You want to employ someone who is a citizen of a country outside the EU/ESS for seasonal work in Sweden.
If you want to see the information aimed at the employee, you can visit the page You want to apply – Seasonal workers
The information on this page is aimed at established employers in Sweden who want to employ employees from countries outside the EU/EEA for seasonal work.
A seasonal worker is a person who mainly lives in a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland and who is temporarily staying in Sweden to perform work in a seasonal business, in accordance with agreements on fixed-term work.
Seasonal work is fixed-term employment for work that can only be performed during a certain part of the year, due to changes of weather and nature. Seasonal work is common in, for example, agriculture, the gardening industry, hotel and restaurant businesses, golf and ski sports facilities, tourism, and entertainment and theme park businesses. For berry pickers employed by companies that are not established in Sweden, other rules apply.
People who are in Sweden for less than one year do not have the same right to social welfare benefits as those who reside here. It is therefore required that the employee also has private insurance that can cover any costs that might arise if they fall ill or are injured in an accident. If the employee has not arranged this, they cannot get a work permit.
As an employer, you start the application for a seasonal work permit 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 must meet the following requirements in order for the person you want to employ to be able to get a seasonal work permit:
You must be an employer that is established in Sweden
You must advertise the vacant position for at least 10 days
You must advertise the vacancy in Sweden and within the EU/EEA and Switzerland for at least ten days.
You and the employee must sign an employment agreement
The employment agreement must be signed after the vacancy advertisement period has expired and needs to be signed by both parties.
You must agree with the employee on terms of employment and salary/wages
The terms of employment and salary/wages must be at least on par with Swedish collective agreements or what is customary in the occupation or industry. The employment must also enable the employee to make a good living. This means that the employee must work to such an extent that their salary/wages total at least SEK 13,000 per month before tax.
You must arrange insurance for the employee
The insurance must be taken out by the time their employment begins.
You must give the relevant trade union organisation the opportunity to comment on the terms of employment
When you plan to fill a vacancy, you must advertise the available position so that all residents of Sweden, the EU/EEA and Switzerland can apply. You can do this by advertising the position via the Swedish Public Employment Service’s job placement portal for at least ten days. Advertisements in the Swedish Public Employment Service’s jobs portal are also visible in the European job placement portal, EURES.
This vacancy advertisement requirement exists to ensure that your recruitment procedure is compatible with Sweden’s commitments as an EU Member State. See Chapter 6, Section 2 of the Aliens Act.
If you choose to advertise a vacancy in any way other than through the Swedish Public Employment Service, you must show that your vacancy advertisement corresponds to those in EURES and has been available to everyone in all EU/EEA countries and Switzerland. For example, it is usually not enough to advertise only on LinkedIn or via other such channels.
Please note that you will later need to have access to the relevant ad ID for the ad in the job placement portal, or the reference number for the ad in EURES.
The vacancy advertisement requirement applies only to new recruitment. For people who are employed by an employer abroad, and who have been assigned to perform work in Sweden, no vacancy advertisement is required, nor is it necessary if an employee is transferred within a group – as long as the position is still based abroad. However, if the position is moved to Sweden, it is considered a new job. Then you must advertise the position, and the person who will be working for you must apply for a new work permit.
Make sure you have access to the information about the employee, company 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 your employee will log into the e-service to continue their work permit application, so double check it carefully.
Information about the company
Company registration number, contact details, date the business was established, and location of the workplace. Employers in industries with higher requirements, start-ups and representatives also need to attach supporting documents.
Information about the employment
Occupation, SSYK code for the occupation in question, work responsibilities, form of employment, start date, scope, salary/wages, date of any collective agreement, insurance company/companies and advertisement ID.
In order for the employee to be able to get a work permit, the employer must have taken out medical insurance, life insurance, occupational injury insurance and occupational pension insurance for the employee by the time they start their employment.
In order to later apply for an extension of their work permit, the employee must have been covered by medical insurance, life insurance, occupational injury insurance and occupational pension insurance for the entire period that they have had a work permit in Sweden. It is therefore important that the documentation shows the date on which the insurance began to apply, as well as the terms and conditions of the policy.
People who are in Sweden for less than one year do not have the same right to social welfare benefits as those who reside here. It is therefore required that the employee also has private insurance that can cover any costs that might arise if they fall ill or are injured in an accident. If the employee has not arranged this, they cannot get a work permit.
Medical insurance provides financial support if the insured person falls ill or is injured. Medical insurance should not be confused with healthcare insurance, which helps the insured person to gain faster access to care.
A life insurance policy provides financial security if the insured person dies. For example, the money that is then paid out can help their surviving family be able to afford to stay in their home.
With an occupational injury insurance policy, the policyholder can receive compensation in the event of long-term unemployment or sick leave. The insurance provides compensation if the policyholder has been injured on the job or on the way to or from their workplace. This form of insurance is often referred to in Swedish as “Trygghetsförsäkring vid arbetsskada” and abbreviated to the acronym “TFA”.
