Longer residence permits for doctoral candidates

The Swedish Migration Agency has changed the rules on how long a doctoral candidate’s residence permit can be. Instead of up to two years' residence per application, doctoral candidates can now be granted up to four years’ residence at a time. Now that the Swedish Migration Agency can grant longer residence permits to doctoral candidates, this means that they do not have to waste time and money on applying to extend permits as often.

There is also significantly less likelihood that someone will be without a residence permit while their application is being processed, which would create problems if they need to travel abroad while waiting for a decision. On the other hand, as the Swedish Migration Agency itself says, some people may instead have to wait longer to be able to apply for a permanent residence permit when their time-limited residence permit is valid for a longer period. However, there are some ways to get around this, for example if you get another job and apply for a residence permit for work or if you can apply for status as a long-term resident after five years in Sweden. If you are a member of SULF, you are welcome to contact us for advice in such situations.

You can find more information about this on the Swedish Migration Agency's website.