You want to apply Children who will live with a parent

You want to apply for a residence permit for a child who wants to move to Sweden to live with a parent.

  • Important to know
  • How it works
  • Apply

Citizens of countries outside the EU/EEA and EU citizens without the right of residence in most cases need a residence permit to live with someone in Sweden.

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

The application must be made by an adult
The application must be made by a parent or other adult who has the legal right to represent the child in the child’s country of origin.

The child must be under 18 years of age and unmarried

The parent in Sweden
The parent must have one of the following:

  • Swedish citizenship
  • permanent residence permit
  • permanent right of residence
  • permanent residence card
  • temporary residence permit due to a need for protection or exceptionally distressing circumstances.
  • temporary residence permit on the grounds of their ties to a partner.

The parent must meet the maintenance requirement
The child’s parent in Sweden must be able to support both themselves and the child and have a home of sufficient size and standard for both of them to live there. Some people may be exempt from the maintenance requirement.

Maintenance requirement for the person in Sweden

You must attach copies of these documents to your application. Make sure that the information on your submitted documents is clearly visible.

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 the child’s interview.

Not all Swedish embassies and consulates-general handle migration cases, so it is important to check which one you should contact:

Correctly made copies of your child’s passport
Your child can never be granted a residence permit for longer than their passport is valid.

Read more about what the passport copies must show

In exceptional cases, a child can be granted a residence permit even if they do not have an approved passport. However, this is only possible for families with children whose members lived together outside Sweden. The exception also applies only to children who cannot get a passport, or if the Swedish Migration Agency assesses that a passport from a child’s country of origin does not prove their identity.

A condition for getting a residence permit is that the family relationship between the child and the parent has been proven in a DNA analysis. The Swedish Migration Agency will offer DNA analysis in appropriate cases.

DNA samples

The child must provide a saliva sample during their visit to the embassy or consulate-general. Their 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

Anyone who does not have a passport also needs to apply for an alien’s passport. This can be done at the embassy or consulate-general when you submit your application, or in connection with your interview. Contact the embassy or consulate-general for more information about how to apply for an alien’s passport.

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

Sole custody decision
If the parent in Sweden has sole custody of the 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 the child is adopted

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 a child is moving to Sweden at the same time as a parent who is also applying for a residence permit, their parent can apply for a resident permit for the child in their own application.

You want to apply – Live with a partner

If a parent in Sweden has a residence permit to study here, they should apply for a residence permit for their child via the e-service for family members of students.

You want to apply – Family who want to apply afterwards – study

If a parent in Sweden has a residence permit to work here, they should apply for a residence permit for their child via the e-service for family members of employees.

You want to apply – Family of an employee or self-employed person who apply afterwards

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

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

75% of recently decided cases have been decided within:21 months

Other rules apply if the child or the child’s parent is a citizen of the EU/EEA or the Nordic countries.

If the child’s parent is an EU/EEA citizen with right of residence

If the child has a parent who is an EU/EEA citizen and who meets the requirements for right of residence in Sweden, the child automatically has right of residence and does not need to apply for a residence permit.

You want to apply – Family of EU/EEA citizens

If the child is an EU/EEA citizen without right of residence

If the child is an EU/EEA citizen but does not have a parent who has right of residence, the child does not normally have right of residence, either. In that case, you can apply for an extension of the child’s residence permit. The requirements for being granted a residence permit are listed further up on this page, and information on how to apply can be found under the Apply tab.

If the child is an EU/EEA citizen, you can apply for a residence permit while the child is in Sweden.

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.