Moving to Sweden: migration and permit guidance - DailySweden

WEDNESDAY 19 AUGUST· STOCKHOLM · THE DAY IN 5 STORIES

DS+ · Household Ledger

How lower-paid Swedish jobs can still support a work permit

Sweden's new work-permit salary floor can shut many vacancies out. A separate exception now keeps selected occupations and applicant groups in play, but the job title alone does not settle it.

19 August 2026 · 2 min read

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

Essential Migration

A Migrationsverket sign outside an agency building.

Belonging

Swedish citizenship grants fell 94% in July as 103,598 cases remained open

A Swedish passport photographed from above.

News

Sweden granted just 98 citizenships in July

Baristas prepare coffee during a café shift. The photograph is illustrative; the workers are not identified as students, Swedish residents or residence-permit holders.

Belonging

Sweden’s new work cap threatens student residence permits

Latest Migration

People approach the main entrance of Stockholmsmässan in a February 2015 file photograph.

News

Sweden holds first citizenship test for invited applicants

Four colleagues pose together inside a modern office, including two women wearing headscarves and two men.

Power & Consequence

Tidö blames immigration but Sweden’s own figures show its economy and welfare rely on immigrants

A Polish border guard checks passengers' travel documents aboard a coach at the Berastavitsa-Bobrowniki crossing in August 2018.

Belonging

Sweden’s revised guidance says Belarusians should not return for passports

An empty dental treatment room with a chair, overhead light and clinical instruments.

News

Sweden raises urgent dental costs for asylum seekers with means

The yes, no and abstain voting buttons on a member's desk in the Swedish Parliament chamber.

News

Sweden passes law forcing families to wait two years to reunite

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

How to Move to Sweden Without a Job Offer

Tony Haddou speaking into a microphone at a migration and asylum demonstration in Stockholm in June 2022.

News

Tony Haddou: Family rules risk “abortion or deportation”

A Swedish passport photographed from above.

News

Pending citizenship applications can fail Sweden's new language rule

Viktor Wärnick, chair of the Swedish Parliament's Social Insurance Committee, in an official parliamentary portrait.

News

Viktor Wärnick chairs committee backing tighter family-reunification rules

Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats, speaks with a headset microphone at Almedalen Week in June 2026.

Politics

Jimmie Åkesson still wants existing permanent residence permits revoked

The Skatteverket name and symbol mounted on the brick facade of the Kronan office in Sundbyberg, lit by low sunlight.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

The one-year line that changes your first Swedish registration

A care worker walks beside an older person using a wheeled walker outdoors in Malmö.

Power & Consequence

Sweden wants fewer asylum seekers. Its welfare system still needs workers from abroad

Syrian refugees with luggage gathered outside Stockholm Central station after arriving in Sweden in September 2015.

DailySweden view

Sweden cannot demand integration while making belonging conditional

Social Democratic election campaign signs on a street in Malmö.

Power & Consequence

Social Democrats reject MP’s call for higher immigration

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

Life Here

The one step to take when the Migration Agency keeps you waiting

A Swedish passport photographed from above.

Belonging

Some temporary-permit holders can seek citizenship if officials expect them to stay

A Swedish passport photographed from above.

Citizenship

Try UHR’s five official Swedish citizenship test questions

A Black woman in blue scrubs and protective equipment reviews documents while working in a hospital.

Making It

Foreign-born women's jobs in Sweden are concentrated in care, service and sales

The Ceuta-Morocco border fence winds through green hills on the Ceuta side.

DailySweden view

Ceuta exposed the right's politics of cruelty

The Arbetsförmedlingen office in Malmö, photographed from the pavement in daylight.

News

Swedish agencies report 80 suspected undocumented residents to police

Johan Forssell outdoors at the opening of Sweden's parliamentary year in September 2018.

Politics

Swedish right seizes on Ceuta migrant crossing to advance anti-immigration rhetoric

Carl Bildt speaks during a World Economic Forum session in Davos in January 2010.

Politics

Bildt points to Morocco after Ceuta mass migrant crossing

An empty KTH lecture hall in Stockholm with rows of blue seats facing teaching equipment.

Living in Sweden

Study Permit Extensions Need Proof Of Progress

Ulf Kristersson at a European Council summit in Brussels in December 2022.

Politics

Sweden demands EU crisis talks but rejects migrant relocation

A close view of the green Arbetsförmedlingen symbol and bilingual agency name on a glass-fronted building.

Politics

Swedish government wants to make firing workers easier

A picker gathers bilberries into containers on the floor of a Finnish forest.

Work & labour

Union steps up checks on 950 foreign berry pickers

An Arbetsförmedlingen sign above a shaded pedestrian walkway with people and parked bicycles in the background.

