Sweden Cuts Migration and Prepares Further Restrictions

Sweden has reduced asylum applications to almost their lowest level in three decades, ended access to permanent residence for newly protected refugees and tightened citizenship rules. The populist right nevertheless considers the reforms incomplete and is demanding further restrictions on family and labour migration before the September 13, 2026 parliamentary election.

Asylum applications have fallen almost twenty-fourfold

Sweden has carried out one of Europe’s sharpest migration-policy reversals. About 163,000 people sought protection in the country during the 2015 European migration crisis. In 2025, the number of asylum applications fell to approximately 6,700, almost twenty-four times lower and close to the smallest annual total in several decades.

The Economist described the result in its July 16 analysis as Sweden having effectively squashed migration. The description requires an important qualification. Sweden has primarily reduced asylum migration, while overall cross-border movement remains substantial.

A total of 89,434 people immigrated to Sweden in 2025. The figure included returning Swedish citizens, workers, students, relatives of existing residents and people moving under European Union free-movement rules.

Sweden’s population reached about 10.61 million at the end of 2025 and increased by 17,800 during the year. Immigration continued to exceed emigration. At the same time, only 97,500 children were born, the lowest total in 23 years, increasing the economy’s longer-term dependence on incoming workers.

Sweden has therefore sharply reduced humanitarian arrivals without ending immigration as a whole. This distinction is central to the election debate. The government wants to preserve routes for researchers, highly qualified professionals and workers in shortage occupations while restricting refugees and lower-paid labour migration.

Swedish policy shifted after the 2015 crisis

The first major restrictions were introduced by a centre-left government following the record arrivals of 2015. Permanent residence ceased to be the standard outcome for most refugees, border controls were strengthened and temporary permits became the main form of protection.

A new phase began after the 2022 election. Ulf Kristersson’s Moderate Party formed a government with the Christian Democrats and Liberals, relying on parliamentary support from the Sweden Democrats.

The nationalist party remained outside the cabinet but secured substantial influence through the Tidö Agreement, a cooperation programme covering migration, criminal justice, energy and economic policy.

The focus has gradually moved from limiting new arrivals to creating a system in which the right to remain must be repeatedly demonstrated. The reforms now cover refugee status, work permits, family reunification, citizenship, welfare access and deportation procedures.

Permanent residence has ended for newly protected refugees

From July 12, 2026, people granted asylum or subsidiary protection can no longer convert temporary permits into permanent residence. When a document expires, the Migration Agency examines only whether the person remains eligible for another temporary permit. Existing holders of permanent residence are not automatically affected.

The legislation also adjusted Swedish law to the European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum. Screening procedures now include identity and security checks, vulnerability assessments and a basic health examination.

Access to publicly funded legal assistance has been reduced at the initial stage. Applicants receive two hours of free advice when the process begins, while full public counsel becomes available when a negative decision is appealed.

Temporary status changes the incentives and risks surrounding integration. A refugee may work, pay tax and raise a family in Sweden for years while remaining dependent on repeated renewals. The government argues that temporary protection facilitates return when conditions in the country of origin improve. Critics say prolonged uncertainty makes employment, borrowing and family planning more difficult.

Citizenship now normally requires eight years

The Riksdag, Sweden’s parliament, approved the most extensive tightening of naturalisation rules in decades. The standard residence requirement increased from five to eight years. Applicants must support themselves, meet stricter conduct standards and demonstrate knowledge of Swedish and of the country’s society.

The core amendments took effect on June 6, 2026, while some language-testing provisions will apply later after the examination system is fully prepared.

The conduct assessment may extend beyond criminal convictions. Authorities can consider unpaid debts, failure to comply with official decisions, false information and misuse of welfare programmes.

The government wants citizenship to become evidence of established integration rather than the automatic conclusion of a residence period. The application of new requirements to people who began the process under earlier rules has generated controversy over transitional protection and legal predictability.

Residence permits may be withdrawn for misconduct

In June, parliament approved separate legislation allowing an alien’s way of life and moral character to play a greater role when residence permits are granted or withdrawn. The measure is intended to make it easier to remove foreign nationals whose conduct is considered incompatible with continued residence, even when they have not received a lengthy prison sentence.

The boundaries will be defined through administrative decisions and court judgments. Civil-rights organisations argue that the criteria are too broad and may impose different consequences on Swedish citizens and foreign residents for comparable behaviour.

For a foreign national, debt, tax violations or links to organised crime may affect both the underlying legal penalty and the right to remain in Sweden. Migration Agency decisions can be appealed, but proceedings may last for years.

Public agencies must report some undocumented migrants

Six public authorities are required to notify the police when officials have grounds to suspect that a person lacks the right to remain in Sweden. The obligation includes agencies dealing with taxation, employment, social insurance and criminal enforcement.

Schools, health services, social care providers and libraries were excluded following opposition from professional organisations. The government says the duty is necessary to enforce removal decisions. Critics warn that migrants may avoid public institutions because they fear that their status will be checked.

The measure passed the Riksdag by 174 votes to 172. The narrow majority illustrates that policies affecting migrants already living in Sweden are more divisive than the earlier reduction in asylum admissions.

