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

You are a family member of someone with long-term resident status in another EU country, and want to live with them in Sweden. If you are a citizen of a non-EU/EEA country, you must apply for a residence permit.

  • Important to know
  • How it works
  • Apply

The information on this page is aimed at family members of people who have received, or applied for, a residence permit in Sweden as a long-term resident in another EU country. It also applies if you yourself have long-term resident status or a residence permit in another EU country and are applying as a family member of someone in Sweden.

Who is considered a family member?

You are considered family if you are one of the following:

  • a partner (spouse, cohabiting partner, or registered partner) of the person in Sweden
  • a child of the person in Sweden or their partner, unmarried, and under the age of 21
  • a child of the person in Sweden, over 21 years of age, and dependent on your parents for your financial maintenance
  • a parent of the person in Sweden or their partner and financially dependent on them.

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

You must have a valid passport

Your family member in Sweden must have long-term resident status in another EU country
Your family member in Sweden must have long-term resident status in another EU country and have applied for or received a residence permit in Sweden.

Your family member in Sweden must meet the conditions for a residence permit

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.

Plan to present your passport and be interviewed
Before you can receive a decision, you may need to present your passport and be interviewed. You must do this at a Swedish embassy or consulate-general. The Swedish Migration Agency will contact you with information about how and when to do this.

In most cases, you do not need to be interviewed. However, you must present your passport in original form. Depending on your location, you may need to visit a Swedish embassy or the Swedish Migration Agency to do so.

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
Read more about what the passport copies must show

Correctly made copies of your family member’s passport and EC/EU residence permit card

Documents showing your relationship with the family member in Sweden

If you are married: marriage certificate, marriage record, or similar document.

If you are cohabiting partners: documents showing that you have lived together, such as population registration certificates, a joint rental contract, or proof of the joint purchase of a home.

Documents showing that you are related
Birth certificates or other documents showing that you are related. Applies to all children (over and under the age of 21), as well as to parents of adult children.

Documents showing that people over 21 years old are dependent on their parent or child in Sweden for their financial support (maintenance)

Document showing that the family member in Sweden meets the conditions for their residence permit
If it is more than six months since your family member in Sweden received their residence permit, you must attach documents showing that your family member meets the conditions. The documents you must submit depend on their occupation.

If your family member has an ongoing application for a residence permit, you do not need to attach documents showing how your family member meets the conditions as, for example an employee or self-employed person. In such case, these conditions will be examined as part of our processing of their own application.

If they work in Sweden, you must attach

  • certificate of employment from their employer
  • the three most recent payslips
  • comprehensive income information from the Swedish Tax Agency.

If they run their own company in Sweden, you must attach

  • a certificate from the population register showing that they are registered for F-tax, see www.skatteverket.se External link.
  • certificate of registration from the Swedish Companies Registration Office External link.
  • the most recent VAT report (if their company is required to report VAT)
  • the company’s tax account statements for the past three months
  • proof that they run a business, such as invoices issued to customers, receipts for purchased materials, and a rental contract for the business’s premises.

If they have purchased a business in Sweden, you must attach

  • the transfer agreement
  • the most recent annual accounts or annual report.

If they are studying in Sweden, you must attach

  • their certificate of admission to a course or programme at least at upper secondary level. Please note that you cannot be granted a residence permit for enrolment in Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) courses. If the family member has started their studies, you must submit a certificate of registration or equivalent proof that they have started their studies
  • a certificate showing that they are covered by the social security system of their country of origin. The certificate must be issued by the national authorities in their country of origin and must state that they are covered by the social security system of another EU country. If the family member cannot obtain such a certificate, they must take out comprehensive private health insurance that is valid during the period they are in Sweden
  • an assurance that they have sufficient funds to support themselves during their period of study.

If they are retired or have sufficient funds to support themselves in Sweden, you must attach

  • documents showing how they support themselves, such as pension statements or bank statements
  • documents showing their housing costs.

If they provide or are the recipient of a service, you must attach

  • a certificate, contract or similar documentation stating the type of service and how long they will offer or receive it. The document must be written and signed by the person receiving or providing the service.

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.

Read more about power of attorney

You can be granted a permit in Sweden for the same period that your family member in Sweden has a residence permit.

Your residence permit can be extended.

Once you have had a residence permit for five years, you can apply for long-term resident status in Sweden.

As a family member of a long-term resident, you can start working or studying as soon as you arrive in Sweden. You do not need to wait until your family member receives a decision regarding their residence permit application.

However, there is an exception to this rule: If you are the parent of the person in Sweden and are financially dependent on them, you cannot start working until you have received a residence permit yourself.

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

Adults: SEK 1,500
Children: SEK 750

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

News

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.

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.