Au pairs
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Au pair as of 2025-02-25[2] Page name on Migrationsverket's Swedish site. |
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| Official name (English) | Au pairs as of 2025-01-30[1] Page name on Migrationsverket's English site. |
| Legal basis | Utlanningslag (2005:716) 5 b kap. 6 § (Lag 2019:1208) as of 2026-08-22[4][6] 'En utlanning som har fyllt 18 men inte 30 ar och som har ingatt ett avtal om au pair-arbete med en vardfamilj i Sverige ska beviljas ett uppehallstillstand for au pair-arbete', subject to four conditions in the same paragraph. 6 § has not been amended since 2019:1208 – SFSR register checked. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-22[6] Exempt from the work-permit requirement under Utlanningsforordning 5 kap. 2 § forsta stycket 6 a. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA as of 2026-08-22[6] 5 b kap. 10 § 1. |
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| Minimum age | 18 as of 2026-08-22[1][6] |
| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 1 year as of 2026-08-22[1][6] 5 b kap. 6 § tredje stycket: one year, or the shorter period the au pair work is to run. |
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| Renewable | No as of 2025-01-30[1] 'The permit cannot be extended.' 5 b kap. 17 § confirms the shape from the other side: it allows extension only for permits under 1-3 §§, which does not include the au pair permit under 6 §. |
| Maximum total duration | up to 1 year as of 2026-08-22[1][6] One year and no extension. |
| Work rights | hours capped as of 2026-08-22[1][6] 5 b kap. 6 § forsta stycket 1-2: no more than 25 hours a week of childcare and light housework, and au pair work plus study together may not exceed 40 hours a week. The purpose of the stay is to learn Swedish and take part in Swedish culture; the holder must study Swedish for most of the non-working time. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | No as of 2026-08-22[6] Utlanningslag 5 kap. 5 § enumerates the permit types whose time counts toward a permanent permit and an au pair permit is not among them. With a one-year non-renewable term the point is largely academic. |
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Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2026-08-22[1][6] A written au pair agreement with a host family in Sweden, which must itself state the four statutory conditions. |
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| Salary threshold | |
| Labour-market test | No as of 2026-08-22[6] None. |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2026-08-22[1][6] The host family is the counterparty and must take out accident insurance covering accidents during working hours and work-caused illness; leisure-only accident cover is expressly not enough. 5 b kap. 12 § lets the permit be refused for the host unit's conduct. |
| Job-search route | No as of 2025-01-30[1] |
Process
| Where to apply from | from abroad only as of 2026-08-22[1][6] 5 b kap. 15 § forsta stycket, and Migrationsverket answers it flatly: 'No. If you apply for a residence permit as an au pair, you must do so from outside Sweden.' |
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| Statutory processing time | 90 days as of 2026-08-22[5] Utlanningsforordning (2006:97) 4 a kap. 1 § (Forordning 2026:459): an application must be decided at the latest '1. 60 dagar fran det att ansokan lamnades in, om ansokan avser uppehallstillstand enligt 5 b kap. 1 eller 2 § eller utbildning pa forskarniva enligt 3 § utlanningslagen (2005:716), eller 2. 90 dagar … om ansokan avser uppehallstillstand enligt 5 b kap. 3-8 eller 19 § utlanningslagen.' The clock may be extended where the application needs completing, and the applicant must be told. This is a real statutory deadline and it is not the same thing as Migrationsverket's own service commitments or its published percentiles. |
| Observed processing time | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value[1] |
| Fees |
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| Quota |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | No as of 2025-01-30[1] 'No, your family cannot accompany you to Sweden if you are granted a residence permit as an au pair.' |
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Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
Profile benefits
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Verification
| Sources cited | 6 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 6 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2025-01-30 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-22 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-22 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Au pairs
Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-01-30 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [2] Tillfalligt arbete i Sverige (Swedish-language temporary-work hub)
Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-02-25 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [3] Prisbasbeloppet for ar 2026
Statistiska centralbyran (SCB) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-07-14 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [4] SFSR amendment register for Utlanningslag (2005:716)
Regeringskansliet · gazette · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [5] Utlanningsforordning (2006:97), consolidated text
Sveriges riksdag · statute · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [6] Utlanningslag (2005:716), consolidated text, amended up to and including SFS 2026:1451
Sveriges riksdag / Regeringskansliet · statute · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-22