Occupational pension insurance is an insurance solution to secure an occupational pension. It can be taken out by the employer for the benefit of the employee, or taken out by the employee but then paid by the employer.
In the e-service, you can choose which trade union organisation should be given the opportunity to comment on the employment. You choose the trade union that is relevant to the work that the employee is to perform. If the union is connected to the Swedish Migration Agency's digital processing, you will be able to select it directly in the e-service and later receive its statement of opinion directly in the e-service. Otherwise, they may give their statement via a form.
If the trade union refrains from commenting on the terms of employment, the Swedish Migration Agency will decide whether the offered terms of employment correspond to collective agreements or what is customary in the occupation or industry.
If your company is subject to higher requirements or is a start-up, you will need to attach copies of supporting documents. Prepare the documents and make sure that the information on them is clearly visible.
If you have previously employed people from outside the EU and those people have been granted a work permit to work for you, you must also attach:
Some industries have higher investigation requirements. If your company belongs to one of these industries, you must be able to report how the company is able to guarantee pay for the person applying for a work permit. You must also be able to prove that the conditions exist for you to be able to pay their salary/wages for at least three months.
These rules apply to you if you employ employees within the following industries:
The numbers in parentheses represent the first digits of current SNI codes. Your company’s SNI code can be found in your registration certificate from the Swedish Tax Agency.
Municipal, regional and state employers are exempt from the higher requirements and do not need to report the above to meet the work permit requirements.
If your business has existed for less than a year or has been dormant, you need to prove that you are able to pay salary/wages to the people you are hiring for at least three months. If you have previously employed non-EU/EEA citizens, you need to be able to prove that you have paid employer contributions and that these employees have been covered by the right insurance.
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.
If the employer rents housing to the employee or acts as an intermediary in finding them housing
The employee may not be a lodger during their stay in Sweden. “Lodger” refers to a situation in which a tenant rents a specific part of a residence while the landlord usually uses the rest of the residence.
To show that the housing requirement is met, the employee needs a copy of a lease agreement or a certificate of future accommodation from the landlord or housing broker. The employee must submit this copy with their part of the application.
The rental agreement must include
If the housing is being sublet, the employee must also submit documents showing that this has been approved by the landlord, tenant-owner association or rental board.
The seasonal worker may be granted a permit for a maximum of two years, but not for longer than the duration of their employment. They can never be granted a permit for longer than their passport is valid.
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.
If you want to employ a person who already has a seasonal work permit with another employer, they must apply for a new permit. The employee can then apply from within Sweden.
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
You advertise the vacancy for at least ten days, so that all residents of Sweden, EU/EEA and Switzerland can apply for the job. For example, you can post it on the Swedish Public Employment Service’s job placement portal.
You offer the employee a job. You should also review which insurance policies you or the employee may need to take out.
As the employer, you start your part of the application by providing information about the employment in the e-service.
Be sure to provide complete information. The Swedish Migration Agency prioritises complete cases.
You send information to the trade union relevant to the industry into which the job falls, and give them the opportunity to comment on the terms of employment.
The employee receives a link to the e-service and fills in their part of the application. They attach the required documents and complete the application.
The application is not registered until the employee has completed their part of it.
Now follows a period of waiting until the Swedish Migration Agency takes a closer look at the application.
The Swedish Migration Agency reviews the application. If we can immediately see that the employee does not meet the requirements for a work permit, we may already make a decision to refuse the application. We will contact you or the employee if we need more information.
The employee will be asked to present their passport, either at a Swedish embassy, at one of the Swedish Migration Agency’s service centres, or via a digital passport control.
After the employee has presented their passport, the Swedish Migration Agency reviews all information relating to the application and investigates whether they can be granted a work permit. We will contact you or the employee if we need more information.
Once the Swedish Migration Agency has made a decision, the employer will be notified by post. The employee will be notified by email or post.
As an employer, you start the application by providing information about the employment. Once you have completed your part, the employee must proceed with their part of the application. The application will not be registered with the Swedish Migration Agency until the employee has filled in and submitted their part of the application.
Be sure to provide complete information and attach all required documents. The Swedish Migration Agency prioritises complete cases. We will not start processing the application until it is complete.
See which documents you must attach under the “Important to know” tab
By logging in you accept the terms of use
If you are unable to provide information about your employment via the e-service, fill in this form instead:
Information about the employment (232511)
Pdf, 818.4 kB.
If you rent housing to the employee or act as an intermediary in finding them housing, you need to show that the housing requirement is met. Fill in the form:
Accommodation details – Appendix for seasonal work permit application (264011) Pdf, 710.1 kB.
Send the forms to the employee, who must submit them at a Swedish embassy or consulate-general, together with their application for a permit.
If the employment relates to several people with the same work responsibilities and terms of employment, you must also attach the form:
Namnlista [Name list] (234011, only in Swedish) Pdf, 1.2 MB.
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.
2024-12-19
After the end of the year, seasonal workers will need employment contracts
In order to get a permit as a seasonal worker, it is no longer enough to have a job offer in Sweden. Instead, starting 1 January 2025, you will need to have an employment contract signed by both parties.