Important to know

If you want to continue living in Sweden after your residence permit expires, you must apply for an extension of your permit. Apply no sooner than two months before your current permit will expire.

Who is considered a family member?

From 1 October 2026, new rules apply to who is considered a family member. During a one-year transitional period (1 October 2026–1 October 2027), the new rules do not apply if you were granted your permit under the previous rules and are applying to extend your permit. Select the option below that applies to you.

You are considered family if you are one of the following:

  • a partner (spouse, cohabiting partner, or registered partner) of the person in Sweden
  • a child of the person in Sweden or their partner, unmarried, and under the age of 21
  • a child of the person in Sweden, over 21 years of age, and dependent on your parents for your financial maintenance
  • a parent of the person in Sweden or their partner and financially dependent on them.

You are considered family if you are one of the following:

  • a partner (spouse, cohabiting partner, or registered partner) of the person in Sweden
  • a child of the person in Sweden or their partner, unmarried, and under the age of 18.

Since 1 October 2026, new rules applies to residence permits for family members of someone who has long-term resident status in another EU country. During a one-year transitional period (1 October 2026–1 October 2027), the new rules do not apply if you were granted your permit under the previous rules and are applying to extend your permit. Select the option below that applies to you.

You must have a valid passport

Your family member must maintain their long-term resident status in another EU country

Your family member must continue to meet the conditions for their residence permit

You must have a valid passport

Your family member must maintain their long-term resident status in another EU country

Your family member must continue to meet the conditions for their residence permit

Your family must have been formed in the first EU country
This means that you must have or have had a residence permit in the first EU country and have lived there with your family member.

Your family member in Sweden must be able to support themselves and your family
Your family member must be able to fully support themselves and their family from their own funds, so that their basic needs for subsistence and housing are met. Your family member can also count your income towards the family’s total income.

Your family member in Sweden must

  • be able to fully support themselves and their family with their own funds, so that their basic needs for living expenses and housing are met. Your family member may also include your income as part of the family’s total income.

Your family member’s financial maintenance

Your family member needs to show that they have regular income sufficient for your financial maintenance. Income includes, for example

  • salary/wages from work
  • income from their own business (if they are self-employed)
  • sickness benefit.

Your family member may also meet the maintenance requirement if they have sufficient assets for you to live on.

The following are not counted as income:

  • income from subsidised employment
  • unemployment insurance benefits
  • activity grants
  • other benefits related to unemployment

Your family member’s income

The amount of income your family member needs depends on how large your family is and how high your housing costs are.

Your family member’s income after tax must be high enough so that after the monthly rent is paid, they still have a certain amount of money left over that can cover the costs of food, clothing, personal hygiene, telephony, and insurance for everyone in the household.

In 2026, the amount your family member must have left over after tax and the rent is paid is:

  • SEK 8,116 for a single adult
  • SEK 13,408 for cohabiting spouses or cohabiting partners
  • SEK 4,337 for children 0–6 years of age
  • SEK 5,205 for children 7–10 years of age
  • SEK 6,074 for children 11–14 years of age
  • SEK 6,941 for children 15 years of age or older.

The amounts applicable to children are reduced by any child allowance and large family supplement.

Exemptions from the maintenance requirement

The maintenance requirement does not apply in the following case:

  • There are special grounds for an exemption, for example because illness or a disability has permanently reduced your family member’s ability to work.

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
Read more about what the passport copies must show

Document showing that the family member in Sweden meets the conditions for their residence permit
If it is more than six months since your family member in Sweden received their residence permit, you must attach documents showing that your family member meets the conditions. The documents you must submit depend on their occupation.

If your family member has an ongoing application for a residence permit, you do not need to attach documents showing how your family member meets the conditions as, for example, an employee or self-employed person. In such case, these conditions will be examined as part of our processing of their own application.

If they work in Sweden, you must attach

  • certificate of employment from their employer
  • the three most recent payslips
  • comprehensive income information from the Swedish Tax Agency.

If they run their own company in Sweden, you must attach

  • a certificate from the population register showing that they are registered for F-tax, see www.skatteverket.se External link.
  • a certificate of registration from the Swedish Companies Registration Office External link.
  • the most recent VAT report (if their company is required to report VAT)
  • the company’s tax account statements for the past three months
  • proof that they run a business, such as invoices to customers, receipts for purchased materials, and a rental contract for the business’s premises.

If they have purchased a business in Sweden, you must attach

  • the transfer agreement
  • the most recent annual accounts or annual report.

If they are studying in Sweden, you must attach

  • their certificate of admission to a course or programme at least at upper secondary level. Please note that you cannot be granted a residence permit for enrolment in Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) courses. If the family member has started their studies, you must submit a certificate of registration or equivalent proof that they have started their studies
  • an assurance that they have sufficient funds to support themselves during their period of study.

If your family member will be studying for less than one year, you must also submit

  • a certificate showing that your family member is covered by the social security system in their previous country of residence. The certificate must be issued by the authorities in that country and must show that they are covered by the social security system of another EU country. If your family member is unable to obtain such a certificate, they must take out comprehensive private health insurance that is valid for the period during which they are in Sweden.

If they are retired or have sufficient funds to support themselves in Sweden, you must attach

  • documents showing how they support themselves, such as pension statements or bank statements
  • documents showing their housing costs.

If they provide or are the recipient of a service, you must attach a certificate, contract or similar documentation stating the type of service and how long they will offer or receive it. The document must be written and signed by the person receiving or providing the service.

Documents showing that your family member can support themselves and your family

This applies if you were granted your current permit after 1 October 2026.

These could, for example, include a certificate of employment and their latest payslips, bank statements, income information from the Swedish Tax Agency or information about income from their own business. Your family member can also count your income towards the family’s total income if you work or have savings. In that case, you need to attach documents supporting this.

These could, for example, include a tenancy agreement, contract of sale and up-to-date information about your family member’s monthly housing costs, such as a rent invoice or a fee paid to a tenant-owner association and interest on a housing loan.

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, 535.3 kB.

Read more about power of attorney

Once you have had a residence permit in Sweden for five years, you can apply for long-term resident status in Sweden. You can do this even if you apply to extend your current residence permit. The Swedish Migration Agency will then examine both applications.

If your current residence permit will soon expire, it is a good idea to apply to extend that permit, even if you have applied for long-term resident status in Sweden. Otherwise, you risk having to leave Sweden if your application for long-term resident status in Sweden is rejected and you do not have a valid residence permit or an open application for a continued residence permit in Sweden.

Keep in mind that you will need to pay the application fee for both applications.

Read more on the page You want to apply – Long-term residents in Sweden

You can be granted a permit for the same period as your family member in Sweden has a residence permit.

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. The statistics are based on cases decided in the last 12 months.

75% of recently decided cases have been decided within:14 months

Adults: SEK 1,500
Children: SEK 750

The following people pay no fee to apply:

  • family members of Nordic citizens
  • EU/EEA citizens and their family members
  • Swiss citizens and their family members
  • Japanese citizens

Family members of Swedish citizens must pay an application fee.

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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.