How do reception and return centres work?

Asylum seekers and persons with expulsion decisions shall live at reception and return centres. What is a reception and return centre and how do the centres work in practice? We clarify that in this part of The Swedish Migration Agency answers.

The Swedish Migration Agency answers

A series of articles using facts and figures to explain different aspects of the Swedish Migration Agency’s activities. The articles are not updated after they have been published.

Published 27 March 2026

Asylum seekers' housing has varied over the years – from refugee camps to many also living in accommodation they arranged themselves, often with friends or relatives. Now the system is about to change. The Government wants asylum seekers and persons who receive a refusal to live in the Swedish Migration Agency's asylum accommodation. The new housing facilities are called reception and return centres.

The idea with the centres is that those who live there shall have proximity to service and information. But it is also about the asylum process being fast and efficient – from application to a decision on a residence permit or a refusal and return.

All the Swedish Migration Agency's centres are called reception and return centres, but some have more focus on reception (places for persons who have applied for asylum and are waiting for a decision). Other centres have more places for persons who are to return.

Who lives at the centre and for how long

Who shall live at the centres?

All asylum seekers receive a place at a reception and return centre when they submit their application. In order to be entitled to financial aid from the Swedish Migration Agency, one must move to the place one is assigned.

Persons who receive a refusal on their asylum application receive a place at a centre with return places when their expulsion decision has gained legal force (when the decision has begun to apply). They shall then live there until they leave the country.

Illustration of a person seeking protection sitting in a conversation with a case officer.

How long shall one live there?

Asylum seekers shall live at the centres while they wait for a decision in their case. Since all applications are examined individually, it is not possible to say how much time is involved, but the idea is that it shall facilitate the asylum process that all parts are gathered in one place.

Persons who receive a decision that means they shall return shall live at the centres until they leave the country. As a rule, one shall do so at the latest four weeks after the expulsion decision begins to apply. How long it takes before one returns often depends on how much the person himself cooperates, for example by obtaining the documents and papers required to travel.

With the EU's Migration and Asylum Pact, time limits are also introduced which state how long different parts of the asylum process shall take.

What does "centre" mean?

The reception and return centres can look very different. Usually, it is several buildings with shorter or longer distances between them that together constitute a centre. Some of the centres have asylum examination in connection with the housing, but not all since that activity only exists in a few places in the country.

The purpose of the centres is that they shall be more than just housing. One shall on-site be able to get support, help and answers to questions from the Swedish Migration Agency's staff. By asylum seekers living at the centres, they and the staff get access to each other in an easier way, which facilitates the entire asylum process. For those who have received a refusal, it is about the Swedish Migration Agency being able to inform and give support before a return.

Available in eleven municipalities

The Swedish Migration Agency has so far started from locations where the authority previously had activities and housing when we established reception and return centres. At present, there are centres in eleven municipalities: Boden, Härnösand, Västerås, Sigtuna, Stockholm, Flen, Vänersborg, Mölndal, Halmstad, Malmö och Burlöv.

The graphic shows a map of Sweden where reception and return centres are marked. The centres that have asylum examination activities are: Boden, Sigtuna, Stockholm, Mölndal and Malmö/Burlöv. They are marked with a circle with red filling. The centres that do not have asylum examination activities are: Härnösand, Västerås, Flen, Vänersborg and Halmstad. They are marked with a red circle with light grey filling.

The image shows a map of Sweden where reception and return centres are marked. Red circle shows center with asylum examination. White circle shows center without asylum examination.

How many live at the centres?

The number of residents at the centres changes all the time because new persons move in after having applied for asylum, while others move out after having received a residence permit or travelled out from Sweden after a refusal. Persons can also move out for other reasons, for example because they have absconded, been taken into detention or moved to another type of housing due to illness.

In February 2026, the Swedish Migration Agency had a total of approximately 5 500 places in reception and return centres. At that time, approximately 1 870 persons lived at the centres and of them, about 400 persons were under 18 years.

Safety, security and activities

Included in the Swedish Migration Agency's mandate is to ensure that there is a safe and secure environment at the centres, not least for children and vulnerable groups. To achieve that, there is a possibility to divide the housing into different sections, so that for example women and families with children live by themselves. The presence of the Swedish Migration Agency's staff is also important for safety and the Swedish Migration Agency is now increasing the staff presence. When necessary, there are also security guards who shall contribute to a safe environment.

At the centres, activities are also offered which are arranged in collaboration with, for example, voluntary organisations such as the Red Cross and Save the Children. The Swedish Migration Agency can also arrange activities under its own management.

Living as a child at the centres

The Swedish Migration Agency has a responsibility to ensure that there is a good and safe environment for children at the centres, among other things by ensuring that there are rooms for play, activity and studies. The size of rooms shall vary so that it fits both smaller families and families with several children. The Swedish Migration Agency also attaches importance to the outdoor environment.

Illustration of a family. The family consists of a woman, a man and two boys.

Children who live in reception and return centres have the right to attend preschool and school on the same terms as other children in Sweden.

Changes with the Migration and Asylum Pact

That asylum seekers shall live at reception and return centres is in line with the EU's Migration and Asylum Pact which is introduced on 12 June. The pact's legislation is mandatory for all EU countries and means, among other things, that the asylum process shall look the same in the entire EU.

With the Migration and Asylum Pact, a screening procedure is introduced. This means that all third country nationals (persons from countries outside the EU) who cross the EU's external border without the documents and papers required shall be checked. Even persons who are encountered in an EU country without a valid permit can be covered by the screening if the person entered without necessary documents.

Illustration of a person giving fingerprints in a biometric machine.

Persons who are in screening are not counted as having entered the country. This means that there are restrictions on where they may stay during the limited time that the screening is ongoing.

This also applies to persons whose application for protection is examined according to the pact's new asylum border procedure. It is a form of faster examination at the border for certain categories of asylum seekers. It concerns, among others, persons who come from countries that have a low proportion of granted applications.

When the Migration and Asylum Pact is introduced, some of the Swedish Migration Agency's centres will also function as housing for persons who are in the screening or border procedures. This concerns the centres in Boden, Sigtuna, Mölndal and Malmö.

More changes regarding asylum seekers' housing

Further legislation regarding asylum seekers' housing is underway nationally ahead, with the Reception Act which is proposed to enter into force in October 2026. The proposal means, among other things, that asylum seekers shall be obliged to stay within a limited geographical area and participate in presence checks at the Swedish Migration Agency's housing.

Free movement within the EU – how does it work?

Freedom of movement within the EU means that a French or German citizen can come and work in Sweden – but what about an Indian who has a residence permit in Spain, or his wife and children? The rules for different groups coming to Sweden differ somewhat – in this article we clarify the concepts.

How we work to detect security threats

As a result of the deteriorating security situation in the country, security, terror and threats to Sweden have dominated the social debate. Questions have been asked about what the Swedish Migration Agency does and how people with ties to terrorism get to Sweden in the first place. In this part of “The Swedish Migration Agency answers”, we go into more detail about how the agency works to detect and deal with people who may pose a security threat.

Read about the work to detect security threats

The reception and housing of asylum seekers – how does it work?

Changes are being made to the system for housing asylum seekers. In this article, we will answer some of the questions about how asylum seekers are housed today and how the system will operate in future.