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

You are a family member of a person who has applied for or have been granted a work permit, an EU Blue Card, an ICT permit, a permit for research, or a permit as a self-employed person. You now want to apply for a residence permit to live with this person in Sweden.

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 already has been granted a work permit, an EU Blue Card, an ICT permit, a permit for research, or a permit as a self-employed person, you can submit your own application afterwards.

“Family members” of an employee are considered to include spouses, cohabiting partners, registered partners, and unmarried children under the age of 21.

In certain cases, unmarried children who are 21 years of age or older can be granted a permit. In such cases, it must be determined that they depend on you or your partner for their financial maintenance.

The category “family member of a self-employed person, researcher, ICT permit holder and EU Blue Card holder” includes 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 family member in Sweden must have or have applied for a permit as an employee or self-employed person

  • The family member in Sweden must be able to support you financially
    When you apply for a residence permit to live with a family member who has been granted a permit as an employee or self-employed person, they are subject to a maintenance requirement. This means that they must have an income that allows them to financially support themselves and their family.

    To meet the maintenance requirement, your family member in Sweden must have an income that can cover housing costs and living expenses for themselves and their family members.

     

    In the first instance, the Swedish Migration Agency looks at this person’s 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 they have been granted a permit
    • parental benefits or sickness benefits, provided that they have ongoing employment and their parental leave or sick leave is not assessed to be longer than 18 months
    • income from business activities assets.

    Amount of income

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

    For 2025, the amount they must have left after paying their 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 your family member in Sweden has a child with which they do not live, and they pay child maintenance to the child’s other parent, their salary/wages must also be sufficient to cover their child maintenance.

    Housing costs

    The housing costs that the salary/wages must be sufficient to cover each month depend on the type of home in which your family member lives:

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

    Amortisation of home loans is not included in housing costs. They also do not need to include the cost of electricity in their calculation, as this cost is included in the so-called “standard amount”.
    The person in Sweden must calculate their total, actual housing costs.

    What income does not count?

    They 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.

    Your family member in Sweden must show that they have enough money of their own to support themselves and their family, corresponding to SEK 200,000 for themselves, SEK 100,000 for you as an accompanying spouse, and SEK 50,000 for each accompanying child. This money must be sufficient for the entire permit period, which is normally two years.

    A person with a residence permit as a researcher or who possesses an EU Blue Card does not need to meet any maintenance requirement when their family applies for a residence permit.

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

  • 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.

  • Completed questionnaire about financial maintenance and housing
    The form Questionnaire on maintenance and housing – completed by the person in Sweden and with the attachments required to show that the person can support themselves and their family.

    Examples of documents that can be attached include rental agreements, purchase contracts, and notices, as well as income information for the person in Sweden, such as employment contracts and payslips.

    Questionnaire on maintenance and housing (102511) Pdf, 1.2 MB.

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 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

  • 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
    If you are a family member of an employee with a work permit, children up to the age of 21 can apply for a permit as a family member. In some cases, children over the age of 21 can also be granted a permit, but then they must be dependent on their parents for their financial maintenance. In these cases, you need to attach documentation showing that the child or children is/are 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

You can be granted a residence permit for the same period as your family member in Sweden, but never longer than your passport is valid.
The residence permit can be extended.

Adult family members: SEK 1,500
Children: SEK 750

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:2 months

Incomplete applications

75% of recently decided cases have been decided within:12 months

If you are applying for a residence permit for the first time, you must do so from outside Sweden, otherwise your application may be rejected. Your residence permit must be granted and issued before you enter Sweden.

If the application is for a child who was born in Sweden, it may in some cases be possible to get a residence permit even if the child is already in Sweden.

Yes, as a close relative of a person with a permit as an employee or self-employed person in Sweden, you will be granted a permit to work while you have a residence permit. This applies to adults and children who will reach the age of 16 (at minimum) during the current year.

Are you an employer?

You can find information specifically for employers on our Employers pages.

News

2025-07-23

Extended passports become invalid on 1 October

As of 1 October 2025, Swedish authorities will no longer accept passports that have had their period of validity extended by inserting a stamp or sticker into the passport. If you have such a national passport, you should apply for a new one.

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.

 

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