Residence permit for a parent or other family member

If you are a citizen of a country outside the EU and want to move to a family member in Sweden, you need a residence permit.

In exceptional cases it is possible to get a residence permit to move to a family member in Sweden who is not already, or is not going to be, your husband, wife or cohabiting partner. This could apply, for example, to children over 18 years and parents of an adult child living in Sweden. Parents who want to move to a child aged under 18 years also have the possibility of applying for a residence permit. The family member in Sweden must, in most cases, have been granted a permanent residence permit. The family member may have a temporary residence permit if the person has been granted a permit as a refugee or a person in need of subsidiary protection, or on the grounds of specially/exceptionally distressing circumstances or impediments to enforcement, and is considered to have well-founded prospects of being granted a residence permit for a longer period.

Parents of children under 18 years

If you are a parent of a child aged under 18 years living in Sweden, you can apply for a residence permit based on family ties to the child. You and the child must have lived together before and your intention must be that you and the child are going to live together in Sweden. An application of this kind is often assessed by the same rules that apply for those applying on grounds of ties to another family member.

Parents of unaccompanied minors

In order for you as a parent to get a residence permit to join an unaccompanied child under 18 years, the condition is usually that the child has been given a residence permit in Sweden because of grounds for asylum.

Other family member

In exceptional cases, it is possible to get a residence permit so as to move to another family member in Sweden whom you have lived with in your home country, for example, if you are over the age of 18 years and your parents live here.

You must be able to prove that you and the family member have lived together immediately before your family member moved to Sweden and that you and the other family member were socially and emotionally dependent on each other when you lived in your home country, and it is therefore difficult for you to live apart.

The application must be submitted as soon as possible after your family member moved to Sweden and was given a permanent residence permit. The general rule is that it is not possible to get a residence permit if the application is made after a long period of time has passed or if dependency between you has arisen after your family member moved to Sweden.

Maintenance requirement

The person you are going to live with in Sweden must be able to support both of you. They must also have a home of sufficient size and standard for you both to live in when you move to Sweden. The requirement concerning financial support and accommodation does not apply to children under 18 years. This means that if you are going to move to your child who lives in Sweden, there is no requirement that your child must be able to provide for you.

If you want to move to Sweden in order to reunite with your family or family members, you may, in exceptional cases, obtain a residence permit even if you do not have an approved passport. However, this only applies to families with children who have lived together outside of Sweden. This applies only to you who cannot obtain a passport, or if the Swedish Migration Agency deems that the passport from your country of origin does not prove your identity, as well as if you are one of the following:

A child who wants to move to a parent in Sweden.
A parent who wants to move to a child who already lives in Sweden.
A parent who wants to move to a partner in Sweden with whom you have a child.

In order to obtain a residence permit, a DNA analysis must prove that the child and parent are related.

DNA analysis

A DNA test consists of you providing a saliva sample during a visit to the embassy or consulate-general. Your family member in Sweden (parent, child or partner) provides a DNA test during a visit to the Swedish Migration Agency. Using your DNA samples, a DNA analysis then shows whether you and your family member are related.

If an adult submits an application on behalf of a child who will move to a parent in Sweden alone, consent for a DNA sample to be taken from the child must be submitted alongside the application. The consent must be given in writing by the parent in Sweden.

The Swedish Migration Agency pays for the DNA analysis.

Alien's passport

If you do not have a passport, you must also apply for an alien’s passport. You can do this at the embassy or consulate-general in connection with submitting your application or during the interview. Contact the embassy or consulate-general for more information on how to apply for an alien’s passport.

Illustration of a man. Next to him hangs a picture of an older couple.

Jovan from Serbia has lived in Sweden for ten years and has a permanent residence permit. In Serbia, Jovan lived with his parents whom he also provided for. Now the parents have grown old and ill and have trouble managing on their own, even though Jovan sends them money every month. Jovan and his parents wish that the parents could move to Sweden to live with Jovan so that he can take care of them.

The parents apply for residence permits to move to Jovan in Sweden. They visit the Swedish Embassy in Belgrade for an interview. The decision is that they cannot be granted residence permits to move to Jovan as it has been too long since they lived together in the country of origin. The fact that they now have trouble living on their own is not grounds enough for them to be granted residence permits in Sweden.

This also applies if you are applying to live together with someone whom you have cohabited with for less than two years.

Last updated: 2024-02-07

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