You want to apply Permanent residence permits for doctoral students

You want to apply for a permanent residence permit as a doctoral student. If any of your family members also want to apply for a permanent residence permit, they can do so at the same time as you.

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These requirements must be met in order for you to be granted a permanent residence permit.

You must have lived in Sweden with a residence permit for at least four years
You must have lived in Sweden with a residence permit for doctoral studies and/or as an employee for a total of four years during the past seven years.

You must plan to live in Sweden

You must be able to support yourself financially

You must live a well-behaved life

Translate documents
All submitted documents should be in Swedish or English. If you have translated your documents, the translation should be certified. You must also include a copy of the document in its original language.

You must attach copies of these documents to your application

Make sure that the information on your submitted documents is clearly visible.

Correctly made copies of your passport
You can never be granted a permit for longer than your passport is valid.
Read more about what the passport copies must show

Previous admission decision from the higher education institution
You must enclose a copy of the higher education institution’s previous decision to admit you as a doctoral student.

Certificate of doctoral studies
You must enclose a certificate from your supervisor stating that you have studied or are still studying at the doctoral level and specifying the start and end dates of your studies.

Documents showing that you meet the maintenance requirement

You must attach different certificates depending on how you will be supporting yourself financially:

  • If you are an employee, you must submit a copy of your employment contract and your latest pay slip (if you have started your job).
  • If you are self-employed, you must submit a copy of your registration certificate from the Swedish Companies Registration Office and a copy of your F-tax certificate.
  • If you are supporting yourself in some other way, you must attach documents to prove this.

Documents to attach if your family will be applying with you

If your family is applying with you, you must show, among other things, that your income is sufficient to support the entire family and that you have a home that is of an adequate size and standard for all of you to live in. You must attach:

Correctly made copies of each family member’s passport

Your family member can never be granted a residence permit for longer than their passport is valid.
Read more about what the passport copies must show

Documents showing your relationship
If you are married: marriage certificate, marriage record, or similar document.

If you are cohabiting partners: documents showing that you have lived together, such as population registration certificates, a joint rental contract, or proof of the joint purchase of a home.

Documents showing that you have housing

If you rent your home, you must submit a copy of your rental contract. You must also attach a rental notice for the previous month’s rent (1 month).

The contract must include:

  • monthly rent
  • number of rooms
  • tenant’s name
  • landlord’s name
  • rental period
  • signature of the landlord.
If you sublet your home

If you sublet your home, you must also submit documents showing that your landlord, tenant-owner association, or local rent tribunal has approved the rental arrangement. When a person in Sweden sublets a rented flat, it is the property owner who is the landlord, not the holder of the first-hand contract. A contract or agreement must be signed.

If you own your home, you must submit a copy of the purchase contract or another transfer document stating that you own the property. If the number of rooms is not stated in the document, you can attach a floor plan, housing specification, or similar document.

You must also submit documents showing what housing costs you have. Regardless of whether you live in a tenant-owned flat, house, or detached house, you must submit documents showing what interest expenses you have and how much mortgage you are paying.

If you live in a tenant-owned flat, you must submit copies of documents showing their monthly fees and other possible operating costs that are not included in the monthly fee, such as heating, electricity, and water bills.

If you live in a house or detached house, you must submit documents showing its operating costs. For example, these may include fees for heating, water, garbage collection, sewerage, community fees, property fees, or other costs tied to the home.

Documents showing that you have an income

If you work, you need to send in a copy of your employment contract. The employment contract must state:

  • name of the employee
  • type of employment (e.g., permanent, fixed-term, temporary position)
  • Percentage of full-time employment
  • wages/salary
  • employer
  • signature of an authorised representative of your employer.

You also need to submit a copy of your latest payslip. It must include:

  • name of the person receiving the wages/salary (the employee)
  • name of the person paying the wages/salary (the employer)
  • net wages/salary
  • any supplement or deduction to the employee’s wages/salary (e.g., for leave or illness).
If your employment is fixed-term

If your employment lasts longer than a year, you need to send in a copy of your employment contract and latest payslip.

If your employment is hourly or on-demand, you must send in a copy of their employment contract and three most recent payslips.

If your current employment will be terminated within the year and you have previously had fixed-term jobs, you also need to submit your previous employment contracts for the past year.

You can also submit documents showing that you are a member of an unemployment insurance fund (A-kassa) and that you will receive compensation from the fund if you become unemployed.

You need to submit a copy of the decision from the unemployment insurance fund and a statement detailing their payments to you. The documents should specify how much compensation you receive and the period for which you are entitled to compensation.

You need to send in a copy of the decision from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency stating the type and amount of compensation you receive. The documents should state the period during which you are entitled to compensation from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency.

If you only, or in addition to an employment, have a sole proprietorship or is a partner in a trading or limited partnership, your income consists of your share of the surplus from your own company, after deductions for personal contributions. This usually means the surplus from business activity that you declare in your income tax return.

You can show their income by submitting:

  • a copy of your final tax notice for the previous income year
  • a copy of your income tax return, together with a copy of your NE or N3A form, for the previous income year
  • copy of your preliminary tax decision for the current year from the Swedish Tax Agency, or an account statement from your tax account covering at least three months which clearly shows how much preliminary tax you have paid.

