Important to know

Citizens of countries outside the EU/EEA in most cases need a residence permit to live with someone in Sweden.

If you are a family member of someone who has already applied for or been granted a residence permit in Sweden for studies at the first- or second-cycle level, or for doctoral studies, you can submit your own application retroactively. The same applies to family members of someone who has applied for or been granted a residence permit in Sweden to look for work after completing their studies.

“Family members” are considered to include spouses, cohabiting partners, registered partners, and unmarried children under the age of 18.

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

You must have a valid passport

The person in Sweden must have or have applied for a residence permit for studies
The person in Sweden must have or have applied for a residence permit for one of the following:

  • first- or second-cycle studies
  • doctoral (third-cycle) studies
  • looking for work after completing their studies.

You can only be granted a residence permit if the person in Sweden has more than three months left on their permit period when you apply.

You must be able to prove your family relationship

You must be able to support yourself financially
You must be able to support yourself financially for the entire period of residence. The financial maintenance requirement is currently SEK 4,297,50 per month for adults and SEK 2,578,50 per month for each child.

You must plan to live together in Sweden for the duration of the permit period

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 which embassy to visit to present your passport

You may need to present your passport at an embassy before you can receive a decision. In the application, you must therefore state which embassy you want to visit.

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

You must attach copies of these documents to your application

Make sure that the information in the documents you include is clearly visible.

Correctly made copies of your passport
You can never be granted a permit for longer than your passport is valid.
Read more about what the passport copies must show

Documents showing that your financial maintenance has been arranged
For example, bank statements.

Documents showing your relationship
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.

If you are the child of the person in Sweden: documents showing your family relationship, such as a birth record, birth certificate or a court decision showing that the person in Sweden is your parent/legal guardian.

A letter from the person in Sweden
In the letter, the person in Sweden must confirm that you will live together in Sweden.

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

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

Documents proving that the child’s financial maintenance is arranged
For example, bank statements.

Sole custody decision
If you have any children who will be accompanying you to Sweden and you have sole custody of the child(ren), you must attach a court decision to this effect. If the other parent is deceased, you must submit a death certificate.

Consent of the other parent/legal guardian
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. If you share joint custody, a copy of the other parent or legal guardian’s passport or other identity document must also be attached.
Consent for a child to settle in Sweden (217011) Pdf, 1.1 MB.

Adoption documents, if your child is adopted

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

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 want to apply – Swiss citizens

If you have long-term resident status in another EU country

If you have long-term resident status in another EU country, you can move to Sweden to work, 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 who has a residence permit for other studies (e.g., upper secondary school studies), you cannot apply for a residence permit. If you want to visit the person in Sweden, you can instead apply for a visitor’s permit.

You want to apply – Visiting Sweden for more than 90 days (visitor’s permit)

You can be granted a residence permit for the same period as the student, 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.

75% of applications receive a decision within:4 months

Adults: SEK 1,500
Children under 18 years of age: SEK 750

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

You must apply for a residence permit while you are outside Sweden, otherwise your application may be rejected. Your residence permit must be granted and issued before you can enter Sweden.

Check the guide to see which rules apply to you when you are the family of someone who has applied for or has received a residence permit for higher education in the form of first- or second-cycle studies.

 

Check the guide to see which rules apply to you when you are the family of someone who has applied for or has received a residence permit for doctoral studies.

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.

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.