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MIGRATION

Swedish government orders crackdown on work and residence permit abuses

Sweden's government has ordered the Migration Agency to withdraw more work and residence permits obtained on false premises, calling on it to appoint new specialists, and develop automatic processes to identify abuses.

Swedish government orders crackdown on work and residence permit abuses
Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (left) holds a press conference together with Sweden Democrat Group Leader Henrik Vinge on increasing checks on work and residence permit abuses, and also improving the system for recalling them. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

The directive to the Migration Agency was announced at a press conference hosted jointly by Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard and Sweden Democrat group leader Henrik Vinge. 

This made it the first announcement with the format agreed under the Tidö Agreement, which gives the far-right Sweden Democrats the right to front policies developed together with Sweden’s three-party coalition government. 

“Today our work begins, with the first important step in the direction of a responsible migration policy,” Vinge said, complaining that there was “relatively widespread” abuse, particularly when it came down to foreigners who receive permits to come to Sweden to study at university. 

“An example of the sort of abuses [we are targeting] could be that the permit is used for other reasons than for education,” he said.

Sweden’s Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said that the directive to the Migration Agency could be carried out within the existing legal framework. 

“It’s important for the legitimacy of the system that we make it more difficult to abuse, and that residence and work permits are recalled if there are grounds to do so,” she said in a press release. “For this reason, the government has issued an order to the Migration Agency to take action here and now within the current regulatory framework.”

In the press release, it says that the Migration Agency should “develop its handling processes”, “create a clear division of responsibility for recalling work and residence permits”, and carry out an analysis into whether an “automated system and other types of case-handling support” could be used to a greater extent.  

The agency has been tasked with looking into the possibilities of creating a system which will allow it to systematically check up on people who have been awarded residency to make sure that their residency permits are not being misused. 

In addition, the press release calls on the agency to “step up its work on recalling residency for studies in higher education, where there are indications that residency permits are being misused”. 

Stenergard stressed that fulfilling these tasks “should not be allowed to impact on the work being done to stop so-called talent deportations”. 

The agency has been asked to submit a written account on how it is enacting the government’s requests on June 30th, 2023. 

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WORK PERMITS

EU to ease rules around the ‘single permit’ for non-EU workers

The European Parliament has pushed through changes that will ease the rules around the EU's so-called 'single permit' for third country nationals.

EU to ease rules around the 'single permit' for non-EU workers

What is the EU ‘single permit’?

The EU’s single permit grants third country nationals both a work and residence permit for an EU country with one application.

In 2022, 3.6 million non-EU citizens were issued a single permit to both reside and work in the EU, according to the European statistics agency Eurostat. Almost half of them (48.8 per cent) of the permits were issued for work reasons. France, Spain, Italy and Portugal together issued 63 per cent.

It was designed to simplify access for people moving to the EU for work. It also aims to ensure that permit holders are treated equally to the citizens of the country where they live when it comes to working conditions, education and training, recognition of qualifications and more.

READ ALSO: What is the EU’s ‘single permit’ for third-country nationals and how do I get one?

So what will change exactly?

Workers moving to the European Union on the EU’s ‘single permit’ will no longer be tied to the employer who sponsored them, but they will be able to change jobs under certain conditions, based on new rules adopted by the European Parliament.

The European parliament has now endorsed by a large majority (465 votes in favour, 122 against and 27 abstentions) an update of the directive that regulates the single permit, which was first adopted in 2011.

The changes concern people who move to the EU for the purpose of work.

Under the new text, it will be possible for single permit holders to change employer, occupation and work sector, just with a notification from the new employer to the competent authorities. National authorities will have 45 days to oppose the change.

EU states will also have the option to require a period of up to six months during which the single permit holder has to remain with the first employer. A change during that period would be possible, however, if the employer seriously breaches the work contract, for instance imposing exploitative conditions.

Javier Moreno Sanchez, the Spanish member of the European Parliament who was in charge of the change, said: “The review of the single permit directive will support workers from third countries to reach Europe safely, and European companies to find the workers they need. At the same time we will avoid and prevent labour exploitation, by strengthening the rights of third countries’ workers and protecting them more effectively against abuse.”

Under the new rules, it will be possible to apply for the single permit from a third country or from within the EU, if the applicant already has a valid residence permit. “A person who is legally residing in the EU could request to change their legal status without having to return to their home country,” a note by the parliament explains.

After the application, authorities should issue the single permit within three months, instead of the current four, but the procedure can be extended by 30 days if the file is particularly complex, and the time to deliver the visa is excluded.

Under the changes single permit holders who lose their job will be able to stay in the EU country where they live for three months while the permit is valid (it’s two months under current rules), or six months if they have been in the country for more than two years, to find another job. But each state may decide to offer longer periods.

If a worker has experienced exploitation, member states can also extend by three months the period of unemployment during which the single permit remains valid.

In general, after three months of unemployment, authorities may require evidence that the permit holders have sufficient resources to support themselves without using social assistance.

When will changes take place?

It will still take some time before the new rules are in place. The text of the directive has already been agreed with EU governments but still has to be formally adopted by the EU Council. After that, EU countries will have two years to introduce the changes in their national law.

These rules do not apply in Denmark and Ireland because both have opted out from EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, which include external migration.

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