If you are a partner in a limited company, you can show that you receive salary or other remuneration from your limited company by submitting the following documents:

  • salary agreement and payslips for the last month (1 month)
  • account statement from the limited company’s tax account covering at least three months, to show paid employer’s contributions and preliminary tax paid to the Swedish Tax Agency
  • if you ran the business the previous year, you can submit a final tax statement or tax return documentation for the past year
  • a copy of your income tax return for the previous year, and a K10 form from the Swedish Tax Agency if you have received share dividends
  • extract from the Swedish Tax Agency showing the control data submitted for you for the past three months.

You need to submit a copy of the decision showing the type of pension you have and how much pension you receive (annually or monthly). For example, you can do this by providing a copy of a decision from the Swedish Pensions Agency.

Documents showing that each family member over the age of 18 meets the maintenance requirement

If your family applies for a permanent residence permit, all family members over the age of 18 must be able to support themselves financially.

  • If the family member is an employee: A copy of their certificate of employment and their latest payslip (if they have started the job).
  • If the family member is self-employed: A copy of their registration certificate from the Swedish Companies Registration Office and a copy of their F-tax certificate.
  • If the family member is entitled to a pension: A decision from the Swedish Pensions Agency stating that they are entitled to an income-based retirement pension, guarantee pension, or financial support for the elderly.
  • If the family member cannot support themselves financially on other special grounds, e.g., if they have a permanent impairment of working capacity: Documents showing this, such as an investigation by the Swedish Public Employment Service, a decision on entitlement to sickness benefit or activity compensation from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, or a medical certificate.

Birth record or birth certificate stating the names of the child’s parents

Sole custody decision
If you have sole custody of your child, you must attach a court decision to this effect. If the other parent is deceased, you must submit a death certificate.

Consent that the child may move to Sweden
If a child has two parents/legal guardians and the child’s other parent/legal guardian will be remaining in their country of origin, you must attach a statement of consent from the other parent/legal guardian to the application. If you share joint custody, a copy of the other parent or legal guardian’s passport or other identity document must also be attached.
Consent for a child to settle in Sweden (217011) Pdf, 1.1 MB.

Adoption documents, if your child is adopted

To get a permanent residence permit, you must be able to support yourself through income from employment or your own company, or a combination of the two. You may add together income from one or more part-time jobs, provided that all the positions meet the below requirements and the total income is sufficient to be able to support yourself financially.

Your ability to support yourself must be sustainable

You must be able to show that you can support yourself financially for a long time to come. If you do not have a permanent position, we always make an individual assessment of whether your income is reliable.

Your employment must be serious. For example, the Swedish Migration Agency can check that your employer is able to pay you the wages/salary you specified in your application.

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 considerable period of time.

Only the income you actually have when we consider your application 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 requirement to have a work permit. 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 a permanent 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 high enough so that after you pay your monthly housing costs, you still have a certain amount of money left over that can cover the costs of food, clothing, hygiene, telephone, electricity, and insuring yourself, among other things. In 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 wages/salary must also be sufficient to cover their maintenance allowance.

The housing costs that your wages 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 water and heating in this calculation, if the latter are 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 housing costs.

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 housing costs in your calculation. However, if you live with one or more other adults, you should divide your actual housing costs 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 your housing.

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, 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, for example 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 get a permanent residence permit in Sweden, it is important that you cannot be assumed to commit a crime in the future. For this reason, it is a requirement that applicants for a permanent residence permit can be expected to 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 being granted a permanent residence permit. It is not only serious crimes that are taken into account. Even less serious ones can be an obstacle, if you misbehaved in other ways at the same time.

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

Exemptions to this so-called “good conduct qualification” are made only for children under the age of 15.

You cannot have more than one residence permit for the same period, nor can your permit periods overlap. If you are granted a permanent residence permit, it will take effect on the day you receive a decision. For this reason, you should not submit your application should more than 14 days before your current permit expires.

If any of your family members has had a residence permit to live with you in Sweden for at least three years, they can apply for a permanent residence permit at the same time as you. The Swedish Migration Agency will then first consider your application for a permanent residence permit. If you are granted a permanent residence permit, your family member’s application will then be examined.

In order for your family members to be granted permanent residence permits, you must fulfil a maintenance requirement.

Maintenance requirement for the person in Sweden

In addition, to get a permanent residence permit, each family member must meet the following requirements:

• Family members who are 18 years of age or older must be able to support themselves financially.
• Family members who are 15 years of age or older must live a well-behaved life.

Read more about the maintenance requirement and the requirement to live a well-behaved life under the heading What the maintenance requirement and the requirement to live a well-behaved life mean.

If your family members cannot be granted a permanent residence permit, the Swedish Migration Agency will assess whether they can be granted a temporary residence permit.

It is not possible to say exactly how long you will need to wait for a decision. There are many things that affect the waiting time, for example whether your 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 your case.

Here we show statistics on how long it has taken for people who have applied for the same permit as you.

75% of applications receive a decision within:8 months

Adults: SEK 1,500
Children under 18 years of age: SEK 750

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.

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.