Belonging

Jobs, taxes, benefits: six agencies now report suspected undocumented residents to police

Swedish police officers stand between barriers and a crowd at a Stockholm rally in August 2014.

DailySweden view

Born in Sweden. Why does the crime debate still call them immigrants?

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

Belonging

Migration Agency lifts Ukraine protection forecast to 10,000

Syrian refugees with luggage gathered outside Stockholm Central station after arriving in Sweden in September 2015.

Politics

Five parties refuse to lift Sweden’s 900-person refugee quota

A Swedish passport photographed from above.

Politics

Sweden’s citizenship withdrawal plan will pass to next government

The Swedish Migration Agency building in Solna, photographed from outside.

Migration

Bank blocks access to SEK 350,000 return grant after recipient surrenders home

Refugees travel in an inflatable boat across the Mediterranean toward Lesbos in January 2016 as a rescue crew watches from another vessel.

Migration

Europe’s migrant arrivals are falling because its borders now extend into North Africa

A street in Överkalix lined with shops and colourful wooden buildings.

Migration

While national politicians promise lower immigration, shrinking Swedish municipalities are actively competing for foreign residents

A Swedish passport photographed from above.

Citizenship

Sweden’s new citizenship rules require longer residence and your own income

A close-up of a baggage tag marked Stockholm Arlanda and ARN.

Living in Sweden

Long Trips Abroad Can Delay Swedish Citizenship

A Swedish flag flying outside the historic Radhus building in Jonkoping.

Politics

New Swedish welfare rule: join work-focused activity or risk losing support

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

Permits & visas

The Swedish partner permit your lease can weaken

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

Belonging

Sweden Granted Citizenship in Just One-Third of June Decisions

Official head-and-shoulders portrait of Ludvig Aspling against a white background.

Politics

SD Doubles Down: Sweden Has Too Many “Ethnically Foreign” People

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

Belonging

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

Johan Forssell wearing a dark suit and red tie outside the Riksdag during its 2018 opening.

DailySweden view

Sweden cannot claim to protect migrant mothers while splitting their families

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

Permits & visas

The Swedish job offer the Migration Agency may not trust

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

Tech

The startup work-permit discount is narrower than it sounds

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

Politics

Sweden’s opposition parties reject return grants for citizens

Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist in a posed indoor portrait.

Work & labour

C wants SEK 738m shifted from return grants to jobs and integration

Sweden Democrats supporters hold party flags reading 'Heja Jimmie' during Almedalen Week in Visby in July 2014.

Migration

SD: “Sweden has far too many people who are not ethnic Swedes”

Apoteket and Kronans Apotek pharmacy entrances side by side at Kungens Kurva in 2016

Work & labour

Sweden’s top migration court declines to hear Kiruna pharmacists’ case—the 10-day job-ad rule behind their removal

Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson speaking at Långholmen in Stockholm in 2024.

DailySweden view

SD’s repatriation proposal puts a price on who counts as Swedish

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

Citizenship

Moderates want domestic-violence convictions to block citizenship

Front side of an EU Blue Card electronic residence permit template

Tech

The EU Blue Card is not just a richer work permit

The Swedish Migration Agency office in Solna.

Politics

Tidö parties consider earlier release for people facing expulsion

A Swedish passport photographed from above.

Citizenship

First Swedish citizenship test will contain around 60 questions

Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson speaking at Långholmen in Stockholm in 2024.

Politics

SD wants repatriation grant opened to people who relinquish Swedish citizenship

Migration Agency office building in Gothenburg

Migration

New asylum screening rules change support for unaccompanied children

Entrance to a Swedish government service office with Tax Agency and Enforcement Authority signs

Migration

Six Swedish agencies must report suspected undocumented residents

Swedish Migration Agency office building in Solna

Tech

What happens to your work permit after a technology layoff?

Participants working together at a technology hackathon in Stockholm

Tech

Why international developers struggle to build a social life in Sweden

Syrian refugees with luggage gathered outside Stockholm Central station after arriving in Sweden in September 2015.

DailySweden view

Sweden must not let misfortune become grounds for losing a home

The Swedish Migration Agency building in Solna, photographed from outside.

Citizenship

Some temporary-permit holders can now apply for Swedish citizenship

Migration

Sweden starts broader good-conduct checks for residence permits

The Swedish Migration Agency office in Solna, seen from outside.

Migration

Sweden proposes two-year wait in tighter family-reunification rules

Permits & visas

Sweden proposes work permits that follow workers between employers

Stone sculptures and facade details at Stora Nygatan 2B in Stockholm, the Labour Court's address.

Work & labour

Labour Court says employer may end job immediately when worker lacks permit