Labour migration has become more expensive

From June 1, 2026, most workers arriving from outside the European Union must earn at least 90% of Sweden’s median salary. When the policy was agreed, the threshold corresponded to SEK33,390 per month before tax.

The government can create exemptions for shortage occupations and prevent certain professions from being used as a basis for work permits. Researchers, highly skilled specialists and selected categories important to economic competitiveness receive more favourable treatment.

Supporters argue that the earlier system enabled employers to import low-cost labour and created opportunities for exploitation. The higher threshold is intended to direct migration towards jobs with greater productivity and added value.

Employers in agriculture, hospitality, cleaning, construction and elderly care warn that the change may deepen labour shortages. In some occupations, the required salary is higher than the normal wage paid even to domestic employees.

Family reunification is moving towards the EU minimum

The government is preparing further restrictions on family migration. Measures under consideration include a two-year waiting period, a narrower definition of eligible relatives and higher maintenance requirements for sponsors.

A bill presented in June 2026 would align Swedish rules more closely with the minimum required under European Union law. Swedish legislation has historically offered broader reunification rights in some circumstances.

Family migration remains one of the largest legal entry routes. Sweden granted 12,789 family-related permits during the first six months of 2026. Over the same period, 13,649 permits were issued for work, 6,935 for studies and 4,023 to European Union and European Economic Area nationals.

These figures explain why the decline in asylum applications has not ended immigration. Tens of thousands of foreign nationals still obtain a legal right to live in Sweden through other channels each year.

Voluntary departure can bring a SEK350,000 grant

From January 2026, the maximum payment for voluntary repatriation increased to SEK350,000 per person. The programme is available to selected foreign residents who have a legal right to remain but agree to give up that status and return to their country of origin.

The previous benefit was too small to attract broad participation. The government wants the new level to turn voluntary return into an operational migration-policy instrument while increasing controls against fraud.

The size of the payment does not guarantee mass participation. Potential recipients may have employment, children, housing and long-established personal ties in Sweden. Safety, education, healthcare and job prospects in the country of origin can be more important than the grant.

The political significance currently exceeds the programme’s measurable demographic impact. It marks a shift from regulating entry towards actively encouraging some established residents to leave.

The Sweden Democrats want the restrictions extended

The Sweden Democrats present the fall in asylum-related migration as one of the main achievements of the Tidö cooperation. The party’s direction for the 2026 election campaign highlights what it describes as the lowest asylum-related immigration in 40 years and promises to preserve a restrictive course.

The party favours reducing direct asylum reception towards zero, limiting family reunification, accelerating deportations, expanding permit withdrawals and encouraging the departure of people judged not to have integrated.

The next phase of the dispute may concern established residents more than new applicants. Proposals involving permanent permits, welfare eligibility and broader grounds for loss of status would affect a much larger group than the annual number of asylum seekers.

The Sweden Democrats also support selected highly skilled immigration. The emerging model distinguishes applicants by income, education, occupation and their expected economic value to the state.

The election will test how far restrictions can go

Sweden will hold elections to the Riksdag, regional councils and municipalities on September 13, 2026. The result will determine whether the Sweden Democrats remain an external support party or obtain enough influence to seek direct participation in government.

The governing parties will present the collapse in asylum applications as proof that their policies have worked. Opposition parties are expected to focus on legal certainty, integrated families, labour-market needs and the risk of creating separate standards of responsibility for citizens and foreign residents.

Migration competes with crime, household finances, healthcare, defence and economic performance as an election issue. It nevertheless remains the organising theme of the right’s programme, with restrictions presented as a response to segregation, pressure on public services and organised crime.

The relationship between overall migration and crime is more complex than campaign slogans suggest. Outcomes are also shaped by age, education, employment, income, residential segregation and integration policy. Reducing new arrivals does not automatically solve problems accumulated over previous decades.

Demographic pressures limit further reductions

Sweden is trying to reduce immigration while managing an ageing population and exceptionally low birth numbers. Without incoming workers, growth in the working-age population will weaken and the cost of pensions, healthcare and elderly care will be carried by a smaller employed population.

The government is responding by dividing migration into preferred and non-preferred categories. Procedures are being improved for researchers, doctoral candidates and highly paid specialists, while routes for refugees, lower-paid workers and some relatives are being narrowed.

The approach may raise the average skill level of new arrivals, but it places Sweden in stronger competition with Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Canada and other countries seeking the same specialists. Legal uncertainty and hostile public rhetoric can reduce Sweden’s appeal even among migrants the government wants to recruit.

International professionals consider processing times, family rights, permanent residence and a predictable path to citizenship as well as salary. The more unstable these conditions become, the harder it is to restrict lower-skilled migration without damaging the broader investment and recruitment environment.

As International Investment experts report, Sweden has achieved a dramatic reduction in asylum applications, but the claim that migration has been eliminated oversimplifies the market. The country continues to admit workers, students, relatives and EU nationals because demographic and skills pressures would otherwise intensify. The main risk in the next stage is a shift from controlling new entry to repeatedly reconsidering the rights of already integrated residents. That could encourage skilled workers to leave, weaken trust in the legal system and fail to resolve long-standing segregation. The reforms should therefore be assessed not only by historically low application numbers, but also by employment, tax revenue, public safety, integration outcomes and the economy’s ability to attract essential talent.