Country-wide policy
Every Swedish Door Now Has a Money Test on It, and They Are All Measured Differently
Sweden has spent 2026 attaching an income condition to things that previously had none, and the conditions do not use the same yardstick. Permanent residence requires the applicant to be able to support themselves, measured by the Aliens Ordinance against the reserved amount on attachment of earnings. Family reunification requires the sponsor to support both parties and to have a home of sufficient size and standard, measured at 1.30 times the normal amount on attachment of earnings plus the housing cost. Naturalisation, since 6 June 2026, requires an income of at least three income base amounts a year and no more than six months of social assistance in the last three. A work permit requires pay of at least 90 per cent of the median wage. Four tests, four different base figures, and three of them are statutory amounts fixed annually by instruments this record does not reach. None of them is stated in kronor in the law itself.
Topics it changes
What it requires
- For permanent residence, pay after tax at the reserved amount under the Enforcement Code
- For family reunification, pay after tax at 1.30 times the normal amount plus the housing cost
- For naturalisation, at least three income base amounts a year and at most six months of social assistance in three years
- For a work permit, at least 90 per cent of the median wage in Sweden when you apply
At a glance
- Permanent residence
- The reserved amount on attachment of earnings, for yourself alone
Chapter 4, section 4 e of the Aliens Ordinance, implementing chapter 5, section 7 of the Aliens Act.
- Family reunification
- 1.30 times the normal amount, plus the housing cost
Chapter 4, section 4 d of the Aliens Ordinance, implementing chapter 5, section 3 j of the Aliens Act.
- Naturalisation
- Three income base amounts a year
Section 11 b, second paragraph of the citizenship Act, introduced by Lag (2026:447).
- Social assistance allowed before naturalisation
- Six months in three years
Section 11 b, first paragraph, point 2 of the citizenship Act.
- Work permit
- 90 per cent of the median wage, or 75 for listed occupations
Chapter 6, section 2 of the Aliens Act, and chapter 6, section 6 of the Aliens Ordinance for the lower figure.
- Who is excused the permanent-residence test
- Children, pensioners, and where there are special reasons
Chapter 5, section 8 of the Aliens Act.
- Figures stated in kronor in the law
- None of the four
Each is a multiple of a statutory amount or a percentage of a published median. The kronor results come from instruments and statistics outside these Acts.
What the law says
«Ett permanent uppehållstillstånd får beviljas endast om»Our translation - not official
A permanent residence permit may be granted only if
The permanent-residence condition, whose first point is the ability to support yourself.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Swedish parliament's public database of the Svensk författningssamling, serving every Act and ordinance as a single consolidated page at a stable address of the form /sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/<slug>_sfs-YYYY-NNN/. Each record prints the SFS number, the department responsible, the date of issue and an Ändrad line naming the last amending SFS incorporated, and each amended section carries in its own body the Act that gave it its present wording. Provisions not yet in force are printed alongside the current text and marked /Träder i kraft I:<date>/, and repealed sections are kept in place reading Har upphävts genom lag (YYYY:NNN), so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Transitional provisions are printed at the foot under Övergångsbestämmelser, but only for those amending Acts that have them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The Ändrad line names the last amendment incorporated. It is not a sweep date and must not be recorded as a consolidation cut-off: it says nothing about when the page was last checked against the statute book. The consolidations are unofficial - the authentic text is the Svensk författningssamling as published by the Government Offices - and riksdagen prints a link to the Government Offices' own full text beside each record. An amending Act's own entry-into-force date is usually not on the page at all: where the Act has no transitional provisions, the date has to be read in the SFS as published. Where a section exists in several future versions the page prints them all, so an article number alone does not identify the text in force. The site is a Next.js application serving the whole statute inside the initial HTML; the extraction service returns nothing at all for some of the larger documents, which has to be met with a direct fetch rather than read as an absence.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«Kravet på att kunna försörja sig i 5 kap. 7 § utlänningslagen (2005:716) är uppfyllt om utlänningen har lön som efter avdrag för preliminär skatt uppgår till förbehållsbeloppet vid utmätning av lön enligt 7 kap. 5 § utsökningsbalken.»How that test is measured, and against what: a figure from the Enforcement Code, counted for the applicant alone.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Swedish parliament's public database of the Svensk författningssamling, serving every Act and ordinance as a single consolidated page at a stable address of the form /sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/<slug>_sfs-YYYY-NNN/. Each record prints the SFS number, the department responsible, the date of issue and an Ändrad line naming the last amending SFS incorporated, and each amended section carries in its own body the Act that gave it its present wording. Provisions not yet in force are printed alongside the current text and marked /Träder i kraft I:<date>/, and repealed sections are kept in place reading Har upphävts genom lag (YYYY:NNN), so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Transitional provisions are printed at the foot under Övergångsbestämmelser, but only for those amending Acts that have them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The Ändrad line names the last amendment incorporated. It is not a sweep date and must not be recorded as a consolidation cut-off: it says nothing about when the page was last checked against the statute book. The consolidations are unofficial - the authentic text is the Svensk författningssamling as published by the Government Offices - and riksdagen prints a link to the Government Offices' own full text beside each record. An amending Act's own entry-into-force date is usually not on the page at all: where the Act has no transitional provisions, the date has to be read in the SFS as published. Where a section exists in several future versions the page prints them all, so an article number alone does not identify the text in force. The site is a Next.js application serving the whole statute inside the initial HTML; the extraction service returns nothing at all for some of the larger documents, which has to be met with a direct fetch rather than read as an absence.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«Uppehållstillstånd på grund av anknytning till en person enligt 3, 3 a, 3 f eller 3 g § får beviljas endast om anknytningspersonen kan försörja sig och utlänningen samt har en bostad av tillräcklig storlek och standard för sig och utlänningen.»Our translation - not official
A residence permit on the ground of a tie to a person under sections 3, 3 a, 3 f or 3 g may be granted only if the sponsor can support himself or herself and the foreigner and has a home of sufficient size and standard for himself or herself and the foreigner.
