Residence permit card
If you have been granted a residence permit you will also receive a residence permit card as proof that you are permitted to live in Sweden. The card has a computer chip that contains your fingerprints and a photo of you. You always need to have your residence permit card with you when you go to government agencies or the health care services.
Being photographed and having your fingerprints taken
Everyone who is going to receive a residence permit card has to be photographed. Children under the age of six do not need to have their fingerprints taken. Anyone who cannot be fingerprinted for physical reasons, such as permanent finger injuries, does not have to have their fingerprints taken either.
Your fingerprints and photo are only stored on the card chip, not anywhere else. For that reason you have to be photographed again, and have your fingerprints taken again, every time you need to have a new residence permit card issued. There is no charge for the issuing of residence permit cards other than the application fee for the permit.
If you are outside of Sweden
If you need an entry visa to travel to Sweden, you must go to the Swedish embassy or consulate-general as soon as possible to be photographed and have your fingerprints taken if you did not do so when you presented your passport. You need to be photographed and provide your fingerprints even if you have had a residence permit card previously because your photo and fingerprints cannot be saved.
Not all embassies have the facilities to photograph you and take your fingerprints. Read more on the embassy's or consulate-general's website before going there.
Countries whose citizens need a visa to enter Sweden
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Swedish embassies and consulates-general External link, opens in new window.
If you don’t need a visa to travel to Sweden, you will be photographed and fingerprinted in Sweden. You must visit the Migration Agency as soon as possible after receiving a residence permit and arriving in Sweden.
If you are in Sweden
If you wish to extend a permit in Sweden or if you need a new residence permit card then you need to visit the Swedish Migration Agency to have your photograph and fingerprints taken if you did not do so when asked to present your passport. This also applies to people applying for protection in Sweden who do not have a permit here already.
When you visit the Swedish Migration Agency, you must have your passport with you. When the residence permit card is ready, it will be sent to your address in Sweden. Therefore it’s important you can provide your address in Sweden when you go to the Swedish Migration Agency to have your fingerprints taken and be photographed.
Book an appointment with the Migration Agency for having your photograph and fingerprints taken
The Migration Agency's visiting addresses and opening hours
If you change your address
If you want your residence permit card to be sent to your home we need your address. If you have moved you can state your new address when you visit the Migration Agency. Remember to tell us if you’re living with someone else and have a c/o address.
When the residence permit card is ready
If you were photographed and fingerprinted at an embassy or consulate-general you will receive your card from them. Ask the embassy or consulate if they will send it to you or if you have to go there to pick it up. Once you’ve got a decision to grant you a residence permit it can take up to four weeks to manufacture the card and send it to the embassy or consulate-general.
If you were photographed and fingerprinted at the Migration Agency your card will be sent to your home address within one or two weeks.
Your residence permit card is manufactured when the decision is made, but no earlier than six weeks before the validity of the residence permit begins.
It is not possible to speed up the manufacturing or delivery of the card.
Data contained on the card
The residence permit card contains information about what type of permit you have and how long your card is valid for, among other things. Your personal data is also on the card. On the back of some cards is the text “Permitted to work” (“Får arbeta”). This is when the decision you received doesn’t directly indicate that you have the right to work, such as when you’ve been granted a permanent residence permit. But if you were granted a work permit in Sweden to begin with, the decision will say that you have a work permit, and therefore your card doesn’t need to have the text “Permitted to work” on the back. For children, the text is included (where applicable) from the time they turn 16.
Check the information on your card
Always check that the name on your residence permit card is the same as the name in your passport. If your card has the wrong name you have to visit the Migration Agency or the embassy in order to get a new one. Take your passport with you.
If you change your name you first need to contact the Tax Agency, which is responsible for the population register, in order to register your new name. Then you have to visit the Migration Agency in order to get a new residence permit card.
When you travel
When you travel you have to show the residence permit card together with your passport. With the passport and the residence permit card, you can enter and travel within the Schengen area for up to 90 days during a period of 180 days. If you travel to a country outside of the Schengen area you may need a visa.
The residence permit card cannot by itself be used as an identity document or a travel document.
The card’s period of validity
A residence permit card for a permanent residence permit is valid for three years, but if you have a long-term resident's permit in the EU, your residence permit card is valid for five years. A five-year period of validity also applies to residence permit cards issued before 1 January 2022.
You will get a new residence permit card every time you are granted a new or extended residence permit. When you need a new residence permit card, you will be photographed and fingerprinted again. Always bring your old residence permit card when you come to the Swedish Migration Agency to get a new card.
If you have a permanent residence permit, you can be photographed and fingerprinted at the earliest three months before your current residence permit card expires. However, the order to the supplier, who produces residence permit cards, will be sent at the earliest six weeks before your card expires.
If you lose the card
If you lose your residence permit card, or if it gets stolen, you must first report this to the police. Then you have to visit the Migration Agency in order to have your photograph and fingerprints taken for a new card. Take a copy of the police report you received from the police, either when you made the report or afterwards by post.
If you haven’t received your card
Have you been waiting a long time for your residence permit card? The reason may be that the card has been returned to the Migration Agency. This can happen if the Migration Agency has the wrong address for you.