Important to know

If you are a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA, or are an EU citizen without the right of residence, in most cases you need a residence permit to live with someone in Sweden.

It is very difficult to get a residence permit to move to Sweden to live with a relative who is not a close family member. By close family members, we mean married or cohabiting couples and their children.

If you still want to apply, you and your relative in Sweden must meet a number of requirements:

You must have a valid passport

Your relative in Sweden must have one of the following:

  • permanent residence permit
  • temporary residence permit due to a need for protection or particularly distressing circumstances, with a well-founded prospect of being granted a residence permit for a longer period.

You must have previously lived with your relative
You and your relative must have lived together in your country of origin immediately before the relative moved to Sweden.

You and your relative must be dependent on each other
You and your relative must be socially and emotionally dependent on each other in a way that makes it very difficult for you to live apart. Your interdependence must have already existed in your country of origin and go beyond the usual dependence that typically exists in a family. You cannot be granted a residence permit if you are solely dependent on the person in Sweden for your financial support.

You and your relative must intend to live together in Sweden

You must apply as soon as possible after your relative has been granted a residence permit
You must submit your application as soon as possible after your relative has moved to Sweden and been granted a permanent residence permit. You cannot be granted a residence permit if you apply too late, or it you and your relative developed a social and emotional dependence on each other after the relative moved to Sweden.

Maintenance requirement for your relative
Your relative in Sweden must be able to support both of you and have a large enough home to house you both. Some people may be exempt from the maintenance requirement.

Maintenance requirement for the person in Sweden

Translate documents
All submitted documents should be in Swedish or English. If you have translated your documents, the translation should be certified. You must also include a copy of the document in its original language.

Select an embassy for your interview
In your application, you must indicate which Swedish embassy or consulate-general you want to visit for your interview. Not all Swedish embassies and consulates-general handle migration cases, so it is important to check which one you should contact:

You who apply from within Sweden and need to be interviewed in connection with your application, will be called to an interview at one of the Swedish Migration Agency’s service centres.

You must attach copies of these documents to your application

Make sure that the information on your submitted documents is clearly visible.

Correctly made copies of your passport

You can never be granted a residence permit for longer than your passport is valid. You who are citizens of the EU/EEA can attach copies of your passport or your national ID card.

Read more about what the passport copies must show

Document(s) showing how you and the person in Sweden are related to each other

Certificate(s) showing that you and your relative in Sweden are dependent on each other and find it difficult to live apart

Document(s) showing that you lived with your relative immediately before they moved to Sweden

A representative can apply for you, if you grant them power of attorney. In that case, the person who applies for you must attach a copy of the power of attorney to your application.

Power of attorney (107011) Pdf, 1.1 MB, opens in new window.

Read more about power of attorney

Documents showing that the person in Sweden meets the maintenance requirement

After you have submitted your application, the person in Sweden will be asked to complete a questionnaire with questions about their life situation. When they do so, they must also attach documents showing that they meet the maintenance requirement.

Documents showing that the person in Sweden has a home

If the person in Sweden rents their home, they must send in a copy of their rental contract, and must also attach a rent notice for the last month’s rent.

The contract must include:

  • monthly rent
  • number of rooms
  • tenant’s name
  • landlord’s name
  • rental period
  • signature of the landlord.

If the person in Sweden sublets their home

If the person in Sweden sublets their home, it is important to also submit documents showing that the landlord, tenant-owner association, or rent tribunal has approved the rental. When a person in Sweden sublets a rental apartment, it is the property owner who is the landlord, not the holder of the first-hand contract. A contract or agreement must be signed.

If the person in Sweden owns their home, they must submit a copy of the purchase contract or another transfer document stating that they own the home. If the number of rooms is not stated in the document, you can attach a floor plan, housing specification, or similar document.

The person in Sweden must also submit documents showing what housing costs they have. Regardless of whether their home is a condominium, house, or detached house, they must submit documents showing their interest expenses.

If the person in Sweden lives in a tenant-owned apartment, they must submit copies of documents showing their monthly fees and other possible operating costs that are not included in the monthly fee, such as heating, electricity, and water bills.

If the person in Sweden lives in a house or detached house, they must submit documents showing its operating costs. For example, these may include fees for heating, water, garbage collection, sewerage, community fees, property fees, or other costs tied to the home.

Documents showing that the person in Sweden has an income

If the person in Sweden works, they need to submit a copy of their employment contract or another document that proves their employment. This document must include:

  • name of the employee
  • type of employment (e.g., permanent, fixed-term, temporary position)
  • percentage of full-time employment
  • wages/salary
  • employer
  • signature of an authorised representative of the employer.


They also need to submit a copy of their latest payslip. It must include:

  • name of the person receiving the wages/salary (the employee)
  • name of the person paying the wages/salary (the employer)
  • net wages/salary
  • any supplement or deduction to the employee’s wages/salary (e.g., for leave or illness).

Fixed-term employment

If the person in Sweden’s employment lasts longer than a year, they need to send in a copy of their employment contract and latest payslip. If their employment is hourly or on-demand, they must send in a copy of their employment contract and three most recent payslips.

If the person in Sweden’s current employment will be terminated within the year and they have previously had fixed-term jobs, they also need to submit their previous employment contracts for the past year.

The person in Sweden can also submit documents showing that they are a member of an unemployment insurance fund (a-kassa) and that they will receive compensation from the fund if they become unemployed.

