More Afghans may be able to receive passports from their home country
The Swedish Migration Agency estimates that Afghan authorities are now able to issue national passports to their citizens within a reasonable time. This means that Afghan citizens with a residence permit in Sweden no longer automatically have the right to an alien’s passport. Instead, the Swedish Migration Agency will review each application for an alien’s passport individually.
As a general rule, you need a valid passport to be granted or extend a residence permit, residence card, residence status, or visa in Sweden. You do not need a valid passport to stay in Sweden if you have been granted a residence permit as a refugee or as a person in need of subsidiary protection.
Obtain an Afghan passport
If you are an Afghan citizen and need a passport, you should first try to obtain an Afghan passport. Swedish authorities no longer accept passports that have been extended with a stamp or sticker, and at the moment we do not know of any Afghan embassy or consulate in Europe that can issue new passports for Afghans living in Sweden.
How you will be affected when extended passports become invalid
Some people may be able to obtain new national passports from Afghan embassies or consulates in other parts of the world, either by applying online or by visiting in person.
If you obtain a passport online
If you receive an Afghan national passport without visiting the issuing authority in person, you may need to submit additional documents to prove your identity when you apply for a residence permit in Sweden for the first time. However, if the Swedish Migration Agency has already confirmed your identity in a previous application, you usually do not need to do this again. We will contact you if you need to add more documents to show who you are.
If you cannot get a new passport from an Afghan embassy or consulate, and you do not have protection status in Sweden, you may need to travel to Afghanistan to obtain a new passport.
Women do not need to travel to Afghanistan
Because of the severe gender discrimination in Afghanistan, the Swedish Migration Agency does not require women and girls to travel to Afghanistan to obtain a passport. If you are a woman or a girl and cannot get a new passport through an embassy or consulate, you can apply for an alien’s passport instead.
If you cannot obtain a national passport
If you need a passport but cannot get a valid passport from your home country, you can apply for a travel document or an alien’s passport from the Swedish Migration Agency.
To receive a travel document, you must have refugee status or be stateless.
Read more about the requirements for a travel document
If you have status as a person in need of subsidiary protection because you need protection from the authorities in your home country, you can apply for an alien’s passport.
You can also apply for an alien’s passport if you cannot obtain a national passport for other reasons. When you apply for an alien’s passport, you must explain why you cannot get a national passport and what attempts you have made to obtain one.
Read more about the requirements for an alien’s passport
Transition period
If you had an alien’s passport before but no longer meet the requirements for one under the Swedish Migration Agency’s new assessment, you may in some cases still be able to get an alien’s passport for a limited time. This may apply if your residence permit and alien’s passport have expired and you have applied for an extension. We will then assess whether you can travel to Afghanistan to obtain a new passport and wait for a new decision on an extended residence permit, or if doing so would cause too much disruption to your work or personal life.