Sweden work visa: work permit for employees

You need a signed employment contract whose pay and conditions are at least on the level of Swedish collective agreements or what is usual in the occupation. The employer must have health, life, industrial injury and occupational pension insurance for you from the first day, and send the terms to the relevant trade union for comment. You cannot combine several jobs to reach the salary threshold. Since 1 June 2026 personal assistants and forest berry pickers can no longer get ordinary work permits, and applications can be refused if the employer or its representatives have committed certain crimes or been sanctioned for illegal employment.

The threshold is set as a share of the median salary published by Statistics Sweden. For applications from 16 June 2026 the median is SEK 38,300, so the standard requirement is SEK 34,470 a month before tax. About twenty occupations, including IT support technicians, systems administrators, assistant nurses, welders, forestry workers and butchers, and several groups such as people moving from a Swedish study or research permit, need only 75 per cent, SEK 28,725. People granted a permit before 1 June 2026 who extend by 1 December 2026 are still assessed against the previous 80 per cent rule.

The employer creates an offer of employment in Migrationsverket’s system using your name, date of birth, citizenship, education and email. You then receive a link, upload your documents and pay SEK 2,200 by card; family members can be added to the same application. If you apply on paper instead, book an appointment at a Swedish embassy or consulate-general. Since 1 June 2026 employees staying for one year or less also need comprehensive health insurance.

By law a decision should come within four months of a complete application. For highly qualified jobs Migrationsverket has a 30-day service pledge, and in 2026 more than 80 per cent of those cases were decided within 30 days. Complete applications are prioritised, so missing documents slow the case considerably.

With a permit of a year or more, register with Skatteverket to get a personal identity number. The employer must notify Migrationsverket if you have not started work within four months of the permit, which can then be revoked. If the job ends, you may stay up to three months to find a new one while the permit is valid. A new employer or profession needs a new application, filed before the current permit expires; you can start the new job once you have applied, and the new employer must have advertised the post in Sweden and the EU.

Apply for an extension no earlier than two months before the permit expires and before it ends; if you apply in time you may keep working while you wait. From 2 December 2026 every extension must meet the 90 per cent salary rule. After four years on a work permit within the last seven, you can tick permanent residence in the extension application; you must support yourself, with at least SEK 6,243 a month left after tax and housing in 2026, and meet the stricter good conduct rules in force since 13 July 2026.

Spouses, registered or cohabiting partners and unmarried children under 21 can apply with you or later; older children only if financially dependent. From 1 October 2026 the maintenance requirement is examined both at first application and at extension, and unemployment benefits or subsidised jobs do not count. In 2026 a couple must have SEK 13,408 a month left after rent on a first application. Adult family members and children turning 16 that year may work.