Swedish residence for family of EU long-term residents: new rules from October 2026

In brief

• A family member is only a spouse, registered partner or cohabiting partner, and unmarried children under 18.
• The family must have lived together in the EU country where long-term resident status was granted.
• The person living in Sweden must support the family: after tax and rent the household must keep at least a set amount.
• There is no transition period for first applications, including those filed before 1 October.
• Extensions under the old rules are possible if the permit was granted before 1 October 2026 and the application is filed by 1 October 2027.

Who is affected

EU long-term resident status is granted to non-EU nationals after five years of legal residence in one EU country. It allows them to move to another EU country to work, study, run a business or live on their own means, and to obtain a residence permit there under special rules. For example, you lived in Cyprus or Italy for five years, obtained the status and decided to move to Sweden.

The new rules concern family members of such a person who are not EU citizens themselves and want to live with them in Sweden. The resident's own right to a Swedish permit is unaffected. What changes is who they can bring along on this simplified basis.

The changes are part of a wider tightening of Swedish family immigration rules that took effect on 1 October 2026. For this group, Swedish law has been aligned with the EU directive on long-term residents: until now it was more generous than EU law requires.

What this means for you. If you planned to move to Sweden as an EU long-term resident with your whole family, check each relative against the new requirements before applying.

Who now counts as family

From 1 October 2026 the Swedish Migration Agency recognises only two categories as family members on this basis.

• Spouse or partner: husband or wife, registered partner or cohabiting partner living with you as if married.
• Children under 18: yours or your partner's, unmarried.

Adult children, parents and other relatives will no longer get a permit on this basis, even if they lived with you as one household. Other grounds remain open to them: work, study or the general rules for moving to a family member in Sweden, each with its own requirements. If a child is about to turn 18, do not delay the application and check which date the agency will use to assess age.

The family must have lived together in the first EU country

The second new requirement is that the family must already have been formed in the EU country that granted long-term resident status. This means the family member has or had a residence permit there and lived there with you. If you married after moving to Sweden, or your spouse never lived with you in the first country, no permit will be granted on this basis.

Living together must be proven with documents. For spouses this is a marriage certificate; for cohabiting partners, proof of a shared address such as a lease, address registration or joint accounts. The agency accepts documents in Swedish or English, translations must be certified, and a copy of the original is attached.

Marriage and birth certificates issued abroad can be reissued, then given an apostille and a certified translation. Start before you apply: obtaining these documents takes time.

What this means for you. If a family member lived elsewhere while you were earning the status, get them a permit in the first EU country and live there together before moving to Sweden.

Income requirement

The third change is that the person already living in Sweden must support themselves and the family. After tax and housing costs the household must keep at least a set amount each month. The applicant's own earnings may count towards family income. The 2026 amounts are as follows.

Example: a couple with two children aged 5 and 12. After tax and rent the household must keep at least SEK 23,819 a month: SEK 13,408 for the adults and SEK 4,337 and SEK 6,074 for the children. The amounts for children are reduced by child allowance. Rent is counted separately, so with expensive housing the required income rises noticeably.

Salary, business income and sickness benefit count as income. Savings can also be relied on if they are enough for the family to live on. Unemployment benefits, subsidised employment and other unemployment-related payments do not count. An exemption is possible only for special reasons, for example a permanently reduced ability to work due to illness or disability.

What this means for you. Work out the budget before applying: salary after tax minus rent must cover the amount for every family member.

The income calculation in three examples

The requirement is calculated for the whole family at once: the amounts for adults and for each child are added together. The child amounts are reduced by the child allowance and the large family supplement the family will receive in Sweden. According to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, the child allowance is SEK 1,250 a month per child, and the supplement is SEK 150 for two children and SEK 730 for three.

Example one: a single adult with a three-year-old child. The requirement is 8,116 plus 4,337, SEK 12,453 in total, or SEK 11,203 after the allowance. Example two: spouses with two children aged 5 and 12. The requirement is SEK 23,819, or SEK 21,169 after the allowances and the supplement. Example three: spouses with three children aged 2, 8 and 12. The requirement is SEK 29,024, and after SEK 3,750 in allowances and SEK 730 in supplement it is SEK 24,544.

These amounts must be left over after tax and rent. If the family in example two rents a flat for SEK 12,000, net income must be at least SEK 33,169 a month. The agency looks at the actual lease and the actual salary, so the calculation is best done from the documents you will attach to the application.

