Exten­ding a resi­dence permit for former asylum seekers and their families

If you have previously applied for asylum and were granted a temporary residence permit, you must apply for an extension of your residence permit if you want to stay in Sweden. This also applies if you are a family member of a person who previously applied for asylum and was granted a temporary residence permit.

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This information applies to those who have applied for asylum and been granted a temporary residence permit as a refugee or a person in need of subsidiary protection, due to particularly or exceptionally distressing circumstances, or because there is a temporary impediment to enforcement that prevents them from being deported. It also applies to those who came to Sweden as a close relative of a person who has a temporary residence permit for one of these reasons, and to those who have been granted a residence permit for studies at upper secondary level.

How to get a resi­dence permit exten­sion

You can get a residence permit extension if you fulfil the requirements for one of the following reasons:

  • You need protection (asylum).
  • You are a family member of a person who is resident in Sweden.
  • You have studied at upper secondary level and can financially support yourself.
  • There are exceptionally distressing circumstances.

If you are also applying for a perma­nent resi­dence permit

If you have held a residence permit in Sweden for at least three years, you can apply for a permanent residence permit in connection with applying for a residence permit extension using the e-service on this page. Once you have stated why you wish to apply for a residence permit extension, you will have to state whether you also wish to apply for a permanent residence permit.

Requi­re­ments for a perma­nent resi­dence permit

To be eligible for a permanent residence permit you must:

  • meet the requirements for an extended residence permit
  • be able to support yourself financially
  • live an orderly life.

Read more about the requirements to support yourself and live an orderly life:

In order to obtain a permanent residence permit, you must be able to support yourself through income from employment or your own company, or a combination of employment and your own company. You may add together income from one or more part-time jobs, provided that all the employments meet the requirements below.

The livelihood must be sustainable and serious

You must be able to show that you can support yourself for a longer period of time ahead. If you do not have permanent employment, an individual assessment is always made as to whether your income is sustainable. A longer fixed-term employment is usually approved. In some cases, an employment with a probationary period can also be approved.

People who support themselves financially through self-employment must demonstrate that their company has realistic business plans and stable finances, so that you can be expected to be able to support yourself through your profits for a longer period of time.

It is only the income you actually have when we consider your application that counts. You cannot get a permanent residence permit based on your chances of getting another job or higher income sometime in the future.

What income counts?

You may only count taxed income from legal employment. This means that you must have permission to work or be exempt from the work permit requirement. You may not count undeclared income, nor income from a profession that you are not licensed to practise.

You may count parental benefits or sickness benefits, provided that you have ongoing employment and your parental leave or sick leave is not assessed to be longer than 12 months.

To count income from your business, you must show that you own at least half of the company and that you have decisive responsibility for its operations. It is also required that you run the company professionally, independently and for profit.

If you wait too long to apply for an extended residence permit (after your current permit has expired), you will not have the right to work while you wait for a decision and therefore will not meet the maintenance requirement.

Amount of income

Your income after tax must be so large that, after your accommodation costs have been paid each month, you have a certain amount left that should be enough for food, clothing, hygiene, telephone, electricity and insurance for yourself, among other things. For 2024, that amount is SEK 6,090 per month for a single adult. If you have a child with whom you do not live and you pay maintenance to the child’s other parent, your income must also be sufficient to cover the maintenance allowance.

The housing costs that your income must be sufficient to cover each month depend on the type of home in which you live:

  • If you live in a rented flat, you must include both the rent and the cost of heating in this calculation, if the latter is not included in the rent.
  • If you live in a tenant-owner flat, you must include any fees paid to the tenant-owner association and the interest on any home loans in your calculation. You must also include necessary operating costs (such as water and heating), if these are not included in the monthly fee.
  • If you live in a freestanding house, you must include the interest rate for any home loans and necessary operating costs (such as water and heating) in your calculation.

Amortisation of home loans is not included in the cost of accommodation.

You only need to be able to support yourself, not your family members. If you live alone or with underage children, you must include your entire actual accommodation cost in your calculation. However, if you live with one or more other adults, you should divide the actual accommodation cost by the number of adults in the household and only include your share in the calculation, no matter how much each person actually pays for the accommodation.

