Look for work after completing your studies in Sweden
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Söka arbete efter slutförda studier i Sverige as of 2025-02-25[2] Page name on Migrationsverket's Swedish site. |
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| Official name (English) | Look for work after completing your studies in Sweden as of 2025-02-18[1] Page name on Migrationsverket's English site. Retrieval note: the page under /you-want-to-apply/work/look-for-work/ is a stub that links to itself; the substantive page lives under /you-want-to-extend/study/, which is where the content and the figures are. |
| Legal basis | Utlanningslag (2005:716) 5 b kap. 8 § (Lag 2026:457) as of 2026-08-22[4][6] 'En utlanning som vid ansokningstillfallet har ett uppehallstillstand enligt 3 § ska beviljas ett uppehallstillstand for en tid av ett ar efter slutforda studier', on condition of a completed higher-education programme of at least two semesters, an intention to look for work or investigate a business, and a degree or education certificate. The third paragraph, added by Lag 2026:457, gives someone who has completed a doctoral-level programme between one year and eighteen months and drops the two-semester condition. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-22[6] |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA as of 2026-08-22[1][6] 5 b kap. 10 § 1; the page adds 'Other rules apply if you are a citizen of the EU/EEA or Switzerland.' |
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| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 1 year as of 2026-08-22[1][6] |
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| Renewable | No as of 2026-08-22[6] 5 b kap. 17 § allows extension only for 1-3 § permits. |
| Maximum total duration | up to 18 months as of 2026-08-22[1][6] The doctoral ceiling; one year for other completers. |
| Work rights | none as of 2026-08-22[1][6] A job-search permit. Its exits are unusually well signposted in statute: 5 b kap. 15 § andra stycket 4 lets the holder apply from inside Sweden for a research or doctoral permit, and se-students-who-found-work lets them switch to a work permit – at 75 per cent of the median rather than 90, since the exemption in Utlanningsforordning 5 kap. 6 b § reaches this permit through 5 kap. 18 § andra stycket 9. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | No as of 2026-08-22[6] An 8 § permit is not among the types Utlanningslag 5 kap. 5 § counts. |
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Requirements
| Job offer required | No as of 2026-08-22[1][6] |
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| Labour-market test | No as of 2026-08-22[6] None. |
| Qualification requirement | degree as of 2026-08-22[1][6] 5 b kap. 8 § forsta stycket 1 and 3: a completed higher-education programme of at least two semesters, with a degree or education certificate. Migrationsverket reads 'completed' strictly – the entire programme first admitted to, with passing grades in all courses; completing the compulsory elements is not enough, and higher vocational education does not count. |
| Employer sponsorship | No as of 2025-02-18[1] |
| Own means requirement | 0.18 × price base amount (a annual figure), assessed monthly as of 2025-09-18[1][3] |
| Job-search route | Yes as of 2026-08-22[1][6] |
Process
| Where to apply from | in-country only as of 2026-08-22[1][6] 5 b kap. 16 §. The route is defined by holding a Swedish study permit at the moment of application: 'You must submit your application before your current permit for higher education expires.' It also reaches someone who held another EU state's study permit and spent at least two semesters studying in 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 | Not established from a qualifying source[1] No waiting-time statistic is published on the page. |
| Fees | |
| Quota |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2025-02-18[1] |
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| Eligible relations | spouse, registered partner, unmarried partner, minor child as of 2025-02-18[1] 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 2025-02-18[1] |
| Family members' work rights | full as of 2025-02-18[1] |
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 | 2025-02-18 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-22 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-22 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Look for work after completing your studies in Sweden
Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-02-18 · Accessed 2026-08-22 - [2] Soka jobb (Swedish-language job-search 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