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WORK PERMITS

Sweden’s Migration Agency celebrates cutting waiting times for work permits

Swedish waiting times for work permits have gone down drastically since a new processing system was implemented, according to the Migration Agency.

Published: 27 June 2024 11:08 CEST
A Swedish Migration Agency office
The Migration Agency changed its system earlier this year to fast-track applications from international talent. Photo: Anders Wiklund/Scanpix

The new system, which aims to speed up waiting times for highly qualified workers, was introduced in January, and the Migration Agency said it had so far achieved its purpose.

“We are happy that the efforts have had an effect and that we can offer a service and method that contributes to strengthening Sweden’s competitiveness,” said Migration Agency director-general Maria Mindhammar in a statement on Thursday.

The Local reported last month that 95 percent of complete work permit applications sent in by highly qualified workers – i.e. applications processed within the top priority “A” category – since the launch of the new system were given a decision within the 30-day target.

The Migration Agency has now revealed another set of figures showing that average waiting times for highly qualified workers, EU Blue Card holders, researchers and ICT (Intra-Corporate Transfer) workers were below 30 days in the past four months. Figures in the table below refer to number of days waited.

For other types of permits, the goal is to make a decision within four months.

According to the Migration Agency, the average processing time for complete applications that don’t either fall into the highly-qualified category or industries that require in-depth investigation (i.e. industries where there's a risk of exploitation or abuse of rules – such as the restaurant, construction or cleaning industries), was brought down to 35 days in February-May.

It said about half of cases in this group were submitted complete.

“We really want to increase the percentage of cases that are complete from the start, even when it comes to applications that are not covered by the investment in highly qualified professions,” said Migration Agency deputy regional director Ulrika Ekebjär.

The agency didn't immediately say what the waiting time was for applications in this category that were not complete.

Don't miss any Swedish work permit news from The Local by downloading our app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting Work Permits in your Notification options via the User button.

Member comments

  1. It’s somewhat ironic to hear about the significant reduction in work permit processing times for highly qualified workers in Sweden, considering my own experience. As an IT-skilled migrant, I’ve been waiting for my work permit decision for about 4.5 months without any updates. While I appreciate the efforts to streamline the system, it’s disheartening when personal experiences don’t align with reported improvements.

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For members

SWEDISH CITIZENSHIP

Swedish government wants tougher citizenship rules to apply to more applicants

The Swedish government has ordered an ongoing inquiry to look into making stricter rules for citizenship apply to more people than before.

Published: 27 June 2024 15:16 CEST
Swedish government wants tougher citizenship rules to apply to more applicants

As The Local reported at the time, parliament this month voted through tougher rules for so-called “citizenship through notification” – medborgarskap genom anmälan – an easier route to Swedish citizenship available to some categories of applicants.

The government now wants to scrap the option completely.

“It is important to protect the importance of Swedish citizenship. The government has already taken measures to strengthen Swedish citizenship. The requirements for Swedish citizenship need to be tightened further to increase its value,” said Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, of the conservative Moderate Party, in a statement as she presented the new instructions to the inquiry on Thursday.

Under current rules, citizenship through notification is available to children who have lived in Sweden for at least three years (two if stateless), young adults between 18 and 21 who have lived in Sweden since they turned 13 (15 if stateless) and Nordic citizens.

EXPLAINED: 

The route would still be available to Nordic citizens. It might not be possible to completely scrap the right for stateless adults due to international conventions, but the government still wants the inquiry to look into tightening the rules for that group in other ways.

The government also wants the inquiry to come up with proposals for tightening the rules for acquiring citizenship for adults who were born stateless in Sweden, and investigate whether exemptions from citizenship requirements should be removed or reduced.

Such exemptions currently mean that someone can become a citizen even if they don’t meet the requirements in terms of how long they’ve lived in Sweden, for example if they were previously Swedish, if their partner is Swedish, or if there are other special reasons.

The new instructions have been handed to Sweden’s major inquiry into tightening overall citizenship rules, which is already looking into a range of new legislative changes, for example extending the time applicants have to live in Sweden before they are eligible for citizenship and proposing requirements for language and knowledge of Swedish culture.

This inquiry was originally supposed to conclude by the end of September 2024, but has now been extended to January 15th, 2025.

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