Income is proven by documents: an employment contract and payslips, tax statements, and for your own business, accounts and tax returns. Housing costs are proven by a lease showing the monthly rent.

What this means for you. Before filing, add up the amounts for every family member, deduct child benefits and add the rent. The result is the minimum net income you need to prove.

Transitional rules and timing

There is no transition period for first applications. If you applied before 1 October but no decision has been made yet, the agency will assess it under the new rules and may ask for additional documents.

Extensions are protected. If the current permit was granted before 1 October 2026 and the extension is filed no later than 1 October 2027, it will be assessed under the previous rules. After that date extensions follow the new requirements. The application fee is SEK 1,500 per adult and SEK 750 per child, and it is not refunded if the application is refused.

What this means for you. If a family member's permit expires within the next year, apply for the extension early, before 1 October 2027.

How to apply and what it costs

The application is submitted at a Swedish embassy or consulate-general in the country where you live. If you are already in Sweden, it is sent to the Migration Agency. Each family member, children included, fills in their own form. Documents are attached as copies in Swedish or English, and translations must be certified.

The file includes copies of the passports, the passport and EU long-term resident permit card of the family member in Sweden, proof of marriage or cohabitation, the children's birth certificates, and proof of income and housing costs. If the resident's own application is still pending, their income is assessed as part of that application. Before a decision you must present your passport, and in some cases the agency invites you and the family member in Sweden to an interview.

The fee is paid once the agency sends payment instructions: SEK 1,500 per adult and SEK 750 per child. For a family of two adults and two children that is SEK 4,500. The fee is not refunded if the application is rejected, so before paying check that every family member meets the new rules.

Processing time depends on how complete the file is. According to the agency, 75% of applications in this category are decided within 19 months, so submit a complete set of documents at once: every extra request lengthens the wait.

What this means for you. File the applications for the whole family at the same time and check each person in advance: the fee is not refunded after a refusal.

What to do

1. Check who in your family qualifies: a spouse or partner and children under 18.
2. Collect proof that the family lived together in the first EU country: the family member's permit, leases, address registration.
3. Calculate income after tax and rent against the 2026 amounts.
4. Prepare marriage and birth certificates with an apostille and a certified translation into English or Swedish.
5. If a family member does not qualify, choose another basis for them: work, study or the general family rules.

How to obtain EU long-term resident status is explained in our guides for Cyprus and Italy. If a family member is not yet included in your permit in the first country, start there: we help with adding family members. To compare conditions in other countries, see EU residence programmes.

What the permit gives and what to do after the decision

A family member of a long-term resident can work or study in Sweden as soon as they arrive. The permit is granted for the same period as the permit of the family member in Sweden and can be extended. The decision is sent to your Swedish address, or to the embassy if you are abroad.

Once the residence permit card is ready, it is sent to your home address within about a week. If you will live in Sweden for at least a year, you must report your move and register in the Swedish Population Register; the Swedish Tax Agency decides on this. After registration you receive a personal identity number, which you need for banking, healthcare and school.

After five years with a residence permit you can apply for long-term resident status in Sweden itself. The family member then has a status of their own that does not depend on the relative's grounds. How to obtain a permanent status and renew it is explained on the page on permanent residence.

A child born in Sweden also needs a residence permit of their own, and it is best to apply right after the birth.

What this means for you. Register in the Population Register soon after arrival: without a personal identity number it is hard to start work or study.

If the application is refused

A Migration Agency decision can be appealed. The appeal is submitted in writing to the agency itself, not to the court: to the address in the decision or at one of its service centres. The deadline is stated in the decision, and an appeal that arrives late is dismissed and not forwarded.

The appeal states which decision you are appealing, why you believe it is wrong, how it should be changed, and your contact details with the case number. The agency first reviews the decision itself. If it does not change it, the appeal is forwarded to the migration court, which decides whether the decision was correct.

If the refusal stems from the new rules rather than a mistake in the documents, an appeal usually does not help. It is then more sensible to file a new application on another basis, for example under the general rules for moving to a close relative in Sweden. How family reunification works in other EU countries is covered in our pieces on Italy and Cyprus.

What this means for you. Before appealing, identify the reason for the refusal. An appeal fixes a document error; failing the new rules is solved only by another basis.

How this article was prepared

This article is based on information from the Swedish Migration Agency: the news item on new rules for family members of long-term residents in another EU country (announced 15 September, published 1 October 2026) and the application page, checked on 18 October 2026. Income amounts, fees and processing times are as of that date. This is not legal advice on your specific situation.