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ESSENTIAL SWEDEN

Six essential articles to understand Sweden’s new work permit rule

Sweden’s higher work permit threshold came into effect on November 1st, but what does it mean for permit holders already in Sweden? Here are six essential articles from The Local’s work permit coverage to help you understand the new rules.

Published: 5 November 2023 08:01 CET
Six essential articles to understand Sweden's new work permit rule
An employment contract. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT

How will the new work permit salary threshold work in practice and who is affected by the new rules?

How many work permit holders are there in Sweden? How many earn less than the new threshold? How many work permits are issued in Sweden each year? Here’s a look at the new policy in numbers.

The new policy also applies to people already in Sweden, but what does that actually mean? If you earn less than the new limit, will your work permit no longer be valid after November 1st?

We asked respondents to our work permit survey to submit their questions on the new work permit rules, which we answered in our Sweden in Focus podcast last week.

What if you earn under the threshold but earn extra through OB-tillägg or working overtime? Here’s how the Migration Agency calculates salary for work permits.

Finally, with so many immigrants forced out under this new rule, what will happen to the Swedish labour market? Who will fill the gap labour immigrants leave behind?

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READER INSIGHTS

What can Sweden do to make life easier for ‘trailing spouses’?

Foreigners who move to Sweden on their partner's work permit are often at a disadvantage compared to their partner, not always having a job lined up or the same access to a professional network. What can Sweden and Swedish companies do to help them integrate?

Published: 30 May 2024 14:20 CEST
What can Sweden do to make life easier for 'trailing spouses'?

It is often said that personal contacts are the key to seven out of ten jobs in Sweden, and as accompanying partners usually land in the country without many contacts of their own, networking is absolutely crucial.

Networking can come in many shapes and forms. For one thing: social networking. Several readers who responded to The Local’s recent survey for so-called trailing spouses suggested the most important thing to them was not finding a job, but community.

“Getting a job seems to be more about who you know. Providing networking or even just social events where family are included could be interesting,” said an anonymous reader from the US.

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Darya, a reader based in Malmö, said her husband’s company had helped a lot, including organising after-work events for employees’ families, to help them make new connections.

But career networking is also important, or even helping trailing spouses find a short-term internship to get them a foot through the door and a chance at establishing professional contacts.

Darya was one of few readers who said she had received active assistance from her partner’s employer in terms of trying to find a job, including the company head giving her advice on her resume and offering to introduce her to another company she might be interested in working for.

“I think my husband’s company sets a good example by having the management try to help spouses find jobs or freelance work. In fact, I can always reach out to the employees at his company and ask for help with setting up my own business, for instance. I am still warming up to this idea and trying to figure things out on my own because I always feel uncomfortable bothering someone, but I am confident that they will help me navigate all the details,” she said.

The majority of readers said they had received no support from Swedish authorities or their partner’s workplace, but those who had received support mainly mentioned help with the residency permit application, networking, and language training.

“My partner’s company made it extremely easy for me to tie my visa to my partner’s, which made this process so smooth. They paid for our move which was also incredible. That’s kind of where it stopped though. There hasn’t been any job support which is unfortunate, and they kind of misled us about how much Swedish I would actually need. I would have started studying much earlier had I known it would be such a deciding factor,” said Taylor from the US, who’s based in Stockholm.

Several other readers also mentioned being caught off guard by how many employers required them to know the Swedish. Some did say that English skills had got them far in the country and they were able to start working while learning Swedish, but others said that wasn’t possible.

“Offer Swedish language courses at a free or subsidised rate. Provide links and contacts into the industries that trailing spouses have left behind, or wish to transition into,” suggested Thomas from the UK.

Readers also urged Swedish companies to be more open to non-Swedish speakers.

“Not insisting on bilingual skills straight away would help. Remembering retirement age is 67 so even older people have a lot of time to give,” said Helen, a banker and financier from the UK.

A Brazilian reader also pointed out that not all immigrants are fluent in English either.

“Although there are Swedish classes for immigrants, if you don’t speak English well (like me), it is not easy to make friends and engage in long conversations. We have to learn both languages. Generally, the immigrants have an English base, but it may not be sufficient to find a job,” she said, suggesting that companies provide professional learning programmes and English courses.

Many readers also called for more information. Several complained that Swedish authorities and companies hadn’t been open about how hard it can be to break into Swedish society.

Few of them suggested that having that information would have turned them off; rather they argued that realistic expectations would have made them better equipped to hit the ground running in Sweden.

The majority of the readers who responded to The Local’s survey were either generally happy with their life in Sweden or a bit conflicted, but few of them said they were unhappy. Many however said they wished that the start of their journey had been just a little, little bit easier.

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