Important to know

If you have lived in Sweden for five years with a residence permit, or have been legally resident in Sweden on other grounds, you can apply for long-term resident status in Sweden.

Long-term resident is a legal status that means that you receive certain rights, similar to those of EU citizens. You also get more opportunities to move to another EU country, for example to work, study, start your own business, or live on your pension.

If you are granted long-term resident status in Sweden, you will simultaneously be granted a residence permit which is valid for five years. You will not be able to be granted a permanent residence permit later, neither as a long-term resident nor on any other grounds.

If you have a permanent residence permit when you are granted long-term resident status in Sweden, you will retain your permanent residence permit.

As a long-time resident in Sweden, you do not need a work permit.

When you apply for long-term resident status in Sweden, the Swedish Migration Agency only examines this aspect of your application. We do not examine whether you can be granted a residence permit for example on the basis of close family ties, studies, work or as a long-term resident in another EU country.

If you are uncertain whether you meet the requirements, you can choose to apply for both long-term resident status in Sweden and an extension of your current residence permit. Keep in mind that you will need to pay the application fee for both applications.

These requirements must be met in order for you to be granted long-term resident status in Sweden:

You must have a valid passport
In most cases, you will need to present a valid passport or other valid travel document to be granted long-term resident status in Sweden. Find out more about passports and who does not need a passport to stay in Sweden on the page Valid passport.

You must have been resident in Sweden for five years
When you apply, you must have resided in Sweden with a residence permit, or been legally resident in Sweden on another basis, for the last five years without interruption.

You must be able to support yourself and your family
You must work, run your own business, or have sufficient funds to support yourself and your family in the long term, both now and in the future. If you are married or have a cohabiting partner, your partner's income can also be included in the calculation of your family's income.

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.

You must attach copies of these documents to your application

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

Valid passport or other travel document

You must attach a copy of the pages in your passport showing your personal details, period of validity, issuing country, your signature and whether you have permission to live in countries other than your home country.

Documents showing that you can support yourself
Whether you work, run your own business, or have sufficient financial resources, you must attach documents that show how you support yourself. For example, this can be a certificate of employment and your most recent payslips, pension payments, bank statements, income information from the Swedish Tax Agency, or information about income from your own company. If you want your partner's income to be counted as part of the family's total income, you need to attach documents that prove your partner's income.

Documents that show your housing costs
Such as a rental agreement, purchase contract, and current information about the monthly costs of your housing, such as a rent notice or fee paid to a tenant-owner association and interest on a home loan.

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, 535.3 kB.

Read more about power of attorney

Your family members do not automatically get long-term resident status when you get it. They must meet the requirements themselves. This applies to every family member. If you have children who have resided in Sweden for less than five years with a residence permit or on other legal grounds, they cannot be granted long-term resident status in Sweden.

If your family members want to apply for long-term resident status in Sweden, they must each submit their own application form.

Family members who do not meet the requirements

If you have family members who do not meet the requirements and who want to live with you in Sweden, each of them must apply for a residence permit on the grounds that they are your close relative, and they must do this before their current permit expires. This applies regardless of which type of permit they have had in the past.

If you are granted long-term resident status, then in order for your family members to be granted residence permits on the grounds that they are your close relatives, you must fulfil a maintenance requirement. This means that you must be able to show that you can support yourself and your family and have a home that is big enough for all of you to live in.

Your family can read more and apply on the page You want to apply – Live with someone.

You can include the time you have spent living in Sweden with a residence permit or during which you were legally resident in Sweden on other grounds.

If you have a residence permit

All the time you have spent in Sweden with a residence permit can be included, except for residence permits for temporary stays (such as visits or time spent here while studying at a lower level than the doctoral (third-cycle) level.

You count the time from the day you received your residence permit. If you are a refugee, a person in need of subsidiary protection or the equivalent according to previous regulations, you can instead count the time from the date on which you applied for international protection.

You must have a valid residence permit when you submit your application for long-term resident status in Sweden. If you have previously been granted a residence permit as a long-term resident in another EU country and have applied for an extended residence permit in time, you can submit your application for long-term resident status in Sweden while the Swedish Migration Agency is processing your application for an extended residence permit. This also applies to family members who have been granted a residence permit to live with you in Sweden.

If you have been legally resident in Sweden on any other basis

Being a legal resident on another basis means that you have stayed in Sweden with right of residence or permanent right of residence. You count the time from the date on which you were granted right of residence.

In order to be able to obtain long-term resident status, you must have resided in Sweden without interruption for the last five years.

What counts as an interruption?

Being outside Sweden for periods longer than six consecutive months, or ten months in total during the five-year period, are counted as an interruption. Business trips and travel within Europe are also included.

A gap between periods in which you had a permit may also count as an interruption.

You can apply for long-term resident status in Sweden while you still have a valid permit.

If your current residence permit soon expires, it is a good idea to apply to extend the permit even if you have applied for a long-term resident status in Sweden. Otherwise, you risk having to leave Sweden if your application for long-term resident status in Sweden is rejected and you do not have a valid residence permit or an open application for a continued residence permit in Sweden.

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:9 months

Adults: SEK 1,000
Children: SEK 500

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

The following people pay no fee to apply:

  • family members of Nordic citizens
  • EU/EEA citizens and their family members
  • Swiss citizens and their family members
  • Japanese citizens
  • persons who have been assessed as being in need of protection.

Family members of Swedish citizens must pay an application fee.

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.