Asylum and international protection in Sweden

Anyone who is persecuted or at risk of persecution or inhuman treatment in their country of origin can apply. The application must be made in Sweden or at a Swedish border: tell the border police, who refer you to the Migration Agency, or go to one of its Reception and Return Centres in Malmö, Gothenburg, Stockholm or Boden. You can also tell the police, the Migration Agency or the Prison and Probation Service that you want protection. It is not possible to apply from abroad. Children follow an adapted process with their own rights.

If you have applied for protection or hold a permit in another EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR), which replaced the Dublin rules under the Pact, decides which country examines your claim, and you may be transferred there. Applicants considered unlikely to qualify, such as those from countries regarded as safe, can be channelled into an accelerated border procedure.

Since 12 June 2026 the EU Pact applies. New arrivals go through screening, which covers identity, health, vulnerability and security checks and is carried out in Sweden at the centres in Malmö, Mölndal, Boden and Märsta under the overall responsibility of the Police. You hand over your passport or other identity documents, fingerprints are taken (not for children under six) and compared across the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, you are photographed and receive an application card, and a first health check and a first conversation with a case officer and interpreter follow.

After the interviews the agency decides. A person recognised as a refugee receives a three-year residence permit, a person with subsidiary protection a 13-month permit; both can be extended and include the right to work and study. Since 12 July 2026 people with protection permits cannot be granted permanent residence. Those excluded for serious crimes can, in some cases, receive a short permit if return would expose them to death or serious harm.

The Migration Agency offers accommodation and, if you have no money, financial aid; a new Reception Act took effect on 1 October 2026, changing daily allowance, where you may live and how often you must report, and anyone who needs daily allowance after that date must reapply. The application card replaced the LMA card by 1 October 2026. You can request free legal advice from a public counsel. Interviews are held with a sworn interpreter and recorded. From 1 October 2026 you may get access to the labour market if no decision has been made within six months of registration and the delay is not your fault. Participation in the social introduction is mandatory from age 16.

A refusal can be appealed in writing to the Migration Agency within the deadline in the decision, often three weeks; if the agency does not change it, a Migration Court examines the case, and a further appeal to the Migration Court of Appeal needs leave to appeal. For applications made on or after 12 June 2026 you must contact your public counsel yourself for help with the appeal. The decision states whether you may stay in Sweden during the appeal. A refusal usually comes with a re-entry ban of at least two years.