What income does not count?

You may not count income from

  • a family member
  • wealth or returns from capital
  • unemployment insurance or activity compensation
  • various forms of grants or scholarships
  • subsidised employment (for example, when the Swedish Social Insurance Agency or the Swedish Public Employment Service pays all or part of the wages).

Pensions do not count as income either, but people who receive a pension may be exempt from the requirement that they must be able support themselves financially.

Exemptions from the maintenance requirement

Exemptions from the maintenance requirement can be made if

  • you are under the age of 18 when the Swedish Migration Agency makes a decision
  • you are entitled to a pension
  • you are unable to support yourself financially on other special grounds.

If you can submit a decision from the Swedish Pensions Agency that shows that you are entitled to an income-based retirement pension, a guarantee pension or financial support for the elderly, then you are exempt from the requirement to be able to support yourself financially. It is the right to a pension that is crucial, not whether you actually take out a pension or the size of your pension. Both guarantee pensions and financial support for the elderly can be paid out no sooner than the month you turn 66. Income-based old-age pensions can be paid out no sooner than the month you turn 63. If you have reached the age of 63 but not 66, you must show that you have retired and started to take out your income-based old-age pension. It is your age on the date of the decision that matters.

Exemptions from the maintenance requirement may also be made if other special grounds exist which are not temporary. For example, you may be unable to meet the maintenance requirement on the grounds of permanently impaired working capacity due to illness or disability. This can also apply if you are unemployed and so close to retirement age that it is difficult to get a new job. Exemptions can also be granted if it is not reasonable to request that you be able to support yourself financially. For example, such exemptions are granted for monks and nuns.

If you believe that you have special grounds for exemption from the maintenance requirement, please attach documents showing that you have, for example, a permanently impaired ability to work. Such proof may take the form of an investigation by the Swedish Public Employment Service, a decision on entitlement to sickness benefits, sickness benefits or activity compensation from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, or a medical certificate.

In order to be granted a permanent residence permit in Sweden, it is important that you cannot be assumed to commit a crime in the future. Therefore, it is required that those who apply for a permanent residence permit will live a well-behaved life. To be able to assess this, the Swedish Migration Agency needs to look at how you have lived so far, for example if you have been convicted or suspected of any crime in Sweden or abroad.
There are no detailed rules on the types of crimes or the length of the penalty that may prevent a person from obtaining a permanent residence permit. It is not only about serious crimes, even less serious crime can be an obstacle if you have misbehaved in other ways at the same time.

If there is reason to suspect that you will not live in a well-behaved manner in the future, the Swedish Migration Agency will weigh these suspicions against your reasons for being granted a permanent residence permit. We take into account how you have misbehaved and how long ago the events took place.

Exemptions to the requirement that applicants live a law-abiding life are made only for children under the age of 15.

Perma­nent resi­dence permit in accor­dance with the Upper Secon­dary School Act

Those who have a residence permit due to studies at upper secondary level may also apply for a permanent residence permit using the e-service on this page, although they are subject to different requirements to be granted a permanent residence permit.

Read more about the requirements for being granted a permanent residence permit in accordance with the Swedish Upper Secondary School Act

Requi­re­ments for using the e-service

In order to use the e-service and apply for a residence permit extension, you need

  • an e-identification
  • an email address
  • to be able to upload your documents digitally.

The first time you log in, you have to identify yourself in two steps, with both an e-ID and a code that is sent to your email address. The Swedish Migration Agency may contact you via your email address if we have questions about your application. After that, if you need to log in again, for example, if you want to pause your application and continue later, or if you are applying for several people, you only need to use e-ID.

If parents use the e-service, they will be asked if they are applying for a residence permit extension for themselves or for a child under the age of 18 for whom they are legal guardians. Parents can use their e-ID to apply for themselves and several children, but must log out and then log in again for each person they wish to apply for. If you are going to apply for several people, you must complete and submit an application, and then log out, before you can log back in to make a new application for someone else.

This e-service cannot be used by a legal representative. It can only be used by someone who is applying for an extension for themselves, or by parents applying on behalf of their minor children.

Children without a parent/legal guardian in Sweden can apply themselves using the e-service. The Swedish Migration Agency will then contact the child's guardian and ask him/her to confirm the application.

