Renewing a Work Permit in Sweden

Renewing a work permit in Sweden is required under the following circumstances:

• Your permit is expiring
• You have held a work permit in Sweden for less than 2 years and you are changing employer or occupation/role
• You have held a work permit in Sweden for more than 2 years and you are changing occupation/role

Here is an outline of the general process:

1. Offer of employment is created, union statement is collected, and the application form is filled out and submitted. When possible, the application should always be submitted using the Migration Agency’s online portal. Submitting paper applications can cause a delay in the process by up to 2-3 months.
2. Migration Agency will process the application in approximately 6-10 months (or 20 days if the application is submitted by a certified company)
3. If the application is approved the applicant should visit an office of the Migration Agency to submit biometrics to receive a new residence permit card (biometrics are required for each new application that is submitted)

Work Permit Extension Rejection

But sometimes you might receive Sweden work permit extension rejection letter because you didn’t fulfill the requirements. Below you will find the basic requirements needed to renew a work permit:

• Hold a valid passport (to receive a permit for the maximum period of 2 years the passport should be valid for at least 2 years from the expiration date of the current permit)
• Have been offered continued employment in Sweden. The terms of the employment must on par with those set by Swedish collective agreements or which are customary within the occupation or industry. What this means is that the employment must follow standard work regulations and the offered salary must not be worse than what is commonly practiced within that profession (and cannot be lower than 13,000 SEK per month).
  • As part of the process it will be required to obtain a “union statement” where a local union comments on and approves the salary level. For more information about union statements, click here.
• The employer must cover the following insurances:
  – Health insurance (must cover loss of income)
  – Life insurance
  – Occupational Injury insurance
  – Pension insurance

The Migration Agency will also check to ensure that the following requirements have been met during your first permit period:

• You have received the offered salary that was stated in your previous application
• You have been covered by the required insurances during the permit period

Necessary documents

The Migration Agency will control these requirements by requesting the following documents:

• Payslips for the current year (and any year that you have received income but where you do not have an annual income statement)
• Annual income statements (Samtliga Kontrolluppgifter) from the tax agency
  This is a form that shows all income that you have received from all employers in Sweden. It is a form that can generally only be received by visiting the Tax Agency in person or by calling and requesting it. It is not a form that can be ordered online.

If you are changing employers or occupation/role, the following requirement must also be met:

• Position is advertised on Arbetsförmedlingen’s website
  (Read more about possible exemptions to the requirement to advertise the position)

An important thing to note when changing employer or occupation/role is that the Migration Agency will in most cases not grant a new 2 year permit. The new work permit will be updated with the new employer and/or occupation/role but the expiry date will be the same as for the current permit. The Migration Agency will usually only change the expiration date if a decision is made within 1-2 month of the expiry.