You want to apply Mobility studies in an EU country with a stay in Sweden

You have a residence permit for studies in an EU programme or a multilateral programme in another EU country and it is mandatory for you to complete parts of your studies in Sweden.

  • Important to know
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You must notify the Swedish Migration Agency of planned mobility studies no later than 31 days before you enter Sweden, but you do not need to apply for a residence permit. You should not enter Sweden until the Swedish Migration Agency has made a decision about your notification.

In order for us to approve your stay in Sweden, the following requirements must be met:

You must have a valid passport

You must have a residence permit to study in an EU country
You must have a residence permit for higher education studies in another EU country, and part of your education requires a stay in Sweden.

Your studies in Sweden must be higher education-level mobility studies
“Mobility studies” are studies as part of an EU programme or multilateral programme with mobility measures, or an agreement between two or more higher education institutions with a permanent mobility arrangement. Exchange studies usually do not have this structure.

You must be admitted to full-time studies
You must be finally admitted to full-time studies. Studies with distance learning as a form of study are not accepted.

You must have, or have applied for, a comprehensive health insurance policy
You need health insurance during your stay in Sweden. If you do not have insurance through your higher education institution, you must have or have applied for your own insurance. The insurance must be valid for the entire time you will be in Sweden and cover costs for emergency and other medical care, hospitalisation, and emergency dental care. It must also cover expenses for home transportation for medical reasons.

You must be able to support yourself financially

Your means of “financial maintenance” must be sufficient for the entire period of time that you plan to study in Sweden.

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 notification

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 you have a residence permit for higher education in another EU country

Certificate of studies from the higher education institution in Sweden
It is important that the certificate contains information about the period during which you will be studying in Sweden, with start and end dates.

Documents showing that you have or have applied for comprehensive health insurance
If you have insurance through a university, you must send in a certificate stating this. If it is clear from your admission decision that you will be covered by health insurance from the university or university college, you can instead submit your admission letter as proof of health insurance.

Documents showing that you meet the maintenance requirement
You must attach different certificates depending on how you will be supporting yourself financially.

You must attach a bank statement, which must be issued no more than four months before the date on which you want to start your stay.

The following information must be included on your bank statement:

  • account holder(s)
  • bank name
  • date of issue
  • balance
  • currency.

If permission from a central bank or the equivalent is required to take out the money from your country, you must include such a permit.

You must attach a copy of the scholarship stating

  • who is the scholarship provider
  • that you are the recipient of the scholarship
  • the period for which the scholarship applies and that it is for your studies in Sweden
  • how much money you will receive
  • when the money will be paid out. If you will receive the money on an ongoing basis, information must be provided about when the payments will be made and how large the instalments will be, as well as the total amount
  • how much of the scholarship is intended to cover your living expenses.

If the copy of the scholarship does not contain all of this information, you must supplement it with, for example, a certificate from the scholarship provider.

You must attach a sponsorship letter stating

  • who is the sponsor or guarantor
  • that you are the recipient of the money
  • how much money you will receive
  • when the money will be paid out. If you will receive the money on an ongoing basis, information must be provided about when the payments will be made and how large the instalments will be, as well as the total amount
  • the period during which you are sponsored
  • how much of the money will be used for your living expenses
  • whether the sponsorship requires some form of performance on your behalf (for example, employment or that you earn a certain number of credits).

You must attach a certificate of employment with information about

  • your employer's name, contact details and company registration number
  • your salary/wages
  • duration and scope of your employment, in hours per week
  • when the job started
  • last day of employment.

If you quit the job, this must be stated in the certificate.

You must attach a certificate stating

  • who is providing the student grant or loan
  • that you are the recipient
  • the period for which the grant/loan applies
  • when it will be paid out
  • the monthly amount or total amount for the period of study
  • how much of the student grant/loan is intended for your living expenses.

The so-called “maintenance requirement” means that you must show that you have funds (money) available through your own bank assets, scholarship, student grants or loans from your country of origin, a sponsor, or income from employment. You can combine different forms of financial maintenance in your notification.

The maintenance requirement is

  • at least SEK 10,656 per month, if you applied in 2026
  • at least SEK 10,584 per month, if you applied in 2025.

If you can show that you receive free housing and/or food through the higher education institution or an organisation that works for international exchange, the amount per month can be reduced. The monthly amount can be reduced by

  • SEK 2,960 per month for free food and SEK 4,736 per month for free housing, if you applied in 2026
  • SEK 2,940 per month for free food and SEK 4,704 per month for free housing, if you applied in 2025.

Read more about the rules for the different forms of financial maintenance

Having “personal bank assets” means that you have money in an account that belongs to you, and from which only you can withdraw funds. If you are under the age of 18, your guardians’ accounts may also apply as a basis for your maintenance. Credit, funds or shares do not count as personal bank assets. Assets in a microfinance bank are also not approved.

Locked assets, i.e., bank funds that are deposited in an account for a certain period of time, cannot be a basis for financial maintenance if they will be frozen during the permit period for which you are applying.

A scholarship provider can be a public authority, higher education institution, organisation, foundation or company.

Higher education institutions and other education providers can be sponsors. So can well-established companies and organisations. The sponsor must host your stay in Sweden.

Private individuals are not accepted as sponsors. Money from private individuals, such as relatives, must be registered as personal bank assets. Such funds must then be transferred to a bank account that is in your name and to which you have access.

You must be able to present a certificate of employment; an offer of employment is not enough.

Student grants or loans that you have been granted to study in Sweden. If the money has already been transferred to your account, these funds will be assessed as personal bank assets.

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

You must notify the Swedish Migration Agency as soon as you can, but no later than 31 days before you enter Sweden. You must have received your residence permit card from the other EU country before you notify the Swedish Migration Agency.

No, exchange studies are not usually counted as mobility studies. If you will be enrolled as an exchange student in a higher education programme in Sweden, you must instead apply for a residence permit for studies at higher education.

You want to apply – Higher education

You stay in Sweden can last a maximum of 360 days.

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:2 months

It costs nothing to notify the Swedish Migration Agency about planned mobility studies.

Yes, if the Swedish Migration Agency has no objections to your stay in Sweden, you can work in parallel with your studies.

News

2026-09-24

New look – same agency

The Swedish Migration Agency has a new logo. On 24 September, the new logo will replace the old logo on the Agency’s website. The new logo will be rolled out gradually across all digital services and communications.

2026-09-17

New rules for family members accompanying students

From 1 October 2026, new rules for immigration due to family ties will apply. For those of you who have, or are planning to apply for, a residence permit for studies in Sweden, this means certain changes to the requirements for your family members.

2026-05-25

New rules for residence permits for studies in higher education

The Swedish Parliament has decided on new rules for those who have or are going to apply for a residence permit for studies in higher education. The rules mean, among other things, limitations on work alongside your studies, higher requirements for study results, and that you must notify the Swedish Migration Agency of your address.

2026-05-25

New rules for researchers and doctoral students

The Swedish Parliament has decided on new rules for researchers and doctoral students. The rules mean, among other things, that doctoral students with a hosting agreement can receive a residence permit for research, that it will be easier to receive a permanent residence permit, and that you can apply for another permit in Sweden in more situations.

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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.