Sweden’s track-change repeal hit restaurant workers hardest—most of 700 approvals came through permanent residence

Sweden’s abolition of “track change” hit restaurant workers most heavily, followed by cleaners and construction workers, according to a new Swedish Migration Agency follow-up reported by Radio Sweden on Tuesday.

The route once allowed someone whose asylum claim was rejected to stay and seek a work permit if they had a job. Parliament ended it on 1 April 2025 without transitional rules, affecting people who had already switched as well as new applicants. The agency estimated about 4,700 people, including relatives, were affected. Workers from Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Mongolia and Egypt were most represented in the follow-up.

Despite the repeal, 700 applications were approved. Radio Sweden says most succeeded because the applicants met the separate requirements for permanent residence—not because track change remained available.

The agency’s current guidance says an employee normally needs to have held and complied with work-permit conditions, and worked in Sweden, for four of the past seven years. They must also support themselves through current, lawful and durable employment or business income and satisfy the good-conduct test.

Permanent residence is requested with a work-permit extension before the existing permit expires. Applicants should provide their passport, employment contract, pay slips, income records from Skatteverket and certificates covering every Swedish employer during the permit period. A late application removes the right to work while waiting and can therefore defeat the maintenance requirement.

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