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PERMANENT RESIDENCY

How long can you leave Sweden for and not risk your permanent residency?

Several respondents to a recent survey by The Local said that one of the problems they faced in Sweden was uncertainty over how long they can leave the country without losing their right to stay. Here are the rules so far as we understand them.

Published: 23 November 2022 12:05 CET
Updated: 1 December 2023 05:59 CET
passengers at arlanda airport
Thinking of leaving Sweden for a long period of time? Bear in mind you could lose your permanent residency. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT

The length of time a foreign citizen is able to leave Sweden without jeopardising their right to stay in the country or their chances of being awarded citizenship or permanent residence depend very much on what grounds they have a right to be here.

Keep in mind that the only type of residence document which is truly permanent – as in, that cannot be revoked no matter how long you are away – is Swedish citizenship.

Every other type of residence expires if you are out of the country for long enough. 

If you have the right to stay in Sweden temporarily and want to keep it or make it permanent 

Non-EU citizens 

For this group (which also includes EU citizens in Sweden under Swedish law (uppehållstillstånd holders) rather than EU law (people with uppehållsrätt)), the amount of time you can be away from Sweden varies depending on which permit you are on while living in Sweden. 

Non-EU citizens in Sweden on work permits or as doctoral students, for example, need to provide documentation proving they have had a work permit as an employee (or have been carrying out doctoral research, in the case of doctoral students) and have lived and worked in Sweden for four years out of the past seven years when applying for permanent residency, so it is possible to leave Sweden for several years over this period and still qualify. 

But people should still check the rules very carefully and make sure they can prove they have been in Sweden long enough.

Those in Sweden on family reunification permits (often referred to as sambo permits) need to provide the Migration Agency with details of any trips abroad of more than three weeks when renewing a residence permit, as well as whether they were travelling with the partner or spouse they live with in Sweden.

There do not appear to be any official guidelines for permanent residence permit applicants in Sweden as refugees, although the agency says in general for all types of residence permit that “shorter visits overseas, for example for holidays, do not affect your residence time [when applying for a permanent residence permit]. This is the case for other journeys overseas long as you have not moved from Sweden”.

For all non-EU citizens wanting to apply for citizenship, the Migration Agency specifies that any periods where you have been outside of Sweden for more than six weeks will be removed from the period of residence that counts towards the five years in Sweden. 

This suggests that overseas trips of more than six weeks would probably be considered long enough to affect your residence time when seeking permanent residence, too.

EU citizens and non-EU family members

EU citizens who have lived in Sweden for five years or more and have either been working, studying, self-employed or self-supporting for that entire period automatically get permanent right of residence or permanent uppehållsrätt.

This also applies to non-EU family members of non-Swedish EU citizens in Sweden on an uppehållskort (residence card) due to their relationship with an EU citizen, and EU citizens who have switched from one category to another – such as originally arriving as a student and then getting a job after graduation – you just need to have been legally living in Sweden under one or more of these categories for the entire five-year period.

Under the EU Free Movement Directive, an EU citizen (or their non-EU family member) may be temporarily absent for periods not exceeding a total of six months within each year without losing their residence status, with each year starting on the anniversary of the date when the EU citizen commenced residence in Sweden. 

The Migration Agency told The Local that it “respects the commission’s statement on its judgement”, and that six months away from Sweden is “acceptable as a rule”. 

It also stressed that “it is difficult to give an exact time limit for how long a person can be outside Sweden because this is affected by individual circumstances”. 

“The assessment of every case is individual and will be handled according to the information relevant to the case”. 

UK citizens with post-Brexit residence status

The UK withdrawal agreement largely gives Britons living in Sweden with uppehållsstatus (post-Brexit residence status) similar rights when it comes to residence as when they were EU citizens. 

Brits arriving in Sweden after this date (or before this date under Swedish rules rather than EU rules) are subject to the non-EU rules listed above.