You can pause your application and continue later. Remember to complete your application before your current residence permit expires.

In order for your application to be complete, you may need to submit documents showing that you meet the requirements for staying in Sweden. What documents you must submit will depend on why you want to stay in Sweden. If you are applying for a residence permit extension because you need protection, or because you need to stay due to exceptionally distressing circumstances, you do not need to submit any documents.

When you apply using the e-service, you need to have your documents available in digital form. Before you send in your application, you will see a compilation in the e-service of the information you have provided and the documents you have uploaded. If you have failed to upload certain documents, you will be able to go back and upload those documents. If you don't have ready access to all the documents you need, you can pause your application and upload them later. Please note that you must complete your application via the e-service and submit it before your current residence permit expires.

If you complete your application in the e-service without uploading all the required documents, you will have two weeks in which to send the remaining documents to the Swedish Migration Agency by post. After that, we can start processing your application. If we see that certain information or a document that we need in order to make a decision is missing, we may contact you to ask for supplementary documents. If you do not submit the supplementary information we have asked for in time, we may make a decision on the basis of the information we have. It may take longer to process your application if we have to ask you for supplementary information.

How to apply if you cannot use the e-service

Read more about the requi­re­ments that apply to you and the docu­ments to be submitted depen­ding on ​​the reason for your appli­ca­tion

If you want to stay in Sweden because you need protection (asylum), you must state whether you have the same grounds for asylum as before or if you have new grounds for asylum that you have not informed us about previously.

If you have applied for asylum before and still have the same grounds, you do not need to tell us about them again. The case officer knows the grounds for asylum that you have explained to both the Swedish Migration Agency and the Migration Court.

If you state you have new grounds for asylum, we will contact you to find out more about why you need protection (asylum). An applicant with new grounds for asylum usually needs to come to the Swedish Migration Agency for an interview. New grounds for asylum could be, for example, that something has happened after you applied for asylum which you have not told the Swedish Migration Agency or the court. Another example of new grounds for asylum could be something that you have not informed us about before because you came to Sweden as a close relative and have not applied for asylum before.

If your reason for applying for a residence permit extension is because you need protection in Sweden, you do not need to submit any documents.

Read more about who can get asylum in Sweden

You can get a residence permit extension if you have a family member who has a residence permit.

The following count as a family member

  • husband
  • wife
  • registered partner
  • cohabiting partner
  • child under 18 years
  • parent of a child under 18 years.

If you currently have a residence permit because you are a family member of a person with a temporary residence permit under the temporary law or the Aliens Act, you can get a residence permit extension if you are still living together.

You can also apply for a residence permit extension if you have a new family relationship. This applies both to those who came to Sweden to apply for asylum and received a temporary residence permit, and those who came to Sweden as a family member of someone who has applied for asylum. A new family relationship means that you do not already have a residence permit because this person is your family member. The person in question could be a new family member, but it could also be someone who has been a member of your family for a long time, but on account of whom you have not previously applied for a residence permit on grounds of family ties.

You will have to answer questions about who your family member is and what sort of relationship you have. The Swedish Migration Agency will check with the Swedish Tax Agency whether you are registered at the same address. In some cases, we may also contact your family member to ask questions.

If you apply for a residence permit extension for a child under 18 years, both of the child's parents/legal guardians in Sweden must approve the application. To show that they approve the child's application, the other parent/legal guardian must sign the form Confirmation of application for residence permit for child, form 207011, which you then upload in the e-service for the application for a residence permit extension. The form can also be sent to the Swedish Migration Agency by post afterwards.

Confirmation of application for residence permit for child, form 207011 Pdf, 1.1 MB, opens in new window.

Family members need to have passports

To be granted a residence permit on the grounds of ties to a family member, you must have a valid passport. Ideally, it should be a national passport. A residence permit can never be granted for longer than the validity of your passport. If it is not possible for you to obtain a national passport, you can apply for an alien’s passport.

Read about what is required in order to obtain an alien’s passport

If you have or are granted refugee or subsidiary protection status, no passport is required to be granted a continued residence permit.

You do not need to submit your passport or a copy of your passport when you apply for an extended residence permit. The Swedish Migration Agency will contact you if we need to see your passport.

