EU Blue Cards
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | EU-blåkort as of 2025-02-25[4] Page name on Migrationsverket's Swedish site. |
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| Official name (English) | EU Blue Cards as of 2025-02-19[2] Page name on Migrationsverket's English site. |
| Legal basis | Utlanningslag (2005:716) 6 a kap. (Lag 2024:1220, senast andrad genom Lag 2026:1142) as of 2026-08-22[5][6] 6 a kap. is the whole Blue Card chapter, inserted by Lag 2013:606 and rebuilt by Lag 2024:1220 transposing Directive (EU) 2021/1883. Amendment search against the SFSR register: 6 a kap. was last touched by 2026:295 (5 §), 2026:457 (4, 5, 11 §§) and 2026:1142 (2, 4, 10 §§, in force 2026-07-12). Nothing later. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-22[6] 6 a kap. 1 § grants an 'uppehalls- och arbetstillstand for hogkvalificerad anstallning (EU-blakort)' – one combined title. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA as of 2026-08-22[2][6] 6 a kap. 2 § 1: no Blue Card for an EES citizen or a citizen of Switzerland. The same section excludes eight further categories – asylum applicants, temporary-protection holders, witness-protection and enforcement-impediment permit holders, pending research applicants, long-term residents of another EU state exercising work rights here, entrants under trade-and-investment agreements, people under an unenforceable removal decision, and posted workers – none of which is a bloc and none of which this field can hold. |
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| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source[6] |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | 9 to 48 months as of 2026-08-22[2][6] Migrationsverket: 'The first time you are granted an EU Blue Card, it is valid for at least nine months and a maximum of four years.' The statute states the ceiling and the floor differently: 6 a kap. 5 § (Lag 2026:457) says the card 'ska galla for hogst fyra ar' and, where the employment is shorter than four years, at least the employment period plus three months – which produces the nine-month minimum only because 6 a kap. 1 § requires a contract of at least six months. Bounds form used because both ends are stated. |
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| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-22[2][6] 6 a kap. 6 §: the permit period may be extended on application. |
| Work rights | employment only as of 2026-08-22[2][6] 'The card entitles you to work in Sweden for the employer and within the profession specified in your application.' A change of employer or profession is a reportable event under 6 a kap. 8 §. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-08-22[6] Utlanningslag 5 kap. 5 § forsta stycket 3 (four of the last seven years) and, more usefully, andra stycket 2 (three years' continuous holding). 5 kap. 7 §'s self-support and vandel conditions apply. |
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| Years to permanent residence on this route | 3 as of 2026-08-22[6] Utlanningslag 5 kap. 5 § andra stycket 2 (Lag 2026:1142, in force 12 July 2026): a permanent permit may be granted to someone who has held a Swedish EU Blue Card for at least three years – against the country default of four years within the last seven. Migrationsverket's 25 May 2026 news item describes the same shortening for research and doctoral permits. |
Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2026-08-22[2][6] 6 a kap. 1 §: a contract for highly qualified employment in Sweden with a term of at least six months, signed by both parties. |
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| Salary threshold |
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| Labour-market test | No as of 2026-08-22[2][6] 6 a kap. 1 § forsta stycket 4 requires only that 'rekryteringsforfarandet ar forenligt med Sveriges ataganden inom Europeiska unionen' – Union preference, not a domestic labour-market test. No shortage list, no vacancy-advertising duty. |
| Qualification requirement | degree, equivalent experience, regulated profession as of 2026-08-22[2][6] 6 a kap. 1 § andra stycket defines highly qualified employment as one requiring 'slutforda studier som motsvarar 180 hogskolepoang eller fem ars yrkeserfarenhet pa en niva som ar jamforbar med hogre utbildning' – degree OR five years' equivalent experience, which is why the value is an array of alternatives rather than one enum. The third paragraph adds that a regulated profession requires proof of Swedish authorisation. 6 a kap. 3 c § waives the competence proof entirely for someone who has held another EU state's Blue Card for at least two years. |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2025-02-19[2] The employer starts the application in the e-service, as on se-employee. 6 a kap. 3 § 3 and 3 a § let the card be refused for the employer's own conduct – sanctions for illegal employment or tax misstatement, unmet social-security or labour obligations, or a business set up mainly to facilitate entry. |
| Job-search route | No as of 2025-02-19[2] |
Process
| Where to apply from | from abroad only as of 2026-08-22[2][6] 6 a kap. 4 § forsta stycket: applied for and granted before entry, and an application may not be approved after entry. Eleven exceptions in the second paragraph cover extensions and switches from a study permit with 180 completed credits, a completed research project, a Swedish ICT or seasonal permit, family ties to an EES or Swiss citizen, a 5 kap. 9 § job-search permit, and a Swedish work or business permit whose conditions were met. Long-term mobility from another EU state has its own rule: apply within one month of entry (6 a kap. 4 § tredje stycket). |
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| Observed processing time | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value[2] |
| Fees |
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| Quota |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-22[2][6] No day count or absence limit for holding the card. 6 a kap. 3 b § works the other way, granting mobility: a holder of another EU state's Blue Card may enter and stay in Sweden for up to 90 days in any 180 to conduct business activity linked to the first state's employment. |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2025-02-19[2] |
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| Eligible relations | spouse, registered partner, unmarried partner, minor child as of 2025-02-19[2] Migrationsverket: 'Family members are considered to include spouses, registered partners, cohabiting partners, and children under the age of 18.' Narrower than the under-21 rule that applies to ordinary work permits – recorded as stated, not harmonised. |
| Family may apply at the same time | Yes as of 2025-02-19[2] Family may be included in the principal's own e-service application and are granted a permit for the same period as the card. A family member who decides later must apply and be granted a permit before travelling. |
| Family members' work rights | full as of 2025-02-19[2] |
| Additional means per family member |
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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
- A 30-minute call with our consultant, who reads your profile first.
- An offer for legal support built around your case, covering the whole process.
Verification
| Sources cited | 6 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 6 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2025-02-19 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-22 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-22 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Lonestrukturstatistik – genomsnittslonen i Sverige var 42 900 kronor ar 2025
Medlingsinstitutet (Swedish National Mediation Office) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [2] EU Blue Cards
Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-02-19 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [3] Family of an employee or self-employed person who apply afterwards
Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-02-25 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [4] Anstalld eller egen foretagare (Swedish-language work hub)
Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-02-25 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [5] SFSR amendment register for Utlanningslag (2005:716)
Regeringskansliet · gazette · 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