How it works for professional athletes to come to Sweden
Athletes from all over the world coming to Sweden to compete, play for a particular club or take part in a championship is something of a given - at least for those with an interest in sport. But how does it work? Can athletes just come here or do they have to go through a bureaucratic process first? We take you through the steps from application to kick-off!
Do you have to apply for a permit?
The first question is whether you need a permit to come to Sweden at all, or whether it is sufficient to show that you are going to participate in a sporting competition or have been recruited to a club. The short answer is that if you are going to play for a Swedish club with which you have a contract, you need a work permit; if you are visiting Sweden to take part in an international competition, you do not need a work permit but you may need a visa.
Citizens of an EU-country
As we have explained in an earlier part of the Swedish Migration Agency Answers, citizens of an EU/EEA country have the right to come to and live in Sweden without a residence permit. An athlete who is a citizen of Germany, Spain or Portugal, for example, does not need to apply for a residence permit from the Swedish Migration Agency, but can come here directly to practice their sport.
Read The Swedish Migration Agency answers: Free movement within the EU – how does it work?
Non-EU citizens
It is for so-called third-country nationals that a work permit may be required if they want to come to Sweden to practice their sport, and an application for a permit may therefore be required.
A professional athlete or coach who has a contract with a Swedish sports club or sports association must have a work permit in order to practice the sport or coaching profession in Sweden. The application must be submitted to the Swedish Migration Agency before entering Sweden and the decision is awaited outside Sweden. The permit is then valid for the duration of the contract and can be extended - but for no longer than two years at a time. So what are the requirements?
Salary, valid passport and insurance
The basic requirements for a work permit are a valid passport, proper insurance and a sufficiently high salary. For athletes and coaches, health and accident insurance must be taken out and the monthly salary must be at least SEK 14 300 before tax.
The person applying for a work permit must also have a written contract with a club or association in Sweden that is affiliated with the Swedish Sports Confederation. In addition, the Swedish Sports Confederation must certify that the employment is essential for the positive development of the sport.
The most common sports
Professional athletes can obtain a work permit to play any sport, as long as they meet the requirements for the permit. However, for practitioners in football, ice hockey and basketball – where football and ice hockey are the most common sports to apply for a permit – there are specific requirements regarding the division in which they must play.
Football:
the player must play in at least Division 1 for men or Damallsvenskan or Elitettan for women. The same requirements apply to those who will work as football coaches.
Basketball:
the player must play in the Swedish Basketball League or Basketettan (women’s or men’s divisions). The same requirements apply to those who will work as basketball coaches.
Ice hockey:
the player must play in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), Hockeyallsvenskan or Hockeyettan if active in men's ice hockey. In women's ice hockey, you are required to play or train in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League.
Less common sports to apply for a work permit to practice are speedway, fencing, badminton and futsal - but even these can appear among the applications at the Migration Agency.
Then you do not need to apply for a work permit
The athlete does not need to apply for a work permit if he or she is staying in Sweden only to take part in an international competition for a maximum of three months during a period of one year. In this case, the athlete does not have a contract with a Swedish club, but is only in Sweden to participate in the competition in question for a shorter period.
Although you do not need a work permit, you may need a visa to enter Sweden. This can be applied for at a Swedish embassy or consulate in your country of residence.
To give a very general explanation, this means that if Sweden organizes, for example, the football World Cup one summer, the participants from the different countries would not need to apply for a work permit. However, this would be necessary if the players taking part in the championship were to stay in Sweden for longer than three months.
The athlete’s family can come to Sweden
If the person who is going to work as a professional athlete or coach wants to bring his or her family to Sweden, the family can apply for a residence permit as co-applicants. Either their application can be submitted together with the athlete's application, or the family can make their own application afterwards - if they want to move to Sweden later.
In order for the family to be granted a residence permit to accompany them to Sweden, the person with a work permit must be able to support both themselves and their family.
Maintenance requirement for accompanying family
Statistics
The number of applications for work permits for professional athletes has remained relatively stable over the past three years: 566 applications received in 2022, 505 in 2023 and 451 in 2024. Of these, most cases have resulted in a permit being granted - 513 permits in 2022, 452 in 2023 and 393 in 2024.
If an application is rejected, it may be because, for example, the salary is too low, the club in question is not a member of the Swedish Sports Confederation, or the club does not offer the agreed conditions, either in the current case or in previous cases.
The Migration Agency may dismiss an application because the application fee has not been paid or because the person in question already has a residence permit for the period to which the application relates.
How long does it take to get a decision?
As always, many things affect the waiting time, such as whether the person's application is complete from the start or whether we need to request more information. In the case of work permits for professional athletes, it looks like this:
Changes on the way
The Swedish Migration Agency and the Swedish Sports Confederation have revised and updated the agreement on work permits that has existed for many years for professional athletes and coaches. As a consequence, the income requirement has been raised and the salary level is linked to the current price base amount. This is an amount calculated each year to reflect the evolution of prices in society and is used to calculate benefits such as pensions, sickness benefits and various allowances.
From September 1, 2025, professional athletes and coaches must have a salary of at least SEK 19,600 to be eligible for a work permit.
Published 2025-05-16
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What happens between the time of application and decision?
Why is the waiting time sometimes very long before receiving a decision and why does it differ between two similar applications?
How many different maintenance requirements are there?
In 2023, the government decided to raise the maintenance requirement for work permits, which has led to many questions for the Swedish Migration Agency. However, there are different types of maintenance requirements depending on what you are applying for. In this part of the Swedish Migration Agency answers, we explain what the maintenance requirements are and who needs to meet them.
What is a detention centre?
The Swedish Migration Agency’s detention centres are for people who do not have the right to stay in Sweden and must therefore leave the country.