Residence permit to live with a partner in Sweden

Conditions you must meet

• Both of you are over 21 years oldApplies to both of you. Migrationsverket states exceptions are possible on special grounds, giving having children together as its example.
• You are married, registered partners or cohabiting partners, or plan to become soNote the final clause: an intention to enter one of these relationships qualifies. Sweden does not require the relationship to already exist at the time of application.
• You can show plans to settle in Sweden togetherMigrationsverket allows the relocation plans to be supplied after the application if they cannot be described at the time.
• Person moving to Sweden: currently located outside SwedenListed under 'requirements for the person who wants to move to sweden'. Migrationsverket links a separate page for the exceptions, which is not a registered source.
• Person in Sweden: holds one of the qualifying statusesTHE SPONSOR'S OBLIGATION. A temporary permit generally does not qualify -- the one exception Migrationsverket lists is a temporary permit held as a refugee or person in need of subsidiary protection, or granted due to exceptionally distressing circumstances.
• Person in Sweden: meets the maintenance requirement (support and housing)THE SPONSOR'S OBLIGATION, and the hardest condition here. It is two tests, not one: enough income to support both of you, AND a home large enough for both. See the Swedish-citizen exemption below before assuming it applies.
• Person in Sweden: SEK 10,314 per month must remain after rent, for cohabiting partnersSEK 3,336 per month child 0 6 · SEK 4,004 per month child 7 10 · SEK 4,672 per month child 11 14 · SEK 6,243 per month single adult · SEK 5,339 per month child 15 plus · SEK 10,314 per month cohabiting partnersA RESIDUAL-INCOME TEST, NOT A SALARY BAR. Migrationsverket asks what is left after tax and rent, to cover food, clothing, hygiene, telephony and insurance for the whole household -- so a high salary with a high rent can still fail. SEK 6,243 is the single-adult figure; SEK 10,314 applies to cohabiting spouses or partners, which is the figure relevant to this route. Children add SEK 3,336 (0-6), 4,004 (7-10), 4,672 (11-14) or 5,339 (15+), reduced by any child allowance. Migrationsverket dates these to 2026, so they are revised.
• Person in Sweden: housing secured for at least one year ahead, large enough for everyoneThe second half of the maintenance requirement, and easy to overlook next to the income figures. Note it is forward-looking: housing for at least one year in the FUTURE, not housing held now.

Documents you must provide

• Person moving to Sweden: a valid passportListed under 'requirements for the person who wants to move to sweden'. EU/EEA citizens may use a national ID card instead.

Steps in the process

• Person in Sweden: register the marriage or partnership with the Swedish Tax AgencyA preparation step Migrationsverket asks for before applying, and one done by the partner in Sweden at a different authority.
• Submit documents in Swedish or English, with certified translationsNote the requirement to include the original alongside the translation -- a translation on its own is not accepted.
• Name the Swedish embassy or consulate-general for your interviewChosen in the application itself. Not every Swedish mission handles migration cases, and the mission you visit may not be the one deciding your case -- some interviews are held by video link, with a different embassy responsible.

Government fees

• Application fee: SEK 2,000 for adults, SEK 1,000 for children under 18SEK 2,000 adults · SEK 1,000 children under 18Migrationsverket states plainly that the fee is not refunded if the application is rejected. Some applicants pay nothing; the page lists those categories and they are not extracted.

Also stated by the authority

Not requirements in themselves. These are alternatives, exemptions, rights and warnings the authority publishes alongside the requirements — quoted here because they can change what applies to you.

• Exemption: a Swedish citizen partner need not meet the maintenance requirementNOT a requirement -- a relief from the one above, and the single most consequential fact on this page. If your partner is a Swedish citizen and the relationship is well established, the income and housing tests do not apply at all. The exception to the exception matters too: they must still meet it if children are moving with you whom they are not the parent or guardian of.
• Optional: additional conditions for a decision within 90 daysNOT required for the permit -- these are extra conditions that, if all met, get you a faster decision. The well-established-relationship test is quantified here in a way it is not elsewhere on the page: two years living together, or one year if you have children together.