Family reunification
You may be entitled to bring your family here if you have been granted a permanent residence permit, or a temporary residence permit as a refugee or a person in need of subsidiary protection, or due to impediments to enforcement or exceptionally distressing circumstances, and are at the same time considered to have well-founded prospects of being granted a lasting residence permit.
It is also required that you will be able to provide financial support for your family and have housing of a certain standard. This requirement does not apply in every situation.
Who may have a right to family reunification?
Your family has the possibility of applying for residence permits to join you in Sweden if you
- have been granted a permanent residence permit
- have been granted a temporary residence permit as a refugee or a person in need of subsidiary protection, and are considered to have well-founded prospects of being granted a lasting residence permit
- have been granted a temporary residence permit due to impediments to enforcement or exceptionally distressing circumstances, and are considered to have well-founded prospects of being granted a lasting residence permit.
Family reunification for you if you have a temporary residence permit
The possibility for your family to come and live with you in Sweden if you have a temporary residence permit is governed by several things. First, you have to have a valid residence permit. This means that if your residence permit has expired and you have sent in an application for an extension of your residence permit, the Swedish Migration Agency must first decide if you have a right to a continued residence permit in Sweden. It is not enough for you to have a protection status and that you previously had a residence permit.
Once the Migration Agency has checked that you have a valid residence permit, we review your family’s residence permit application. The Migration Agency starts by considering whether it is likely that you will be granted an extended residence permit. Once it has been confirmed that you have well-founded prospects of being granted a lasting residence permit, the Migration Agency examines your family’s application and looks at whether you meet the remaining requirements for them to be able to move to join you in Sweden.
Only your immediate family can move to you if you have a temporary residence permit
Your spouse, registered partner or cohabiting partner, and your children under the age of 18 are considered to be your immediate family members. If you are under the age of 18, your parents count as your immediate family. Only in exceptional cases is it possible to obtain a residence permit for other family members, such as children over 18 years of age. This applies if you have a temporary residence permit as a refugee or a person in need of subsidiary protection, or have been granted a temporary residence permit due to impediments to enforcement or exceptionally distressing circumstances.
The general rule is that it is not possible for new couples, i.e. couples who are not married or cohabiting, to receive residence permits if the person who is living in Sweden has a temporary residence permit. There is, however, an exception that makes it possible for certain couples to be reunited, even though they have not previously lived together. It is required that the person living in Sweden has refugee status or subsidiary protection status, or has a residence permit due to impediments to enforcement or due to exceptionally distressing circumstances, and that you can show that you have a serious relationship that was already established in the country of origin, but that you did not have the possibility of living together in the country of origin. This will make it possible, for example, for same-sex couples who have not been able to live together before to be reunited in Sweden.
Your family receives a residence permit for two years, or as long as your own permit lasts. This means that if, for example, you have a residence permit that expires in five months, your family only receives a residence permit that is valid for five months. Your family members can apply for a permanent residence permit after having lived in Sweden with a residence permit for at least three years.
If you are granted a permanent residence permit, a new partner may also apply for a residence permit in order to move to join you in Sweden.
Maintenance requirement
If you have the right to family reunification, you may be subject to what is called a maintenance requirement. This means that you must be able to support yourself and your family. You must also have a home of a sufficient size and standard that you can live together in when your family moves to Sweden.
The maintenance requirement does not apply if you are a refugee and your family members apply for a residence permit within three months of the date on which you were notified of the decision on a residence permit or on a refugee status.
Read more about what the maintenance requirement means and who is subject to it
It is important that you submit your application in time
To make sure that the application comes in as quickly as possible, the best thing to do is to apply by submitting an online application for your family. If you apply on behalf of your family as your family’s representative, you need a power of attorney. When the Swedish Migration Agency has registered your application, your family will be asked to book an appointment for a visit to a Swedish embassy or consulate-general.
Read about how to write a power of attorney
Go to online application for residence permits for your family
Read more about how you apply for residence permits for your family
Follow the case in My page
If your family member has submitted their application in the e-service, you can log in to My Page to follow the case and see if a decision has been made.
Travel grant for the journey to Sweden for close relatives of a refugee
The grant can be approved for family members whom you have lived with outside of Sweden, and who are
- your wife, husband, registered partner or cohabiting partner
- your children (if they are unmarried and under the age of 20)
- your parents and siblings (if you are under the age of 18).
In order to be eligible for the travel grant you must have been granted a residence permit as a refugee in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 1951 and have a permit with code AF or A3. Stateless Palestinians with refugee status declarations or travel documents issued by the Swedish Migration Agency can also apply for the travel grant.
Your family members must have been granted Swedish residence permits and hold valid passports before you can apply for the grant.
You are not eligible for the grant if you are a Swedish citizen or if you or your family members can pay for the trip yourselves.
The travel grant normally consists of one airplane ticket per person, from the country where your family members are situated, to Sweden. The Swedish Migration Agency books the plane ticket.
Application
Application form for travel grant, form 4452 (in Swedish only)
Pdf, 1.1 MB, opens in new window.
Send your application to:
Migrationsverket
Box 3100
903 03 Umeå
Can not be appealed
You can not appeal against the Migration Agency's decision to refuse your application for a travel grant.
Frequently asked questions and answers about travel grants for close relatives’ journey to Sweden
If the application is granted, the trip is booked and paid for by the Swedish Migration Agency via the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
The plane ticket is valid from the country where your close relatives are currently located to Sweden (domestic flights are also possible). The travel grant cannot be applied to rail or bus travel.
Sweden’s social services organisation has primary responsibility for assisting children who have a residence permit with allowances for maintenance and other expenses. The Swedish Migration Agency only provides travel grants for close relatives of unaccompanied minors if the social services reject their application for assistance, and if there are special reasons regarding the child here in Sweden that justify granting the application.