You can apply for a permanent residence permit in accordance with the Swedish Upper Secondary School Act if you have studied at upper secondary level and can financially support yourself as an employee or a self-employed person. You must show that you fulfil the requirements for a permanent residence permit before your temporary permit expires. Which documents you must attach depends on whether you are supporting yourself as an employee or a self-employed person. You can combine your incomes from multiple jobs, multiple companies of yours or from both employment and self-employment. If you want to combine incomes from multiple jobs or companies, you must attach the documents below for all jobs and companies.

Read more about the requirements for being granted a permanent residence permit in accordance with the Swedish Upper Secondary School Act

Docu­ments you must submit with your appli­ca­tion if you are financially supporting yourself as an employee

You must attach the following to your application:

  • contract of employment
  • pay slips for the last 1–3 months
  • statement from a trade union, form 224011 (print and fill out the form and ask your trade union to sign it before submitting the form with your application).

Trade union statement, form 224011 (in Swedish only) Pdf, 1.1 MB, opens in new window.

If you work in an industry with SNI codes that start with some of the following numbers (81290, 81210, 55101, 56, 9602, 9604, 9609, 41200, 421, 42990, 43, 782, 471-478, 0113, 012, 02102, 452, 88101, 88102), you must submit

  • a balance sheet and profit report for the current financial year
  • information about cash and cash equivalents in the bank or overdrafts.

You can get these documents from your employer.

If you work in a start-up company (a company that has started its actual business in the last 12 months), you must submit

  • a balance sheet and profit report for the current financial year
  • information about cash and cash equivalents in the bank or overdrafts
  • any contracts you have signed regarding ongoing and upcoming assignments or the renting/purchasing of premises.

You can get these documents from your employer.

If you work in a start-up company or a company with one of the SNI codes listed above, and your employer has previously participated in applying for a work permit and has employed nationals of non-EU/EEA countries and Switzerland, you must submit

  • a tax account statement from the Swedish Tax Agency for the last three months.

You can get this document from your employer.

Docu­ments you must submit with your appli­ca­tion if you are financially supporting yourself as a self-employed person

You must attach the following to your application:

  • purchase contract
  • bank document showing that you have paid the purchase price or your share of the purchase price
  • any loan documents for the purchase of the company
  • bank statement for your private account for the last six months
  • your most recent private tax return (Income tax return 1 – income tax return sent to you by the Swedish Tax Agency and your income tax return receipt)
  • partnership (trading company) agreement or share register
  • the last two annual accounts or annual reports (if the company has been active in the past)
  • balance sheet and profit statement for the period you have been running the company up to and including the previous month
  • the company's tax account statement for the last six months
  • bank statement for the company account for the last six months
  • all salary specifications for the current year (if you are running a limited liability company)
  • the company's latest tax return:
    income tax return 4 if you are running a trading company (partnership),
    income tax return 2 if you are running a limited liability company,
    NE form if you are running a sole proprietorship business,
    N3A form if you are a partner in a trading company (partnership)
  • any permits for your specific business (e.g. operating licence for a taxi business or cash register permit)
  • contracts with customers or suppliers and any rental contracts for premises
  • business plan.

Documents that you must attach regardless of whether you are financially supporting yourself as an employee or a self-employed person

In order for the Swedish Migration Agency to be able to assess whether you can earn a living from your income, you will also have to answer questions about your housing costs and your travel expenses to and from work. Irrespective of whether you support yourself through employment or as a self-employed person, you must therefore submit

  • the rental agreement for the place where you live, if applicable
  • the most recent electricity bill for the place where you live
  • home insurance contract.

If you are under 25 years of age, you must also submit a certificate of completion of upper secondary education. If you have completed equivalent education in your country of origin, you can show this through, for example, a statement from the Swedish Council for Higher Education.

How to apply for a statement from the Swedish Council for Higher Education, UHR (in Swedish) External link, opens in new window.

In exceptional cases, a person may be granted a residence permit even though they are not in need of protection from persecution or do not meet the requirements for a residence permit on some other grounds. This requires the existence of exceptionally distressing circumstances. When the Migration Agency makes a decision, an overall assessment is made of the person’s state of health, adaptation to Sweden and the situation in the country of origin.

