Sweden || Employment

Pursuing the course

If you are enrolled at a Swedish university or university college you can work in Sweden without a work permit. Student needs a residence permit if you stay for longer than three months.

If student studying in Sweden, and are working or have been offered employment, student may apply for a residence and work permit. Student must have a residence permit and have completed at least 30 higher education credits or one semester/term of postgraduate education in Sweden.

On completion of the course

The new legislation allows employers who are not able to meet their needs through recruitment in Sweden, or in other EU/European Economic Area countries and Switzerland, to recruit from elsewhere. This makes it easier for people to migrate from other parts of the world — and for an employer to find a suitable employee.

The legislative changes also mean that students from abroad no longer need to leave the country to apply for work permits, as was the case previously.

A Swedish work permit will be granted for the duration of the employment or for a maximum of two years. If the person is still working, it will be possible to extend the permit once or several times. The total permit period may amount to four years. After four years, a permanent residence permit can be granted. The examination of an application for an extension of a work permit takes place in Sweden and the applicant will not need to return home to apply for an extension.