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.

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

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
  • a certificate showing that the family member is covered by the social security system of their country of origin. The certificate must be issued by the national authorities in their country of origin and must state that they are covered by the social security system of another EU country. If the family member cannot obtain such a certificate, they must take out comprehensive private health insurance that is valid during the period they are in Sweden
  • an assurance that they have sufficient funds to support themselves during their period of study.

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.

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

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.

75% of applications receive a decision within:13 months

Adults: SEK 1,500
Children: SEK 750

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.