You want to apply Live with a partner

You want to apply for a residence permit to live with your partner in Sweden to whom you are married, who is your registered or cohabiting partner, or who you plan to marry or live with as cohabiting partners.

  • Important to know
  • How it works
  • Apply

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.

These requirements must be met in order for you to be granted a residence permit:

Requirements that apply to both of you

You must both be over 21 years old
Exceptions can only be made on special grounds, for example if you have children together.

You must be married, registered partners, or cohabiting partners, or plan to enter one of these relationships

Requirements for the person who wants to move to Sweden

You must have a valid passport

EU/EEA citizens must have a valid passport or national ID card.

You must currently be located outside of Sweden

There are some exceptions, see Can I get a residence permit if I apply from within Sweden?

Requirements for the person in Sweden

The person in Sweden must have one of the following:

  • Swedish citizenship
  • Nordic citizenship
  • permanent residence permit
  • permanent residence card
  • permanent right of residence
  • permanent residence status
  • temporary residence permit due to a need for protection or exceptionally distressing circumstances.

The person in Sweden must meet the maintenance requirement
The person 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

Register your marriage or partnership
If you and the person in Sweden have married or entered into a registered partnership, it is important that the person in Sweden registers this relationship with the Swedish Tax Agency.

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.

Documents about you (the applicant) and your relationship to the person in Sweden

Correctly made copies of your passport
If your passport is about to expire, you should extend it, because you cannot get a 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

Marriage record, marriage certificate, or equivalent documentation
If you are the spouse or registered partner of the person in Sweden.

Documents showing that the marriage is registered in your country of origin
If you are the spouse or registered partner of the person in Sweden and the marriage is registered in your country of origin, you must enclose documents showing this.

A population registration certificate or similar document showing that you are unmarried
If you are unmarried.

If you have lived with the person in Sweden, either in your country of origin or another country, you must also enclose

  • population registration certificate, rental agreement, or proof of purchase of a home, or other documentation showing that you share a home
  • document(s) showing that you have lived together, such as a rental agreement that lists both your names, or bills dating back in time that show your names and shared address.

Pregnancy certificate
If you are expecting a baby together.

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

Birth record or birth certificate stating the names of the 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

Your partner in Sweden can make an application for you if you give them power of attorney. To do this, you must attach a copy of the power of attorney to your application.

Power of attorney (107011) Pdf, 1.1 MB.

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.

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.

If you have children over the age of 18 who want to come to Sweden with you, each child will need to submit their own application.

You want to apply – Adults who want to live with another relative

If your partner is a Swedish citizen and you live together abroad, you can be granted a residence permit to live with your partner when you move to Sweden together.

To be granted a residence permit, you must be able to show that you have plans to settle in Sweden together. You can do this by providing written or oral information. If you cannot describe your specific relocation plans at the time of application, you can add this information later.

Everyone who applies for a residence permit to live with someone in Sweden fills in the same application. This means that you may encounter questions in the application that do not really fit your particular situation, since neither of you currently lives in Sweden. Try to answer them anyway, as best you can.

Maintenance requirement for Swedish citizens

As a Swedish citizen, your partner does not need to meet the maintenance requirement, as long as the two of you have a well-established relationship (for example, if you have lived together for a long time).

However, your partner must meet the maintenance requirement if you have any children who will be moving to Sweden with the two of you, and your partner is not their parent or legal guardian.

Maintenance requirement for the person in Sweden

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

In order to get a residence permit to move to someone in Sweden, you must be able to prove your identity. You usually do this with a valid passport document. You who are an EU/EEA citizen can also prove your identity with a national ID card.

In some cases, a person who cannot prove their identity using a valid passport can get a residence permit by proving their biological family relationship with the person in Sweden. This applies to families with children who have lived together outside Sweden.

If you have an established relationship with the person in Sweden and you have children together, in exceptional cases you can be granted a residence permit even if you do not have an approved passport.

A condition for getting a residence permit is that it has been proven through a DNA analysis that the child and their parents are related.

DNA analysis

You and your child must provide a saliva sample during your visit to the embassy or consulate-general. The parent in Sweden must write a statement of consent for a DNA sample to be taken from the child. This statement of consent must be submitted with the application.

The parent in Sweden must provide a DNA sample during a visit to the Swedish Migration Agency. Using these two DNA samples, a DNA analysis will be performed that shows whether the two people are related.

The DNA analysis is free of charge.