This means that British citizens with post-Brexit residence status can leave Sweden for up to six months each year without losing their post-Brexit residence status. 

However, time spent abroad does seem to impact on the time people are considered to have been living in Sweden for the purposes of getting citizenship. 

A Migration Agency officer told one British applicant in an email that longer trips abroad can affect the calculation of “the period of habi­tual resi­dence” they are seen as having spent in Sweden. 

“If the applicant travelled abroad for short visits or a holiday, for example, it has no impact on the period of habitual residence in Sweden. But if the applicant were abroad for more than six weeks in total during a year, the entire time he/she was outside Sweden must be subtracted from the period of habitual residence.”

If you have the right to stay in Sweden permanently and don’t want to lose it

EU citizens

EU citizens who have lived in Sweden for more than five years automatically gain “a permanent right of residence”. If they wish to, they can apply for a free certificate of permanent residence, which can be used to document this right, but this is not required. You can lose your permanent right of residence if you move away from Sweden for more than two years (see here).

Non-EU/EEA citizens living with a non-Swedish EU/EEA citizen

Non-EU/EEA citizens who are living with a non-Swedish EU/EEA citizen can get a permanent residence card (permanent uppehållskort) after five years in Sweden. Like their EU partners, they can lose their right to live in Sweden permanently if they move away from Sweden for more than two years. 

UK citizens with post-Brexit residence status

UK citizens who have a permanent residence status (permanent uppehållsstatus) in Sweden are treated more generously than EU citizens. 

According to this Q&A from the European Commission’s lawyers, “the conditions for losing the new residence status are more beneficial compared to those in EU law on free movement as United Kingdom nationals and their family members can leave the host EU state for up to five years without losing their permanent residence rights”. 

Other non-EU citizens 

Non-EU citizens who have a permanent residence permit (Permanent uppehållstillstånd or PUT), can lose their permanent residence permit if they leave Sweden for more than one year.  

If they inform the Swedish Migration Agency before they depart, however, they can be away from Sweden for up to two years without losing their residence permit.

The same rules apply for EU or UK citizens who have a permanent residency permit (Permanent uppehållstillstånd or PUT) rather than EU right of residence (uppehållsrätt) or post-Brexit residence status (uppehållsstatus) – i.e. those who live in Sweden under Swedish rules rather than EU rules or the EU Withdrawal Agreement.

This article was amended after The Local sent a follow-up question to the lawyer at the Migration Agency and was told that she was not an expert on citizenship and was, as a result, unsure as to whether the six-month rule would apply in citizenship cases for EU citizens. 

Member comments

  1. Hi,
    How long can you stay outside Sweden and still keep your residence status not permenet status, is it two years ?

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Your questions answered on the UK’s new £10 entry fee for European travellers

From next year, European travellers visiting the UK will be required to pay a £10 Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) in order to enter. The Local answers your questions on what that means for people living in the EU or EEA, including EU spouses and dual nationals.

Published: 13 September 2024 12:10 CEST
Your questions answered on the UK's new £10 entry fee for European travellers

The UK has introduced an electronic travel authorisation scheme known as ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) for people paying short visits such as tourists of those visiting family members.

The ETA – which costs £10, lasts for two years and must be applied for online in advance of your trip – is already in place for citizens of some countries, but in the spring of 2025 it will be expanded to include EU and EEA citizens such as French, German or Swiss nationals.

You can find full details of the scheme and how it works here.

The UK government information is largely geared towards tourists, and readers of The Local had questions – especially on how the changes affect people with residency in an EU or EEA country, on the position for EU spouses of a UK national and the changes for dual nationals.

Does this affect Brits who are resident in an EU/EEA country?

This system all depends on the passport you are travelling on, not where you live or whether you have a residency permit for another country.

So in short if you are travelling on your UK passport, you will be treated like every other Brit and won’t need an ETA. If you are a dual national, it depends on the passport you are travelling on (more on that below).

