You want to apply EU Blue Cards

You want to apply for an EU Blue Card because you have been offered highly qualified employment in Sweden. If your family will be accompanying you, they can apply at the same time.

  • Important to know
  • How it works
  • Apply

If you are a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA, you will in most cases need a permit to work in Sweden.

An EU Blue Card issued in Sweden gives you the right to live and work in Sweden. The card entitles you to work in Sweden for the employer and within the profession specified in your application.

If you already have an EU Blue Card, but your employment ceases, you change jobs, or if something that affects the conditions for the permit changes, you need to report this to the Swedish Migration Agency. Read more about how to report on the page You have a permit in Sweden – If you change employer or profession or stop working.

These requirements must be met in order for you to be granted an EU Blue Card:

You must have a valid passport

You must have higher education or at least five years of experience
Your higher education must correspond to at least 180 higher education credits. Alternatively, you can have at least five years of relevant professional experience.

You must have an employment contract for a highly qualified employment
You must have a highly qualified employment for a period of at least six months. The employment contract must be signed by both you and your employer.

Your salary/wages must be high enough
You must have a salary/wages that amount to at least 1,25 times the average Swedish salary/wages.

You must have, or have applied for, a comprehensive health insurance policy
The insurance must be valid for the entire time you will be in Sweden and cover the cost of urgent and other medical care, hospitalisation, and emergency dental care. It must also cover the cost of medical repatriation, if you need to return to your country of origin for health reasons. If you are going to be in Sweden for a period shorter than a total of one year, health insurance must be taken out for an additional three months in addition to the period of employment.

If you are granted a permit for at least one year, you should register in Sweden’s population register. This will give you access to health and medical care and dental care.

Every year, the Swedish Migration Agency determines the salary threshold that you need to exceed in order to be able to get an EU Blue Card. The salary threshold corresponds to 1.25 times the average gross salary in Sweden published by the National Mediation Office.

Since 1 January 2025, the salary threshold is SEK 49 875 per month.

Make sure that your employer has the correct information about you

Your employer needs information about your name, date of birth, citizenship and email address. They will use this information when they start your application for an EU Blue Card.

It is important that you have access to the email address that you give to your employer until you have received a decision about your application. The Swedish Migration Agency will use this email address when we contact you.

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 on your submitted documents 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

Employment contract

The employment contract must be signed by both you and your employer.

Degree certificate or employer’s certificates
Degree certificate from the university or other higher education institution from which you graduated, or employer’s certificates from your previous employers.

Copy of your current EU Blue Card
If you have been granted such a card in another EU country.

Documents showing that you have or have applied for comprehensive health insurance

Power of attorney – if someone else will be applying for you
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

Correctly made copies of each family member’s passport

Your family member can never be granted a residence permit for longer than their passport is valid.
Read more about what the passport copies must show

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.

Documents showing that you meet the maintenance requirement

Power of attorney – if you are applying for your partner

You can act as your partner's representative and apply on their behalf. To do this, you must have a power of attorney and attach it to the application.

Power of attorney (107011) Pdf, 1.1 MB.
Read more about power of attorney

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

Sole custody decision
If you have sole custody of your 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 parent or legal guardian’s passport or other identity document.

Consent for a child to settle in Sweden (217011) Pdf, 1.1 MB.

Adoption documents, if your child is adopted

Documentation showing that a child over age 21 is dependent on you or their other parent for their financial maintenance

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 have a valid EU Blue Card that you received in another EU country, you can apply for a Swedish EU Blue Card, as long as you have stayed in the other EU country with an EU Blue Card for at least 12 months. In that case, you must apply for an EU Blue Card in Sweden within one month of your entry into Sweden.

You are not allowed to work in Sweden before you have applied for your Swedish EU Blue Card. The same applies to your family, if they accompany you to Sweden.

You cannot be granted an EU Blue Card if you:

  • are an EEA or Swiss citizen citizen
  • have applied for a residence permit as a refugee or a person eligible for subsidiary protection and the application has not yet been finally decided
  • are subject to a residence permit with temporary protection under the mass influx directive or a residence permit after temporary protection under the mass influx directive
  • have been granted a residence permit that the police have applied for due to special personal safety work
  • have been granted a residence permit on the grounds of impediments to enforcement
  • have been granted a residence permit as a tribunal witness
  • have a pending application for a residence permit for research in Sweden
  • have long-term resident status in another EU state and are exercising the right to reside in Sweden as an employee or self-employed person
  • enter Sweden in accordance with commitments under an international agreement facilitating entry and temporary stay for certain categories of trade and investment-related persons
  • have a final expulsion or rejection decision that cannot be enforced
  • are posted in Sweden according to the law on posting.

The main rule is that you must apply for and have been granted a residence permit before entering Sweden.

