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You want to extend Self-employed people

You have a residence permit to run your own business in Sweden and want to extend your permit. You can apply for an extension of any family member’s residence permit at the same time.

If you want to continue running your own business in Sweden, you can apply to extend your residence permit.

If anyone in your family already has a residence permit to live with you in Sweden, you can apply together to extend your permits.

If your family wants to move in with you for the first time, they must submit their own application at a later date. In such a case, you must meet a maintenance requirement.

Residence permits for family who apply afterwards

If you have had a residence permit as a self-employed person in Sweden for at least two years, you can also choose to apply for a permanent residence permit. You apply for a permanent residence permit when you apply for an extension of your current permit.

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.

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. If they are granted such a permit, they can then apply for a permanent residence permit the next time it is time to apply for an extended permit.

  • You must have a valid passport

  • You must be able to show that you run the business and continue to have decisive influence over the business

  • You must comply with generally accepted accounting principles and have the necessary permits for the business
    The Swedish Migration Agency will check that you are running the business according to the reported plans. This means, among other things, that we check

    • that you pay your business’s taxes and fees
    • that you comply with your accounting obligation in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles
    • that you have all the necessary and up-to-date permits and meet the legal requirements for the business
    • whether you have debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority and/or payment defaults
    • that you can support yourself and your family with your income from the business
    • that your business is profitable, is a lasting business, and has the ability to survive in the future
    • that you and your accompanying family have a reasonable living situation.

Requirements to get a permanent residence permit

  • You must have had a residence permit to run your own business in Sweden for at least two years
    You must have had, and met the conditions for, a residence permit as a self-employed person, and have run your own business in Sweden for at least two years.

  • You must be able to support yourself financially through your business

    To be eligible for a permanent residence permit, you must be able to financially support yourself through income from your own business.

    Your ability to support yourself financially must be sustainable

    You must be able to show that you can support yourself financially for a long time to come.
    You must be able to show that your business 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 examine your application counts. You cannot get a permanent residence permit based on your chances of getting a higher income sometime in the future.

    What income counts?

    You may only count taxed income from your business. You may not count undeclared income, nor income from a profession that you are not licensed to practise.

    To count income from your business, you must show that you own at least 51 percent of the business and that you have decisive responsibility for its operations. It is also required that you run the business professionally, independently and for profit.

    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 2025, that amount is SEK 6,186 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 salary/wages 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 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 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.

  • You must live a well-behaved life

    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.

If you do not meet the requirements for a permanent residence permit, you may still be able to be granted an extended work permit, if you meet the requirements.

Requirements for your family to receive permanent residence permit

In order for your family members to be granted residence permits on the grounds that they are your close relatives, and you have now been granted a permanent residence permit, you must meet a maintenance requirement.

Maintenance requirement for the person in Sweden

To get a permanent residence permit, each family member must meet the following requirements:

  • They must have had a residence permit in Sweden for at least three years.
  • Family members who are 18 years of age or older must be able to support themselves financially.
  • They must live a well-behaved life.

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

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
    If your passport is about to expire, you should extend it, because you cannot get a permit for longer than your passport is valid.
    Read more about what the passport copies must show

  • Documents showing that you can support yourself financially
    Bank certificate showing that you have enough money to support yourself for two years, equivalent to SEK 200,000.

  • Annual report or annual accounts from your business
    Annual report or annual accounts from your business for the years that you have had a residence permit as a self-employed person.

  • Balance sheet and profit and loss statement from the current financial year, up to and including the previous month

  • Tax return documents for the most recent income year

    • Your tax return documents for the most recent income year, including an income tax return description. Also include the NE appendix if you run a sole proprietorship, or the N3A appendix if you are a partner in a partnership (trading company).
    • Tax return documents for your business. Attach Income Tax Return 4 if you run a partnership (trading company) and Income Tax Return 2 if you run a limited company.

  • Tax account statement for your business for the period in which you have conducted business activities in Sweden

  • A certificate of registration for any cash registers
    If your business makes cash or credit card sales.

  • A copy of the staff ledger
    If you conduct business activities in the construction, restaurant, hairdressing, or laundry industry.

  • Bank statements with all transactions from your personal and business accounts for the past six months

  • Pay slips for yourself for the past six months
    If you run a limited company.

  • Contracts or agreements with customers, suppliers, and business premises

  • A brief description of how you run your business
    Also attach photos of the company’s products and premises.

  • A share register or a partnership agreement
    A share register or a partnership agreement that shows ownership in the company and regulates the distribution of profits between the partners. If you have bought a new business, you must present the purchase contract and receipts for the payment.

  • A certificate of non-indebtedness showing that the company is debt-free
    If you have, or ever have had, debts to the Swedish Enforcement Authority tied to the company.

  • A certificate proving your housing situation
    For example, a purchase contract, rental agreement, or certificate of approved subletting arrangement. The documentation must show your housing costs and any rental period.

A representative can apply for you, if you grant them power of attorney. To do this, you must attach a copy of the power of attorney to your application.

Power of attorney (107011) Pdf, 1.1 MB.

More about power of attorney

Documents to attach if your family is applying with you

  • Correctly made copies of your passport
    If your passport is about to expire, you should extend it, because you cannot get a permit for longer than your passport is valid.
    Read more about what the passport copies must show

  • Documents showing that you can support yourself and your family financially
    If you are applying for a permanent residence permit and your family applies for a residence permit at the same time, you must be able to show that your income is sufficient to support yourself and your family financially and that you have housing of an adequate size and standard in which you and your family can live.

  • 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 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 can apply for an extension no more than two months before your current permit will expire. You must apply before your current permit expires.

If you apply too late
If you apply for too late, i.e. after your residence permit has expired, you will not be able to work while you wait for a decision. You also risk losing certain social benefits.
Moreover, if you apply too late, there is a risk your application will be rejected because you will have been in Sweden without a valid residence permit.

If you apply for a permanent residence permit at the same time
The Swedish Migration Agency recommends that you submit your application no more than one month before your current permit expires. This is because we can only make a decision regarding your application for a permanent residence permit after your current permit has expired.

You can be granted a residence permit as a self-employed person for a maximum of two years, but never for longer than your passport is valid.

A family member can be granted a residence permit for the same period as you if you are granted a permit as a self-employed person, but never for longer than their passport is valid.

If you are granted a permanent residence permit, it is valid for as long as you are resident in Sweden.

Employees/self-employed people: SEK 2,000.
Adult family members: SEK 1,500
Children: SEK 750

Citizens of Japan do not pay an application fee.

You will not receive a refund if your application is rejected.

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. The statistics are based on cases decided in the last 12 months.

Complete applications

There are too few decided cases for us to be able to calculate the waiting time.

Incomplete applications

75% of recently decided cases have been decided within:27 months

News

2025-07-23

Extended passports become invalid on 1 October

As of 1 October 2025, Swedish authorities will no longer accept passports that have had their period of validity extended by inserting a stamp or sticker into the passport. If you have such a national passport, you should apply for a new one.

2025-05-20

What counts as a salary?

One of the requirements for being granted a work permit is that the salary must enable you to make a good living. A new ruling from the Migration Court of Appeal clarifies what counts as a salary.

2025-04-01

From 1 April, the possibility of changing tracks will end

On 1 April, the Swedish Parliament’s decision to remove the possibility of changing tracks will come into force. This affects those who have been granted, or applied for, a work permit after an asylum application has been rejected. Your co-applicant family members will also be affected.

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.