If you are applying for an extended residence permit due to exceptionally distressing circumstances, you do not need to attach any documents. We make contact with you if we need any more information.

Apply before your resi­dence permit expires

It is important that you apply for an extension before your temporary residence permit expires, but no earlier than two months before it expires. If you apply before your residence permit expires you may work while you wait for the decision. If the members of your family all have permits that expire, you should all apply for an extension at the same time.

If you apply after your resi­dence permit has already expired

If you apply for an extension too late, that is after your residence permit has already expired, you do not have the right to work while you wait for the decision. You also risk losing certain benefits, such as start-up support, study allowance or parental allowance.

If you apply too late, there is also a risk that your application for an extension will be rejected because you were in Sweden without a valid residence permit.

If you already have a valid expulsion order, it can be enforced when your residence permit expires if you do not apply for an extension in time.

After you have submitted your appli­ca­tion

When you apply for an extension online, you will receive confirmation straight away on your screen that the Swedish Migration Agency has received your application. You can save the confirmation by sending it to your email address, downloading it or printing it off straight away.

Not everyone who has applied for a residence permit extension needs to visit the Swedish Migration Agency for an interview. We will contact you if we need more information. We may need to see you to ask questions, for example, if you wrote in your application that you have new grounds for asylum. We may also ask questions over the phone or ask you to submit additional information by letter.

If your situation changes before the Swedish Migration Agency has made a decision, you can supplement your application by post. It may be, for example, that you have started working, that you have completed your studies or that your family situation has changed.

Send your attachments to:

The Swedish Migration Agency/Migrationsverket
Box 3100
903 03 Umeå

You should not leave Sweden while you are waiting for a decision. In most cases, the Swedish Migration Agency cannot grant a residence permit extension to a person who is outside Sweden. To enter Sweden, you need a valid residence permit card that you will be given when the Swedish Migration Agency has granted your application for a residence permit extension. This means that you will not be able to come back to Sweden if you are abroad when your residence permit expires.

You may need to show your passport

In some cases, you need to have a passport in order to obtain a residence permit. The Swedish Migration Agency will then need to check your passport before a decision can be made. You will then need to visit one of the Swedish Migration Agency's service centres to show your passport.

If you need to show your passport, we will contact you with information on how and when to do so.

After the deci­sion

Once the Swedish Migration Agency has made its decision, you will be sent a letter. Usually, we use simplified notification which means we send you a letter with the decision by post to your home address. In some cases, you will receive a summons asking you to come to a meeting at the Swedish Migration Agency so a case officer can tell you about the decision.

When sending letters and summons to your home, the Swedish Migration Agency will primarily use your registered address, which we will get from the Swedish Tax Agency. Therefore, it is important that you notify the Swedish Tax Agency if you move. The Swedish Migration Agency cannot change your registered address.

If you have applied for a residence permit extension for your child, the Swedish Migration Agency will send the decision to the child's registered address. Parents/legal guardians can change their children's registered address by contacting the Swedish Tax Agency.

If you get a residence permit extension, you will need a new residence permit card. Then you need to make an appointment so you can have your fingerprints taken and be photographed so the Swedish Migration Agency can make a new residence permit card for you. You must make an appointment for each family member who needs a new residence permit card.

Read more about residence permit cards

Make an appointment before you visit us

The decision states whether or not you have been given a residence permit and for how long the permit is valid.

The decision also states why you have been given a residence permit. If you have been given a residence permit because you need protection (asylum) in Sweden, it will also say whether you have been given a new declaration of protection status. Those who already have protection status will retain it in most cases if they stated in their application that they still need protection.

Not all decisions can be appealed. The decision states whether you can appeal and how to appeal if you are not satisfied with the decision.

Read more about how to appeal

Permits of diffe­rent lengths

When you are granted an extended residence permit, you will usually receive a residence permit that is valid for two or three years. The length of the permit may sometimes be shorter if you have committed a crime.

If you are granted a permanent residence permit, you do not need to apply for an extended residence permit again.

If you have applied for a permanent residence permit, but are only granted an extended temporary residence permit, in some cases you can appeal the decision.

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