Employers Athletes and coaches

You represent a club or association affiliated with the Swedish Sports Confederation and you want to employ an athlete or coach who is a citizen of a non-EU/EEA country.

  • Important to know
  • How it works
  • Apply

If you want to see the information aimed at the employee, you can visit the page You want to apply – Athletes and coaches

The information on this page is aimed at clubs and associations that want to employ an athlete or trainer who needs a work permit to work in Sweden.

Certain people may work in Sweden without a work permit. This applies, for example, to professional athletes and officials who do not have a contract with a Swedish club and who will participate in international competitions for a total of three months over a period of twelve months.

Certain people are exempt from the work permit requirement

The employer starts the application

As an employer, you start the work permit application for the person you want to employ. You do this by providing information about the employment to the Swedish Migration Agency via our e-service. When you are finished, the employee receives a link to the e-service, where they fill in their information, submit and thus complete the application. Only then is the application registered with the Swedish Migration Agency.

In addition to the requirements imposed on the employee, as an employer you must meet the following requirements in order for the person you want to employ to be able to get a work permit as an athlete or coach:

The club or association must be affiliated with the Swedish Sports Confederation

You and the employee must sign an employment agreement
The agreement must be signed by both parties.

You must offer a high enough salary/wages
The salary/wages must total at least SEK 14,300 per month, before tax.

You must take out sickness and accident insurance for the employee
The employee must have sickness and accident insurance consistent with what is customary for the sport and level in question.

The employee must play or coach in a particular division or series – football
The athlete must play in at least Division 1 for men or the Damallsvenskan or Elitettan for women, if they are a football player. The same requirements apply to football coaches.

The employee must play or coach in a particular division or series – basketball
The athlete must play in the Basketligan or the Basketettan leagues, if they are a basketball player. The same requirements apply to basketball coaches.

The employee must play or coach in a specific division or series – ice hockey
If they work in men’s hockey, the employee must play or coach in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), Hockeyallsvenskan or Hockeyettan. In women’s ice hockey, the employee must play or coach in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League.

The Swedish Sports Confederation must certify that the employment is of essential importance
They must certify that the employment of the athlete or coach is essential for the positive development of the sport.

  • Sign an employment agreement with the employee

The contract must be signed by both parties. The employee will later be asked to attach a copy of the agreement in their part of the application.

In order for the Swedish Migration Agency to assess whether the employment meets the required conditions for a work permit, in addition to name and contact details, an employment contract should include the following:

  • the employee’s name and address
  • the employer’s name and address
  • information about where the workplace is located
  • title and brief description of work responsibilities
  • form of employment (permanent, fixed-term or probationary)
  • employment start date or time
  • monthly salary/wages (in Swedish kronor), other salary benefits, and how often the salary/wages will be paid
  • working hours
  • which insurances the employee is covered by
  • duration of the playing season expressed by start and end dates.

If the processing of the application takes time, the start date you specify in the employment agreement may pass. Then the Swedish Migration Agency may need to ask you for a new start date – which could extend the processing time. To avoid this, you can formulate the employment agreement so that it does not specify a specific start date, but instead states that the employment will start from the date that the Swedish Migration Agency grants the work permit.

  • Collect important information

Make sure you have access to the information about the employee, club or association, and employment that you will need to provide in the e-service.

Information about the person you want to employ
Name, date of birth, citizenship, education and email address. Please note that it is through this email address that the employee will log into the e-service to continue the work permit application, so double check it carefully.

Information about the club or association
Company registration number, contact details, date the business was established, and location of the workplace.

Information about the employment
Occupation, SSYK code for the occupation in question, work responsibilities, form of employment, start date, scope, salary/wages and date of any collective agreement.

A copy of their power of attorney to act as a representative.

Power of attorney (107011) Pdf, 1.1 MB.

Read more about power of attorney

If you will be acting as a representative for an employer, you need to arrange a power of attorney.

Please note that if you are a representative with power of attorney, you are the only person who will have access to the case during the entire application period, because you create the e-application using your e-ID. You will thus be the only one who can complete the employer’s part of the application and respond to any requests for supplementation.

Read more about power of attorney

The athlete or coach can get a work permit for a maximum of two years, but not for longer than the term of contract. They can never be granted a permit for longer than their passport is valid. If any of the employee’s family members are accompanying them to Sweden, they can be granted residence permits for the same period, but never longer than the period of validity of their passports.

The permit can be extended.

It is not possible to say exactly how long it takes to recieve a decision. There are many things that affect the waiting time, for example whether the application is complete to begin with or whether we need to request more information, or whether we need to check with other authorities when investigating the case.

Here we show statistics on how long it has taken for people who have applied for this permit.

Complete applications

75% of applications receive a decision within:1 months

Incomplete applications

75% of applications receive a decision within:1 months

If you want to employ a person who is already working in Sweden and has a valid work permit, you need to apply for a new work permit if the person has had a permit for less than two years, because the person will be changing employers.

If the person has had a work permit for more than two years, you only need to apply for a new work permit if the position is in a different occupation than the one to which the current permit relates. Otherwise, the person may work with you under their current permit.

If a person who already has a work permit to work for you is going to change occupations, get new work responsibilities, or if the terms of their employment with you otherwise change, you and the employee need to apply for a new permit. The same applies if the company changes company registration numbers or is acquired by new owners. Remember to apply before the current permit expires.

Some people are in Sweden with a residence permit that also gives them the right to work. Read more about them:

Employing someone who already has the right to work in Sweden

News

2025-03-05

The Swedish Migration Agency's new website has now been launched

On 5 March, the Swedish Migration Agency launched a completely new version of migrationsverket.se, with a new structure and a more user-friendly navigation. The purpose of the new website is primarily to make it easier for visitors to find the information they need.

2025-01-07

New EU Blue Card rules now apply

As of 1 January, new requirements and rules apply for anyone who wants to apply for an EU Blue Card and existing Blue Card holders.

The Swedish Migration Agency is responsible for considering applications from people who want to live in Sweden, seek protection or become Swedish citizens. Our work is based on Swedish laws and international conventions, with a focus on legal certainty and effective reception and return.