The family condition, which adds a housing requirement that none of the others has.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Swedish parliament's public database of the Svensk författningssamling, serving every Act and ordinance as a single consolidated page at a stable address of the form /sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/<slug>_sfs-YYYY-NNN/. Each record prints the SFS number, the department responsible, the date of issue and an Ändrad line naming the last amending SFS incorporated, and each amended section carries in its own body the Act that gave it its present wording. Provisions not yet in force are printed alongside the current text and marked /Träder i kraft I:<date>/, and repealed sections are kept in place reading Har upphävts genom lag (YYYY:NNN), so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Transitional provisions are printed at the foot under Övergångsbestämmelser, but only for those amending Acts that have them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The Ändrad line names the last amendment incorporated. It is not a sweep date and must not be recorded as a consolidation cut-off: it says nothing about when the page was last checked against the statute book. The consolidations are unofficial - the authentic text is the Svensk författningssamling as published by the Government Offices - and riksdagen prints a link to the Government Offices' own full text beside each record. An amending Act's own entry-into-force date is usually not on the page at all: where the Act has no transitional provisions, the date has to be read in the SFS as published. Where a section exists in several future versions the page prints them all, so an article number alone does not identify the text in force. The site is a Next.js application serving the whole statute inside the initial HTML; the extraction service returns nothing at all for some of the larger documents, which has to be met with a direct fetch rather than read as an absence.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«1,30 gånger normalbeloppet vid utmätning av lön enligt 7 kap. 5 § utsökningsbalken, och»Our translation - not official
1.30 times the normal amount on attachment of earnings under chapter 7, section 5 of the Enforcement Code, and
The family multiplier, against a different figure from the same Code.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Swedish parliament's public database of the Svensk författningssamling, serving every Act and ordinance as a single consolidated page at a stable address of the form /sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/<slug>_sfs-YYYY-NNN/. Each record prints the SFS number, the department responsible, the date of issue and an Ändrad line naming the last amending SFS incorporated, and each amended section carries in its own body the Act that gave it its present wording. Provisions not yet in force are printed alongside the current text and marked /Träder i kraft I:<date>/, and repealed sections are kept in place reading Har upphävts genom lag (YYYY:NNN), so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Transitional provisions are printed at the foot under Övergångsbestämmelser, but only for those amending Acts that have them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The Ändrad line names the last amendment incorporated. It is not a sweep date and must not be recorded as a consolidation cut-off: it says nothing about when the page was last checked against the statute book. The consolidations are unofficial - the authentic text is the Svensk författningssamling as published by the Government Offices - and riksdagen prints a link to the Government Offices' own full text beside each record. An amending Act's own entry-into-force date is usually not on the page at all: where the Act has no transitional provisions, the date has to be read in the SFS as published. Where a section exists in several future versions the page prints them all, so an article number alone does not identify the text in force. The site is a Next.js application serving the whole statute inside the initial HTML; the extraction service returns nothing at all for some of the larger documents, which has to be met with a direct fetch rather than read as an absence.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«Lön eller inkomst av näringsverksamhet enligt första stycket 1 ska som lägst uppgå till en årsinkomst om tre inkomstbasbelopp enligt 58 kap. 26 och 27 §§ socialförsäkringsbalken.»The naturalisation floor, against a third base figure, this time from the Social Insurance Code.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Swedish parliament's public database of the Svensk författningssamling, serving every Act and ordinance as a single consolidated page at a stable address of the form /sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/<slug>_sfs-YYYY-NNN/. Each record prints the SFS number, the department responsible, the date of issue and an Ändrad line naming the last amending SFS incorporated, and each amended section carries in its own body the Act that gave it its present wording. Provisions not yet in force are printed alongside the current text and marked /Träder i kraft I:<date>/, and repealed sections are kept in place reading Har upphävts genom lag (YYYY:NNN), so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Transitional provisions are printed at the foot under Övergångsbestämmelser, but only for those amending Acts that have them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The Ändrad line names the last amendment incorporated. It is not a sweep date and must not be recorded as a consolidation cut-off: it says nothing about when the page was last checked against the statute book. The consolidations are unofficial - the authentic text is the Svensk författningssamling as published by the Government Offices - and riksdagen prints a link to the Government Offices' own full text beside each record. An amending Act's own entry-into-force date is usually not on the page at all: where the Act has no transitional provisions, the date has to be read in the SFS as published. Where a section exists in several future versions the page prints them all, so an article number alone does not identify the text in force. The site is a Next.js application serving the whole statute inside the initial HTML; the extraction service returns nothing at all for some of the larger documents, which has to be met with a direct fetch rather than read as an absence.