Sweden’s worst government for immigrants in modern times may be on its way out
People have built their lives in Sweden, only to be told they must leave. Families have been separated. Workers have found that a job and a steady income no longer give them the right to stay. Now Kristersson’s government may be leaving office, and there is good reason to hope its harshest policies go with it.
Monday’s preliminary count gave the opposition 176 seats against the governing bloc’s 173. Late ballots and the final count can still change the result. Even if that lead holds, forming a government will take negotiations. For now, there is a chance of change, not a settled outcome.
Ulf Kristersson’s government has made settled lives more precarious. For people trying to keep their families together, renew a work permit or become Swedish citizens, the combined effect of its policies has been to make staying harder and less certain. On that record, Tidö deserves to be judged the worst government for immigrants Sweden has had in decades.
The abolition of track change shows why. This allowed certain people refused asylum to obtain work permits without leaving Sweden. The government ended it in April 2025 without transitional rules, affecting people who already held those permits and their relatives. The Migration Agency estimated that about 4,700 people were affected. It warned that most permit holders would have to leave when their permits expired unless they qualified to stay on another basis.
These were people Sweden had allowed to work and support themselves. They could still have a job, still pay their taxes and still lose the right to remain. A government that asks people to build an independent life should honour the rules under which they built it.
The harm also reaches people caught by older rules. John Sellers was deported after 24 years in Sweden while his wife remained here. The post-Brexit deadline at the heart of his case preceded this government. Kristersson did not create every rule that causes such hardship, but his government is responsible for how it responds when those rules tear families apart.
A review of decisions found at least 121 young adults ordered to leave in 2025 while their parents and siblings could stay. Parliament has approved a new route from October for some young adults who previously held permits through their parents. That change is welcome, but it does not cover everyone. Young people who grew up here need a lasting way to stay.
Since June, the general citizenship requirement has risen from five years’ residence to eight, alongside a new income requirement. People whose applications were still waiting for a decision came under the new rules too. Years spent waiting could end with a refusal under conditions that did not exist when they applied.
The ordinary work-permit salary threshold is now 90 per cent of the median wage. There are exemptions and transitional rules for some renewals. Decent wages and protection from exploitation matter. So does allowing people to stay in useful jobs that Sweden needs, even when those jobs are poorly paid.
Sweden needs functioning schools, housing and fair enforcement of its laws. These are reasonable concerns. But separating families and removing people who work here should never become an easy substitute for solving those problems.
A new government would still need to earn immigrants’ trust. The Social Democrats tightened migration policy after 2015 and continue to support a restrictive approach. They oppose reviewing existing permanent residence permits, an important difference from Tidö’s plans, but they have not promised to undo its whole programme.
The next government should protect people caught by changing rules, keep families together and give those who have grown up or worked here a fair chance to stay. People who have made Sweden their home deserve to be able to plan a life here without wondering when the rules will change again.
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