You apply
You apply at the Swedish border or at a Swedish Migration Agency Unit for Asylum Applications. What happens at the time of application:
You must submit your passport or other identification documents
To show who you are and where you come from, you must submit a passport or identity card from your country of origin. We will register you with the name and gender specified in your identification documents. If you have a different gender identity than what is stated there, or if you want us to use a different name or pronoun, please tell us. Also let us know if you have special grounds for wanting an interpreter, counsel, or case officer of a particular gender, or if you do not want to share a room with other asylum seekers of a particular gender.
You must get fingerprinted
Your fingerprints are used to see if you have applied for asylum in any other EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland, or if you have a permit or are subject to a travel ban in any of these countries. If you have already applied for asylum in one of these countries, we will investigate which country will be responsible for examining your application. Your application will then be handled according to the so-called “Dublin Process”.
The Dublin Regulation determines which country will be responsible for your application
Children under 6 years of age do not need to be fingerprinted. We do not check fingerprints for children under the age of 14.
You will be photographed
Your photo will be used for the card you will be given to show that you are an asylum seeker, a so-called “Asylum Seeker card” (“LMA-kort” in Swedish).
You get to have a first conversation with a case officer
With the help of an interpreter, you can explain who you are and tell us about your family, how you travelled to Sweden, and why you have left your country of origin. You will be asked questions about your family and how you are feeling. Let us know if you have special needs, for example due to a disability.
During the conversation, you will receive information about the asylum process, what the next steps will be, and what you need to do. You will also receive information about practical issues, such as your right to accommodation, financial aid, care, and schooling for your children.
You will be summoned to an asylum investigation interview
If you do not receive this summons directly during the first conversation, we will send it to you later by post.
The Swedish Migration Agency reviews your application
The Swedish Migration Agency reviews your application and the information you have provided. The case officer prepares your application for further investigation, for example by obtaining information from other authorities or, if necessary, by assigning a public counsel to your case.
You must let us know if you change your address, so that we can reach you when it is time for your investigation interview or if we need to summon you to other meetings.
If, based on the first conversation, we determine that you do not meet the requirements for being granted a residence permit, for example because you completely lack grounds for asylum or come from a safe country, we may decide to reject your application. In that case, you will receive a refusal of entry decision that must be implemented immediately.
You participate in the asylum investigation interview
The asylum investigation interview is a mandatory conversation during which you meet with a case officer at the Swedish Migration Agency. An interpreter will also be present. If we have determined that you need a public counsel, they will also attend the interview. The case officer, interpreter, and public counsel are all sworn to secrecy. That means they are not allowed to share what you have said with anyone who does not have the legal right to know.
The case officer will start by telling you what the conversation is about and what rights and obligations you have. For example, you are required to speak the truth and not withhold anything that may be important for us to assess whether you need protection.
You must tell us who you are, where you come from, why you are applying for asylum, and what you think will happen to you if you have to return to your country of origin. You will also be asked questions about your family, your health and your situation in your country of origin. It is your responsibility to tell us all your grounds for applying for asylum. If you have evidence that you want the Swedish Migration Agency to consider, you should submit it.
The case officer writes down what is said in the meeting minutes. You will be given the opportunity to approve the minutes, which will then be saved along with any documents you have submitted.
At the end of the investigation interview, you can ask questions about the asylum process or anything else related to your contact with the Swedish Migration Agency.
Investigations with children
Every child has the right to speak and be heard. Children who apply for asylum together with their parents also have the right to talk to their case officer at the Swedish Migration Agency. Children have the right to receive the same thorough investigation and examination of their grounds for asylum as adults – and a child may have other grounds for asylum than their parents. When a child’s grounds for asylum are investigated, the Swedish Migration Agency case officer must do as much as possible to adapt the investigation to the child’s age, maturity and health. The child has the right to have an adult with him during their investigation interview. This could be a parent/legal guardian or a public counsel. Unaccompanied minors always have the right to have their guardian with them during the investigation interview.
The Swedish Migration Agency’s processes
After the asylum investigation interview, we will review all the information in your application and determine whether you can be granted a residence permit.
We will contact you if we need more information.
Waiting time while we process your application
Now you must wait. All applications are different and therefore take different lengths of time to investigate.
You receive our decision
We can inform you about the decision at a meeting at which you meet with a case officer, or we can notify you by post.
The decision is based on your story and the documents you have submitted in support of what you have told us about your identity and your reasons for seeking asylum, as well as the Swedish Migration Agency’s knowledge of the situation in your country of origin.
The decision is written in Swedish, but even if you receive the decision by post, you will still be invited to an in-person meeting at your Unit for Reception, where you will receive oral information about the decision with the help of an interpreter.
If you are granted a residence permit, you have the right to live and work in Sweden as long as the permit is valid.
If you are not granted a residence permit, you must prepare to leave the country. You can appeal the decision if you think it should be changed.