Application of Resident Permit Based on Family Ties

The family members usually eligible for a residence permit based on family ties are: spouses, de facto spouses or registered partners and unmarried children under 18 and other immediate relatives who were part of the same household as the person or persons who live in Sweden. Please consult the Migration Board web guide for moving to live with a close relative in Sweden for more information of which rules applies.

Residence permit may be issued, except based on family ties, for visits, studies and in connection with a work permit.

These are the documents you need to submit
You must use the form Residence permit to settle in Sweden, no. 161011. Applications for children under the age of 18 are to be submitted using the form: Residence permit to settle in Sweden – for a child under the age of 18, no. 163011. Family details - Appendix to your applications no 239011 must also be submitted by each person who applies. 

You should also bring with you:

• Your passport and a copy of it

• Your reference person’s decision of permanent residence permit in Sweden with a "classification code" (beslutsklass) to enable Embassy to check if the application can be submitted free of charge. See Exemption from Application Fee for more information.

•Marriage certificate or proof of union (applies to married couples and registered partners)

•A civic registration certificate, a so-called family certificate for the person living in Sweden

•Civic registration certificate, lease or certificate of purchase for residence or other document which shows that you have a shared home  (applies to co-habitants who have lived together abroad)

•Birth certificate or proof of kinship (applies to children under the age of 18)

•Written consent from guardian (applies to children under the age of 18)

•Document showing how you are related to each other (applies to other close relatives)

•Proof that you and your relative are dependent upon each other and have difficulty in living apart (applies to other close relatives)

•Document which shows that you lived with your relative immediately before he or she moved to Sweden (applies to other close relatives).

Application fee
Most people must pay an application fee. Information about the fees can be found on a separate page.

How your application is processed
When the embassy has received your application and interviewed you, the case will be sent on to Sweden. The Swedish Migration Board are the ones who will examine whether or not you have the right to a residence permit. To decide this, they look at your documents and at what you said during the interview. They will also send a letter to your family member in Sweden, in which it says that they have received your application, and that they want him or her to fill in a questionnaire that is available on the Migration Boards web site. Since there are several different questionnaires, they should not fill anything until The Migration Board has contacted them.

Waiting times
The latest waiting times are presented on the Migration Boards Website.

Asylum
Only asylum seekers who are physically present in Sweden may have their grounds considered by the Swedish Migration Board. Sweden's missions abroad are obliged to accept asylum applications, but it should be emphasized that such applications are always rejected by the Swedish Migration Board since the applicant is not physically present in Sweden. People who are not physically present in Sweden and who would like to apply for asylum should contact the nearest UNHCR office.