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«lönen minst uppgår till 90 procent av medianlönen i Sverige vid tidpunkten för ansökan (lönekravet)»Our translation - not official
the pay amounts to at least 90 per cent of the median wage in Sweden at the time of the application (the salary requirement)
The work permit floor, against a published statistic rather than a statutory amount.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Swedish parliament's public database of the Svensk författningssamling, serving every Act and ordinance as a single consolidated page at a stable address of the form /sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/<slug>_sfs-YYYY-NNN/. Each record prints the SFS number, the department responsible, the date of issue and an Ändrad line naming the last amending SFS incorporated, and each amended section carries in its own body the Act that gave it its present wording. Provisions not yet in force are printed alongside the current text and marked /Träder i kraft I:<date>/, and repealed sections are kept in place reading Har upphävts genom lag (YYYY:NNN), so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Transitional provisions are printed at the foot under Övergångsbestämmelser, but only for those amending Acts that have them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The Ändrad line names the last amendment incorporated. It is not a sweep date and must not be recorded as a consolidation cut-off: it says nothing about when the page was last checked against the statute book. The consolidations are unofficial - the authentic text is the Svensk författningssamling as published by the Government Offices - and riksdagen prints a link to the Government Offices' own full text beside each record. An amending Act's own entry-into-force date is usually not on the page at all: where the Act has no transitional provisions, the date has to be read in the SFS as published. Where a section exists in several future versions the page prints them all, so an article number alone does not identify the text in force. The site is a Next.js application serving the whole statute inside the initial HTML; the extraction service returns nothing at all for some of the larger documents, which has to be met with a direct fetch rather than read as an absence.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«Kravet i 7 § 1 gäller inte om»Our translation - not official
The requirement in section 7, point 1 does not apply if
Who is excused, and the three points that follow are a child, a pensioner, and special reasons.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Swedish parliament's public database of the Svensk författningssamling, serving every Act and ordinance as a single consolidated page at a stable address of the form /sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/<slug>_sfs-YYYY-NNN/. Each record prints the SFS number, the department responsible, the date of issue and an Ändrad line naming the last amending SFS incorporated, and each amended section carries in its own body the Act that gave it its present wording. Provisions not yet in force are printed alongside the current text and marked /Träder i kraft I:<date>/, and repealed sections are kept in place reading Har upphävts genom lag (YYYY:NNN), so the page shows what has gone as well as what is there. Transitional provisions are printed at the foot under Övergångsbestämmelser, but only for those amending Acts that have them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The Ändrad line names the last amendment incorporated. It is not a sweep date and must not be recorded as a consolidation cut-off: it says nothing about when the page was last checked against the statute book. The consolidations are unofficial - the authentic text is the Svensk författningssamling as published by the Government Offices - and riksdagen prints a link to the Government Offices' own full text beside each record. An amending Act's own entry-into-force date is usually not on the page at all: where the Act has no transitional provisions, the date has to be read in the SFS as published. Where a section exists in several future versions the page prints them all, so an article number alone does not identify the text in force. The site is a Next.js application serving the whole statute inside the initial HTML; the extraction service returns nothing at all for some of the larger documents, which has to be met with a direct fetch rather than read as an absence.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
Practical notes
No kronor figure appears in this record because none appears in the instruments. The reserved amount and the normal amount are fixed annually under the Enforcement Code and the income base amount under the Social Insurance Code, and neither was read for its value.
The naturalisation income test did not exist before 6 June 2026. A guide written earlier that says Swedish citizenship has no financial requirement was right when it was written.