How the increased maintenance requirement affects work permit applicants
The Government has decided to raise the maintenance requirement for applicants for a work permit in Sweden. The new requirement comes into force on 1 November and means that you must earn a monthly salary of at least SEK 27,360.
The Government has decided to raise the maintenance requirement for applicants for a work permit in Sweden. According to the current requirement, you must earn SEK 13,000 per month. From 1 November, when the new requirement comes into force, you must instead earn a salary that corresponds to at least 80 per cent of the median salary in Sweden in order for you to be considered to have a good income. This currently means a salary of at least SEK 27,360 per month. Your salary must also be in line with collective agreements or practices in the relevant profession or industry. This means that if, according to a collective agreement, the salary should be higher than what is required by the new maintenance requirement, you must earn the salary required under the collective agreement.
The median salary when you apply determines what you must earn
It is the median wages at the time you submit your application that apply when your case is examined. This means that even if the median salary changes during the processing time, your case will be examined according to the prevailing median salary when you applied. It is the statistics authority Statistics Sweden publishes the median salary every year. The maintenance requirement will thus be adjusted on an annual basis.
Effective immediately
The new maintenance requirement will enter into force on 1 November, without transitional rules. This means that if you have already applied for a work permit or apply before 1 November, you must earn a salary that meets the new maintenance requirement. How high the salary must be (in SEK) depends on the median salary that applied when you submitted your application.
Applicants for an extension are subject to the requirement
If you have been granted a work permit before the new maintenance requirement comes into force and your permit extends further into the future, the same maintenance requirement still applies as when you were granted the permit, i.e., SEK 13,000 per month. It is only in connection with an application for an extended work permit that the new requirement for good income must be met in order for the permit to be extended.
This means do not need to earn a higher salary during the ongoing permit period in order to meet the new maintenance requirement. However, the salary must still comply with collective agreements or practices in the relevant profession or industry. When you apply for an extended work permit, the Swedish Migration Agency will check that your salary meets the new maintenance requirement.
If you have already applied
If you have already submitted an application for a work permit and do not meet the new salary requirement, your application will be rejected. If you receive a new salary that meets the new salary requirement before the Swedish Migration Agency makes a decision in the case, you can inform us about this.
Since the new requirement will enter into force 1 November, you need to be able to show that you meet the salary requirement as of 1 November. The median salary that is applied is the one that applied when the application was received. The Swedish Migration Agency checks that you reach that salary level when the application is examined.
You may be exempt
Certain people are exempt from the requirement to earn at least SEK 27,360 per month. You are exempt from the new requirement if you
- are exercising your freedom of movement (this applies to citizens of the EU/EEA or family members such citizens)
- have or are applying for an EU Blue Card
- have or are applying for an ICT permit
- are a seasonal worker.
Professional coaches and athletes, au pairs, trainees within the framework of international exchange or trainees with traineeships related to higher education, and researchers will also not be subject to the new requirement.
Keep in mind that the salary must still be in line with collective agreements or practices in the relevant profession or industry.
More information, examples of how the new requirement is applied, and questions and answers can be found on the page Increased maintenance requirements for work permits.