The person in Sweden needs to submit a copy of the decision from the unemployment insurance fund and a statement detailing their payments from the fund. The documents should specify how much compensation they receive and the period for which they are entitled to compensation.

The person in Sweden needs to send in a copy of the decision from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency stating the type and amount of compensation they can receive. The documents should state the period during which they are entitled to compensation from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency.

The person in Sweden needs to submit a copy of the decision showing the type of pension they have and how much pension they receive (annually or monthly). For example, they can do this by providing a copy of a decision from the Swedish Pensions Agency.

If the person in Sweden has a sole proprietorship or is a partner in a trading or limited partnership, their income consists of their share of the surplus from their own company, after deductions for personal contributions. This usually means the surplus from business activity that they declare in their income tax return. They can show their income by submitting a:

  • copy of their final tax notice for the previous income year
  • copy of their income tax return for the previous income year, together with a copy of the corresponding NE or N3A appendix
  • copy of their preliminary tax decision for the current year from the Swedish Tax Agency, or an account statement from their tax account covering at least three months and which clearly shows how much preliminary tax they have paid.

If the person in Sweden is a partner in a limited company, they can show that they receive salary or other remuneration from their limited company by submitting the following documents:

  • salary agreement and payslips for the last month (1 month)
  • account statement from the limited company’s tax account covering at least three months, to show paid employer’s contributions and preliminary tax paid to the Swedish Tax Agency
  • if they ran the business the previous year, they can submit a final tax statement or tax return documentation for the past year
  • a copy of their income tax return for the previous year, and a K10 form from the Swedish Tax Agency if they have received share dividends
  • extract from the Swedish Tax Agency showing the control data submitted for the person for the last three months.

Correctly made copies of each child’s passport
Read more about what the passport copies must show

Birth record or birth certificate stating the names of each child’s parents

Sole custody decision
If you have sole custody of your child, you must attach a court decision to this effect. If the other parent is deceased, you must submit a death certificate.

Consent that the child may move to Sweden
If a child has two parents/legal guardians and the child’s other parent/legal guardian will be remaining in their country of origin, you must attach a statement of consent from the other parent/legal guardian to the application. You must also attach a copy of the other legal guardian’s passport or other identity document.

Consent for a child to settle in Sweden (217011) Pdf, 1.1 MB.

Adoption documents, if your child is adopted

You can be granted a residence permit for a maximum of two years, but never for longer than your passport is valid.

Your residence permit can be extended.

Adults: SEK 2,000
Children under 18 years of age: SEK 1,000

You will not receive a refund if your application is rejected.

The following people pay no fee to apply:

  • family members of EU/EEA citizens. In this context, Swedes do not count as EU citizens
  • EU/EEA citizens who are applying for a residence permit
  • Swiss citizens and their family members
  • Japanese citizens
  • husbands, wives, cohabiting partners, registered partners and unmarried children under the age of 18 who are applying for a residence permit to live with a family member who has been granted a residence permit in Sweden due to their need for protection or exceptionally distressing circumstances.

It is not possible to say exactly how long you will need to wait for a decision. There are many things that affect the waiting time, for example whether your application is complete to begin with or whether we need to request more information, or whether we need to check with other authorities when investigating your case.

Here we show statistics on how long it has taken for people who have applied for the same permit as you.

75% of applications receive a decision within:19 months

Other rules apply if you are a citizen of the EU/EEA or Switzerland, or if you have long-term resident status in another EU country.

EU/EEA citizens with right of residence

If you are an EU/EEA citizen, you have the right to live in another EU/EEA country if you fulfil the requirements for right of residence through work, your own company, your studies, or by having sufficient funds to support yourself. If you have right of residence, you do not need to apply for a residence permit to live in Sweden.

EU/EEA citizens

EU/EEA citizens without right of residence

If you who are an EU/EAA citizen do not fulfil the requirements for right of residence, and have a family member residing in Sweden, you can apply for a residence permit to live with your family member. The requirements for being granted a residence permit and information on how to apply can be found on this page.

As an EU/EEA citizen, you are exempt some of the requirements to get a residence permit to live with someone. This applies to you:

  • You can apply for and be granted a residence permit while you are in Sweden.
  • To identify yourself, you can choose to present your passport or your national ID card.
  • You have the right to start working or studying before you have received our decision about your residence permit.

Swiss citizens or family members of Swiss citizens

If you are a citizen of Switzerland, you can move to Sweden to work, study, start your own business, or live on your own funds. If you want to remain in Sweden for longer than three months, you must apply for a residence permit for Swiss citizens. You who are a family member of a citizen of Switzerland must also apply in the same way.

You want to apply – Swiss citizens

If you have long-term resident status in another EU country or are family members of someone with this status

If you have long-term resident status in another EU country, you can move to Sweden to work, run your own business, study or live on your own funds. If you plan to stay longer than three months, you need to apply for a residence permit for long-term residents.

You want to apply – Long-term residents in another EU country

If you are a family member of a person with permanent resident status in another EU country, you must apply for a residence permit

You want to apply – Family of long-term residents in another EU country

If you have any children under the age of 18 who will accompany you to Sweden, you must apply for a residence permit for each of them in your application. You must then make your application using a paper form and submit it at a Swedish embassy or consulate-general.

Yes, this permit gives you the right to work and study.

The Swedish Migration Agency is responsible for considering applications from people who want to live in Sweden, seek protection or become Swedish citizens. Our work is based on Swedish laws and international conventions, with a focus on legal certainty and effective reception and return.