🇸🇪 Work & skilled workers

There is no new reduction of the formal annual quota from 900 to 350 in the announcement. That distinction is important. The government has not announced that Sweden's annual quota has permanently become 350. Instead, Migrationsverket estimates that only around 350 people can actually be transferred during 2026 because of the timing of this year's government decision. The formal annual quota remains 900. This means the immediate effect is a 2026 implementation shortfall, rather than the creation of a new 350-person annual quota. The government direction also determines where the selection activity will be focused. Migrationsverket says the 2026 intake will primarily concern Congolese refugees in Uganda and Afghan women and girls in Türkiye, with vulnerable groups receiving priority. This should be distinguished from Sweden's wider asylum system. A person who arrives in Sweden independently and applies for asylum is not part of the annual quota simply because Sweden has a 900-person resettlement programme. Quota refugees are selected through the resettlement system, normally following referrals from UNHCR, rather than applying spontaneously at the Swedish border.

A new Reception Act replaces the Act on the Reception of Asylum Seekers, etc. (LMA). This Act expands coverage for individuals within the Swedish Migration Agency's reception services, including those with an enforceable decision on return, who can now remain covered even after their decision is legally binding or the voluntary departure deadline has passed. It also provides greater opportunities for individuals previously discharged from reception to be covered again. New area restrictions require individuals applying for international protection and those with a return decision to generally remain within the county of their assigned accommodation. Attendance checks are introduced at the Swedish Migration Agency's reception and return centres, requiring individuals aged 16 or over applying for international protection and residing at a centre to attend on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Individuals with a return decision must generally report to the Swedish Migration Agency three days a week. The Swedish Migration Agency can also implement other individual control measures. The conditions for reducing the daily allowance are expanded to include violations of area restrictions, failure to comply with reporting obligations, and serious misconduct at accommodation. The Swedish Migration Agency can now reclaim incorrectly paid daily allowances. The right to work (AT-UND) for international protection applicants is restricted: access to the labour market is now generally granted only if the Swedish Migration Agency has not made a decision within six months of registration, provided the delay is not due to the applicant and other conditions are met. The Act also clarifies municipalities' responsibilities for support, assistance in accommodation, and special forms of accommodation for individuals covered by the Act, including their responsibility for providing accommodation during extraordinary situations of mass protection seeking.

There is no new legislative eligibility rule announced on 30 September 2026. Instead, the Migration Agency has strengthened the operational arrangements through which people can obtain information, advice and practical support when considering voluntary return. IOM's role has been expanded to include payment of voluntary return grants in third countries. The arrangement initially covers six countries: Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Migration Agency says discussions are continuing about including additional countries. UNHCR now provides independent counselling through physical and digital channels. This advice covers the handling and return process and possibilities for re-establishing in the country of origin. It is intended to complement the Migration Agency's own information and decision-making rather than replace the Agency's role in assessing applications. The broader information strategy has also been adjusted. Because many people eligible to apply for the grant do not have an active relationship with the Migration Agency, ordinary agency communication channels cannot reach the entire potential target group. The Agency has therefore identified a continuing need to work with other organisations and communication channels that already interact with potential applicants. The underlying financial-support framework remains the one introduced on 1 January 2026. Eligible applicants can receive SEK 350,000 per adult and SEK 25,000 per child, with a maximum of SEK 500,000 for spouses or cohabiting partners together and SEK 600,000 for a household. Payments are made in stages rather than as a single payment.

From 1 October 2026, visa applications handled through the three Visa Application Centres previously connected to the Shanghai consulate will come under the Embassy of Sweden in Beijing. The Shanghai consulate will no longer receive visa applications from that date. From 1 November 2026, the Embassy in Beijing will take over investigations and other migration assignments concerning people residing in China. Other documents relating to migration cases should also be sent to the Embassy in Beijing from this point. From 1 January 2027, the transfer will be complete and the Embassy in Beijing will handle all migration activities in China. The Shanghai Consulate General will no longer handle migration cases after this date.

Skatteverket now explicitly states that people who receive a residence permit under temporary protection on 5 September 2026 or later cannot normally be entered in the Swedish Population Register. The reason is the interaction between the existing 18-month population-registration requirement and the EU's decision to extend temporary protection for displaced Ukrainians until 4 March 2028. A person receiving temporary protection from 5 September 2026 onward would normally not be expected to have a residence permit for at least 18 months from the date that permit was granted. There is an exception for children born in Sweden. A child born in Sweden who receives a temporary-protection residence permit on or after 5 September 2026 can be registered when one of the child's parents, who is also the child's legal guardian, is already registered in the Swedish Population Register. The change does not remove temporary protection itself. Ukrainian nationals with temporary protection continue to have the right to work in Sweden under the conditions described by Skatteverket.

The rules for expulsion due to crime have been tightened. Foreign nationals who commit crimes are to be expelled more frequently. Crimes carrying a penalty stricter than a fine should now, as a general rule, lead to expulsion. The balancing of reasons for and against expulsion will, in more cases, result in expulsion. Individuals who arrived in Sweden before the age of 15 no longer receive the same protection against expulsion. Courts will no longer consider impediments to enforcement (practical obstacles to carrying out expulsion). Re-entry bans will be longer, with some applying without a time limit. Prosecutors will, in some cases, be obliged to request expulsion in criminal cases. Stricter penalties are also introduced for certain offences under the Aliens Act, specifically for unlawful stay in violation of a re-entry ban (minimum six months, maximum two years imprisonment) and for employing foreign nationals lacking the right to reside or a work permit (maximum two years imprisonment).