Alien’s passports

If you do not have a passport, you also need to apply for an alien’s passport. You can do this at the embassy or consulate-general when you submit your application, or in connection with your interview.

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.

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.

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. The statistics are based on cases decided in the last 12 months.

75% of recently decided cases have been decided within:18 months

If you are granted a residence permit in Sweden, you will also have the right to work and study.

EU/EEA citizens

If you are an EU/EEA citizen and do not have right of residence, you can be granted a residence permit while you are in Sweden.

Family of EU/EEA citizens

If you are a family member of a EU/EEA citizen, you can be granted a residence permit while you are in Sweden, if any of the following applies:

  • you are married, cohabiting partners or registered partners
  • you are under 18 and will be living with a parent

If you plan to get married, become cohabiting partners or registered partners, but do not yet have this civil status, you must be outside Sweden in order to be granted a residence permit.

Swedes are not considered EU citizens in this context.

Non-EU/EEA citizens

If you are not a citizen of the EU/EEA, in the vast majority of cases you must have applied for and received a residence permit before you enter Sweden, otherwise your application may be rejected and you may receive a refusal of entry or expulsion decision. If that happens, you may be subject to a re-entry ban and will not be able to enter a Schengen country for as long as the ban remains in force.

If you are already in Sweden, there are only certain cases in which you can be granted a residence permit without having to leave the country.

If you are in Sweden with an entry visa or as a visa exemption, in some cases you can be granted a residence permit without leaving Sweden. For example, this may apply

  • if you have children who are citizens of Sweden or another EU/EEA country, or if you are expecting a child. It is the consequences for your child of being separated from their parent that are crucial to our decision about whether you can be granted a residence permit without having to leave Sweden
  • if you suffer from a very serious illness that prevents you from leaving Sweden
  • if you cannot return to Sweden once you are forced to leave the country.

You are not automatically granted a residence permit just because one of these examples applies to you; each case is examined individually. In order to be granted a residence permit, you must also meet all the other requirements for that permit. If you have been staying in Sweden illegally, you may need to leave the country to apply, even if one of the examples above applies to you.

If you are already in Sweden with a valid residence permit, in exceptional cases you can be granted a new residence permit based on your ties to the country, without having to leave. For example, this may be the case if you have a

  • work permit
  • permit as a self-employed person
  • permit for studies and have completed at least 30 higher education credits or one semester of doctoral/third-cycle studies in Sweden
  • residence permit as a family member of an employee, self-employed person or student with a residence permit for studies
  • residence permit as a refugee or person eligible for subsidiary protection, or due to particularly or exceptionally distressing circumstances or impediments to enforcement. You must be able to prove your identity, for example with a national passport.

Your residence permit must still be valid when you submit your new application. You cannot be granted a residence permit because you want to live with a family member in Sweden before your current permit expires.

If you are in Sweden with an entry visa or a visitor’s residence permit, you cannot usually be granted a residence permit to live with someone in Sweden while you are here on a visit. You will also be unable to get a visitor’s residence permit if you intend to settle in Sweden.

You must pay for any care yourself

If you apply for a residence permit from within Sweden, you are not entitled to care, and must pay for any care costs yourself.

If your application is rejected, you must leave Sweden

If you are currently in Sweden and your application is rejected, you must prepare to leave the country. If you do not leave Sweden voluntarily, you may need to regularly report to the Swedish Migration Agency in a process known as supervision, or be placed in a detention centre run by the Swedish Migration Agency. Your case may also be handed over to the police.

News

2025-04-03

If you are planning to work, study or move to Sweden to live with someone, you can now visit the embassy in Islamabad

On 9 April, the Swedish Migration Agency will resume its residence and work permit activities in Pakistan. Applicants needing to submit biometric data, have their passport checked or be interviewed after submitting an application can once again do so at the embassy in Islamabad. This does not apply to those who are applying for a Schengen visa to visit Sweden for a short stay.

2024-12-16

Now you can see your complete decision on My Page

If you are waiting for a decision from the Swedish Migration Agency, you can now see the complete decision on My page. Previously, you have only been able to see if the decision is positive or negative, and the justification has only been sent home to you in paper format.

2024-11-26

Citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will from 2 December 2024 contact the Swedish consulate-general in Istanbul

Until now citizens of, or persons otherwise legally residing in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, have had their applications for residence- and work permit handled by the Swedish Embassy in Moscow. From December 2 2024 you will instead have your applications handled by the Swedish consulate-general in Istanbul.

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.