New rules for immigration due to family ties from 1 October

The reference person must have been in Sweden for a certain period of time

From 1 October, if you are a reference person in Sweden and have a temporary residence permit, you must have been in Sweden for two years before your family can get residence permits to live with you. This two-year requirement must be met when your family applies. There are some exceptions, for example if you are a refugee and your relationship with your family member was established before you came to Sweden.

Requirement to have well-founded prospects of being granted a permanent residence permit

If you have a temporary residence permit, you must have “well-founded prospects” of getting a permanent residence permit in Sweden to be a reference person for your family. This applies, for example, if you are a refugee or a person eligible for subsidiary protection, or if you have a residence permit due to exceptionally distressing circumstances.

Higher maintenance requirement

From 1 October, a higher amount will apply to the maintenance requirement. However, the higher amount will not apply when extending a residence permit that was granted before 1 October 2026, if the family member applies for an extension by 1 October 2027. For this group, the current amounts will continue to apply.

From 2 October 2027, the higher amount will apply to all applications.

Maintenance requirement will also apply when extending a residence permit

From 1 October, if you are a reference person, you must also meet the maintenance requirement when your family member wants to extend their residence permit. Today, the maintenance requirement only applies when the family member applies for the first time. From 1 October, the family member’s income can also be taken into account.

Young adults may be able to extend their residence permits in some cases

From 1 October, the rules will also change for some young adults who previously had residence permits based on family ties as children.

More opportunities for some young adults to get a residence permit from within Sweden

If you are not an EU/EEA citizen, in most cases you must apply for and get a residence permit before you enter Sweden. Otherwise, your application may be rejected and you may receive a decision to refuse entry or an expulsion decision. On 1 October 2026, new rules will come into effect that give certain young adults greater opportunities to continue to hold a residence permit based on their relationship to their parents. The new rules mean, among other things, that if you are over 18 and have held a residence permit based on your relationship to a parent after 1 October 2023, you may, under certain circumstances, be granted a residence permit from within Sweden during the period from 1 October 2026 to 31 December 2027.

During this period, you can apply from within Sweden for a residence permit based on family ties to your parent, or for another type of residence permit. This also applies if you have received an expulsion decision that became legally binding on or after 1 January 2025 and you have had a residence permit as a child after 1 October 2023.

If you are over 18 but under 21 and have held a residence permit as a child

If you are over 18 but under 21 and have had a residence permit as the child of the reference person in Sweden or their partner, you may be able to extend your residence permit in some cases.

If you are aged 21 or over and were granted a residence permit as a child

If you are over 21, you may also be able to extend your residence permit in some cases. Among other things, you must have had a residence permit based on family ties to your parent (the reference person or the their partner), be part of the same household as your parent and have a special relationship of dependency with your parent. It does not matter where this relationship of dependency developed.