an appointment, you must first have sent in your application and received a confirmation that it has been received. At the visit, you must be able to present your passport. You must also submit your fingerprints and have your photograph taken. Note that this applies even if you previously had a residence permit card. This is because a photograph and your fingerprints are not saved.

Book an appointment to complete your application

If you want to visit Sweden for less than 90 days, you should not apply for a visitor’s permit, but you may need to apply for a visa.

Read more about applying for an entry visa

In your application, you must enclose

Further documents must be enclosed

You need to enclose further documents to your application. What documents are to be enclosed depends on the reason for your visit. See the heading Conditions for your visit and what you must enclose with your application

Pay the application fee

You pay via bank giro number 5223-7005. The IBAN account number is SE6912000000012810106908 and the BIC/SWIFT code is DABASESX (Danske Bank).

In the box Message to payment recipient you write

  • application residence permit visit
  • first name and last name of the person the application fee concerns
  • first name and last name for everyone if you are paying a fee for several people at the same time.

Send in your application

The application must be placed in an envelope that you write “Application for visitor’s permit” on.

An application for a visitor’s permit is sent in the post to

Swedish Migration Agency
Box 3100
903 03 Umeå
Sweden

You can also submit the application in a letter-box at any of the Swedish Migration Agency’s service centres.

Swedish Migration Agency’s addresses

Book an appointment to complete your application

Once we have received your application, we send a receipt and information on simplified service to the address you have provided in Sweden.

You will also be asked to book an appointment to complete your application. You must yourself book the appointment with the Swedish Migration Agency. At the visit, you must be able to present your passport. You must also submit your fingerprints and have your photograph taken. Note that you will need to submit fingerprints and be photographed even if you previously had a residence permit card. This is because a photograph and your fingerprints are not saved.

Book an appointment to complete your application

After you have sent the application

When we have received your application from abroad

If you apply from abroad and have had an interview at the embassy and at the same time submitted your fingerprints and been photographed, your application is sent to the Swedish Migration Agency in Sweden, which processes and makes a decision in the matter.

You will be contacted by the embassy and receive information when the decision is ready.

When we have received your application from within Sweden

If you have applied through the e-service, you receive a receipt with information on the application received and simplified service to the email address you provided when you applied. When you completed your application, you had to book an appointment to submit fingerprints and be photographed. At the visit, you must be able to present your passport. Note that you must do this even if you previously had a residence permit card. This is because a photograph and your fingerprints are not saved.

If you have applied by paper form, we send a receipt and information on simplified service to the address you have provided in Sweden. You will also be asked to book an appointment to complete your application. At the visit, you must be able to present your passport. You must also submit your fingerprints and have your photograph taken. You must yourself book the appointment with the Swedish Migration Agency. In order to book an appointment, you must first have sent in your application and received a confirmation that it has been received. Note that you will need to submit fingerprints and be photographed even if you previously had a residence permit card. This is because a photograph and your fingerprints are not saved.

If you applied for a residence permit from within Sweden, the decision will be sent home to the address in Sweden you provided in your application. If you have provided any authorisation to represent you, the decision is sent to that person.

Book an appointment to complete your application

Time to a decision

In order to obtain an impression how long you need to wait for your decision, you can visit the page Time to a decision. Note that the average time that is shown on the page is calculated based on previously decided cases in the same category. The time can vary from application to application. The decision can take longer if the case officer must ask you for more information. It is therefore to your advantage that the application is complete so that we do not need to ask you for supplemental information.

Time to a decision

Permit card for you if you applied from abroad

If you are granted a permit, you receive a permit card as evidence that you have the right to be in Sweden. The card is a certification that you have permission to be in Sweden and contains your fingerprints and a photo of you, among other information.

If you come from a country where you need a visa to travel to Sweden, you need the permit card to travel to Sweden. You will therefore be photographed and submit your fingerprints in connection with your application. When the permit card is ready, the embassy or consulate-general will hand out or send it to you. Note that it can take up to four weeks after you have received your decision to manufacture the card and deliver it to the embassy or consulate-general. When you travel into Sweden, you must present the card together with a valid passport.

If you come from a country where you can travel to Sweden without a visa, you must present a copy of your permit decision when you travel. Once you have arrived in Sweden, you must book an appointment to submit fingerprints and be photographed at the Swedish Migration Agency. At the visit, you must be able to present your passport. When the residence permit card is ready, it will be sent to your address in Sweden.

Book an appointment to submit fingerprints and be photographed

Permit card for you if you applied from inside Sweden

If you are granted a permit, you will get a permit card. The card is a certification that you have permission to be in Sweden and contains your fingerprints and a photo of you, among other information. The card is automatically sent to the address you have provided in your application. The card is sent to you within around one week after a decision.

Read more about permit cards

If you are in Sweden when your application is denied, you must leave the country within the period of time stated in the decision.

Read more about what applies for those whose application has been denied and are in Sweden

You can appeal the decision within three weeks from the date you received the decision. Information on how to appeal is provided in your decision.

If you have given somebody authorisation to represent you, that person can appeal on your behalf.

Read more about how to appeal

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