You are exempted from this rule if you:

  • apply for an extension of the permit period for an EU Blue Card
  • have a temporary residence permit for studies and have completed studies corresponding to 180 credits
  • have carried out a research project in Sweden under a hosting agreement
  • have an ICT permit or ICT long-stay mobility permit issued in Sweden
  • have a residence permit for seasonal work issued in Sweden
  • have right of residence due to close family ties to an EEA citizen
  • have a residence permit due to close family ties to a citizen of Switzerland
  • have a limited time permit to apply for work or investigate the conditions for starting a business
  • have a permit to work as an employee or self-employed person in Sweden and the conditions for the permit have been met.

If you have a work permit due to employment here in Sweden and apply for an EU Blue Card you can apply without leaving Sweden, if the conditions for the work permit have been met.

To be granted an EU Blue Card, you need to meet the requirements for an EU Blue Card.

If your family wants to accompany you to Sweden, you can apply together. Your family can be granted a residence permit for the same period as you are granted an EU Blue Card.

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

If your family decides later that they want to move to Sweden to live with you here, each family must apply for and be granted a residence permit before they travel to Sweden.

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

If your family is granted residence permits, your adult family members and children who will turn at least 16 during the current year are permitted to work.

You must be able to financially support your family

If your family applies together with you, you are subject to a maintenance requirement. This means that you must have an income that allows you to financially support yourself and your family.

To meet the maintenance requirement, you must have an income that can cover housing costs and living expenses for yourself and your family members.

In the first instance, the Swedish Migration Agency looks at your income from salary/wages, but if this is insufficient, it is also possible to count income from business activities or personal wealth.

The following types of income count

  • taxed income from the employment for which you are applying or have been granted a permit
  • parental benefits or sickness benefits, provided that you have ongoing employment and your parental leave or sick leave is not assessed to be longer than 18 months
  • income from business activities
  • assets.
Amount of income

Your income after tax must be high enough so that after paying your monthly rent, you still have a certain amount of money left over that can cover the costs of food, clothing, hygiene, telephone, and insuring everyone in your household, among other things.

For 2025, the amount you must have left after paying your rent is:

  • SEK 6,186 for a single adult
  • SEK 10,219 for cohabiting spouses or cohabiting partners
  • SEK 3,306 for children 0–6 years of age
  • SEK 3,967 for children 7–10 years of age
  • SEK 4,629 for children 11–14 years of age
  • SEK 5,290 for children 15 years of age or older.

If you have a child with whom you do not live and you pay maintenance to the child’s other parent, your salary/wages must also be sufficient to cover their maintenance allowance.

Housing costs

The housing costs that your wages must be sufficient to cover each month depend on the type of home in which you live:

  • If you live in a rented flat, you must include both the rent and the cost of heating in this calculation, if the latter is not included in the rent.
  • If you live in a tenant-owner flat, you must include any fees paid to the tenant-owner association and the interest on any home loans in your calculation. You must also include necessary operating costs (such as water and heating), if these are not included in the monthly fee.
  • If you live in a freestanding house, you must include the interest rate for any home loans and necessary operating costs (such as water and heating) in your calculation.

Amortisation of home loans is not included in the cost of housing. You also do not have to include the cost of electricity in your calculation, as this cost is included in the so-called “standard amount”.

You should count your entire actual housing cost. If you and your family are moving to Sweden together, you may not yet have arranged your housing when you apply for a residence permit. The Swedish Migration Agency then assumes a so-called standard cost for housing a family of your size in the town or city where your workplace in Sweden is located.

What income does not count?

You may not count income from

  • a family member
  • unemployment insurance (unemployment benefits) or an activity allowance
  • various forms of grants or scholarships
  • subsidised employment (for example, when the Swedish Social Insurance Agency or the Swedish Public Employment Service pays all or part of the salary/wages)
  • undeclared work or employment without the legal right to work.

The first time you are granted an EU Blue Card, it is valid for at least nine months and a maximum of two years. It gives you the right to work in Sweden for the employer, in the occupation and for the time stated in the decision.

If you want to work longer than the period for which you have been granted a permit, you must apply to extend the permit before your current permit expires.

If your family is accompanying you to Sweden, they can be granted a permit for the same period as you, but never longer than the period of validity of their passports.

Employees/self-employed people: SEK 2,000.
Adult family members: SEK 1,500
Children: SEK 750

Citizens of Japan do not pay an application fee.

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

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.

Complete applications

75% of recently decided cases have been decided within:1 months

Incomplete applications

75% of recently decided cases have been decided within:1 months

News

2025-05-20

What counts as a salary?

One of the requirements for being granted a work permit is that the salary must enable you to make a good living. A new ruling from the Migration Court of Appeal clarifies what counts as a salary.

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.

2025-04-01

From 1 April, the possibility of changing tracks will end

On 1 April, the Swedish Parliament’s decision to remove the possibility of changing tracks will come into force. This affects those who have been granted, or applied for, a work permit after an asylum application has been rejected. Your co-applicant family members will also be affected.

2025-01-07

New EU Blue Card rules now apply

As of 1 January, new requirements and rules apply for anyone who wants to apply for an EU Blue Card and existing Blue Card holders.

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.