Important to know

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

If you are invited by an approved research principal to conduct research in Sweden for a lengthy period, you must apply for a residence permit for research. You must also do so if you have a residence permit for research in another EU member state and are going to conduct part of your research in Sweden.

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

You must have a valid passport

You must have a hosting agreement with a research principal
The research principal (the organisation that receives the research work) must be approved by the Swedish Research Council External link..

You must devote at least 50 percent of your working hours to research

You must have enough money for your stay
These funds must be sufficient both for your stay in Sweden and to pay for your return journey (at least SEK 9,700 per month).

You must have, or have applied for, a comprehensive health insurance policy
If you will be staying in Sweden for less than one year, you will need comprehensive health insurance. 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 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.

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

Hosting agreement
This document must be sent to you by your research principal. It must be signed by both you and the research principal.

Hosting agreement for researchers in Sweden (231011) Pdf, 736 kB.

Documents showing that you have or have applied for comprehensive health insurance
If you will be in Sweden for less than a year.

A copy of your residence permit card from another EU country
If you have been granted a residence permit to conduct research in another EU country.

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

Documents to attach if your family is applying with you

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.

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

You can be granted a residence permit as a researcher if you have a doctorate or are eligible to start a doctoral programme and are invited here by a research principal that has been approved by the Swedish Research Council. External link. A research principal can be a Swedish higher education institution, some other type of research institution, or a business.

As a researcher, you can also be granted a residence permit if you have a residence permit for research in another EU country and are going to conduct part of your research in Sweden over a lengthy period of time.

You must devote at least 50 percent of your working hours to research

In order for you to be granted a residence permit as a researcher, more than half of your working hours must be devoted to research. Teaching or administrative work in the research group is not counted as research.

People who are going to conduct research for less than three months
If you are going to conduct research in Sweden for less than three months, you do not need a residence permit. However, citizens of certain countries need an entry visa in order to travel to Sweden.

Countries whose citizens need an entry visa to travel to Sweden External link.

People who have a permit in another EU country and are going to conduct research in Sweden for a short period of time
If you have a residence permit to conduct research in another EU country, you do not need a residence permit if you will only conduct part of your research in Sweden, for a maximum of 180 days in a 360-day period.

If you have been admitted to a doctoral programme in Sweden

If you have been admitted to a doctoral (third-cycle) programme in Sweden, you must instead apply for a residence permit as a student.

You want to apply – Doctoral studies

If you have been admitted to a doctoral programme/third-cycle programme in another country and are going to complete part of your education in Sweden
If you are admitted to a doctoral/third-cycle programme in another country and will complete part of your education in Sweden, you must apply for a visitor’s residence permit instead.

You want to apply – Visiting Sweden for more than 90 days

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 any of your family members also want to apply for a residence permit, they can do so at the same time as you. “Family members” are considered to include spouses, registered partners, cohabiting partners, and children under the age of 18.

If anyone in your family decides later that they want to move to Sweden to join you, they must submit their own application afterwards.

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 can be granted a permit for a maximum of four years at a time, but not for longer than the hosting agreement is valid. You can never be granted a permit for longer than your passport is valid.

Your residence permit can be extended.

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

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

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.

Complete applications

75% of applications receive a decision within:1 months

Incomplete applications

75% of applications receive a decision within:3 months

For most residence permits, you must be outside Sweden when you receive a decision about a first-time application. In some cases, you can apply for a residence permit while you are in Sweden with another valid Swedish residence permit.

If any of the following describe your situation, you can apply for a residence permit while you are in Sweden:

  • You have a permit for higher education studies.
  • You have a residence permit for research in another EU member state and intend to conduct part of your research in Sweden.
  • You have a permit for work or to run your own business.

If you are applying from within Sweden, you must submit your application before your permit expires, and the conditions for the previous permit must have been met.

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.