If you are a citizen of a non-EU country and have lived in Sweden for five years without interruption, you can be granted status as a long-term resident in Sweden. This is not the same as a permanent residence permit, but if you are granted long-term resident status, You are also legally entitled to a permanent residence permit, so no further investigation regarding fulfilment of the conditions for a permanent residence permit should be made after a decision has been made on long-term resident status. Long-term residency also confers greater rights to work, study or start your own business in most other EU countries. If you have long-term resident status, you can stay outside Sweden if you remain within the EU and in the countries covered for up to 6 years. These countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. In the event of a more permanent move to one of these countries, you can also transfer your long-term resident status there.
To obtain status as a permanent resident of Sweden, you must:
- have resided in Sweden for at least five years without interruption. (Staying outside Sweden for less than six consecutive months and not more than ten months in total during the five-year period is not considered interruption of the stay.) The qualification period is calculated until the date of the decision.
- have had a residence permit or have legally resided in Sweden on other grounds for the previous five years. (A residence permit for visiting or for studies other than doctoral studies may not be included)
- be able to support yourself and your dependents financially. Please note that this financial support requirement is not the same as that which applies for the granting of a permanent residence permit.
Qualifying period –
type of residence permit that can be included
All types of residence permit that can lead to a permanent residence permit can be counted when calculating the qualifying period. These include residence permits for doctoral studies, research or work, residence permits through a relationship with a person living in Sweden time spent in the country with the right of residence, (for example a British citizen and who lived in Sweden before Brexit or someone living in Sweden with an EU/EEA citizen who has the right of residence). Time that may not be counted includes, for example, a residence permit for studies other than doctoral studies or, according to the Swedish Migration Board’s interpretation, time with a residence permit to apply for work after graduation or completed research. Nor can time spent waiting for a decision on a new residence permit be included if you are granted a new permit from a later date, i.e. if there is a gap between the permits. According to information from the Swedish Migration Agency, time without a qualifying residence permit means that you must begin a completely new qualification period of five years. They also say that time spent abroad, other than for that which is generally approved, (see above), cannot be counted, even if you have been posted to another country by a state employer during that time . However, these are matters that can be tried in court.
The self-support requirement
The requirements regarding the ability to support oneself in order to be granted a permanent residence permit do not apply with regard to long-term resident status. Instead, the provisions that were in pace before the new legislation came into force on 20 July 2021 continue to apply. An important difference is that income does not have to come from one’s own work or own company, but other income can also be included. What is assessed is whether you will be a burden on the social insurance system and whether your means of financial support is sufficiently long-term. This means, for example, that unemployment benefit and scholarships may be approved as forms of future support. Another important difference is that an application for long-term resident status can be approved if you have been supported wholly or partially by a family member. On the other hand, the Swedish Migration Agency does not allow private savings to be counted, but any yield from savings can be included in the calculation.
As far as SULF is aware, there is no clear definition of long-term with regard to self-support. The Swedish Migration Agency makes an assessment from case to case. However, it may not be in the form of sporadic or temporary short-term jobs. Here, new legal precedent may be needed for us to know more about these requirements.
Application
An application for long-term resident status can be submitted before your time-limited residence permit expires. If such an application is granted, you can have your residence permit changed to a permanent residence permit, even if you have a valid temporary residence permit at the time the decision is made. This means that you can apply as soon as you believe that you fulfil the requirements for long-term resident status. You can read more about this in the answers from the Swedish Migration Agency below. If you do not already have a permanent residence permit, the Swedish Migration Agency will consider your application as an application for a permanent residence permit as well. You do not need to submit two separate applications. The most important thing is that you apply before your current residence permit expires.
If you have long-term resident status, you can stay outside Sweden if you stay within the EU and in the countries covered, for up to 6 years. These countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. In the event of a more permanent move to one of these countries, you can also transfer your long-term resident status there.
Applying for long-term resident status can therefore be an alternative way of obtaining a permanent residence permit if you have lived in Sweden for five years but for some reason do not meet the requirements for being granted a permanent residence permit or citizenship.