However Brits who have an EU partner or spouse (who don’t have a British passport) should be aware that the changes will apply to their spouse.

Does this limit stays in the UK for EU citizens who are married to a Brit?

ETA, like the EU’s new EES biometric passport checks and ETIAS visa waiver, does not change any of the existing rules around immigration or long-stay visas.

At present, citizens of a number of countries – including all EU/EEA countries and a number of non-EU countries such as the USA and Canada – benefit from visa-free travel to the UK for short visits. Those people can stay in the UK for up to 180 days per year without needing a visa, although they cannot work in the UK.

This category would cover tourists and people making short visits to family. Anyone who wants to stay longer than 180 days in a year, or who wants to work in the UK, would need a visa or to apply for residency through other routes such as the EU Settled Status scheme. This includes EU nationals who have a British spouse.

What changes under ETA is that the people making short stays will no longer benefit from visa-free travel – instead they must apply online for the ETA visa before travel.

Those who wish to stay longer or to work in the UK must apply for the relevant visa or residency permit type, exactly as they do now.

What about Irish passport holders?

The exception to these rules is for people travelling on an Irish passport. Because of the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland, those travelling on an Irish passport will not be required to get an ETA, and in fact nothing changes for them.

The exemption only applies if you are using your Irish passport to travel – if you have an Irish passport but are using another non-UK passport to travel you will be treated according to the passport you present. 

Likewise, UK nationals are also exempt from the requirement – but only if they are using their UK passport to travel.

Do children need an ETA?

Yes, everyone entering the UK will need an ETA, including children and babies. The travel authorisation costs £10 for everyone – unlike the EU’s ETIAS, there is no cost exemption for over 70s or under 18s.

Do I need an ETA as an airline transit passenger? That seems mad if I’m only passing through the airport?

Yes, an ETA is required for everyone, even if you’re only passing through a UK airport as part of a connecting flight. This has sparked fury from the UK’s ‘hub’ airports such as Heathrow, where bosses say the change could cost them up to 4 million passengers a year.

The government says: “Requiring transit passengers to obtain an ETA stops people who may use connecting flights to avoid gaining permission to travel to the UK.”

What about dual nationals?

The key thing for dual nationals to remember is that your passports are not ‘linked’ – so the immigration official that you present your passport to has no way of knowing that you also have the passport of another country.

Dual nationals are therefore treated according to the passport they present. So let’s say you have a UK passport and an Italian one – if you travel to the UK on the UK passport, you will not need an ETA. However if you travel on the Italian passport you will need an ETA.

It is perfectly legal to use two passports while making a trip, so that you can enter the UK showing your UK passport and then on your return to Italy show the Italian passport – this allows you to avoid the formalities for foreigners in both countries. If you are doing this, you will just need to take care when supplying Advance Passenger Information (API) to your travel provider that you are supplying the right information for the passport that you will be using for each leg of the journey.

When does this start?

The ETA requirement is already in place for citizens of certain countries and then will continue the roll-out in two subsequent stages.

Citizens of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates already need an ETA to enter the UK. From January 8th 2025 it will be extended to citizens of all non-EU/non-EEA countries and then from April 2nd it will be required for all EU/EEA citizens (with the exception of Ireland). Find the full list of countries here.

How do I get the ETA?

You apply and pay online before you travel – the UK government says that applications should be processed within three working days but that some could take longer. You cannot enter the UK until your application is processed.

Once issued, the ETA lasts for two years and allows multiple trips – although if your passport is renewed during that two-year period you will have to apply for a new ETA.

Find full details of how to apply here.

Why is the UK doing this?

It’s a security measure and is part of the UK’s plan to digitise its borders. The scheme is intended to reduce queues at the border, “helping to speed up legitimate journeys to the UK”, a government spokesman said.

It is very similar to the EU’s ETIAS visa waiver – due to come into effect in the spring of 2025 – and the US’s ESTA visa, which has been required for all visitors since 2009.

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