Sweden’s government plans to commission a special investigator in order to review the Swedish regulations for granting residence permits based on affiliation.
The new plan aims to make family immigration to Sweden more restrictive and expedient Schengen.News reports.
Amendments to the law were introduced last autumn by the Swedish government to tighten the conditions for family immigration in certain aspects.
The government considers that the current rules applied in Sweden on family immigration and international commitments in general are “more generous” than required under the EU law.
According to the Swedish government, the regulations are also complex and can partially be perceived as inconsistent.
Extensive immigration in recent years combined with a lack of integration has contributed to major challenges with growing exclusion. Reviewing and further tightening the conditions for family immigration is an important step in reversing the trend and ensuring a responsible, strict and long-term sustainable migration policy.
Therefore, the Swedish government plans to commission an investigator in order to review how the rules can further be tightened.
Among the investigator’s assignments are also reviewing the subsistence requirements and other conditions for granting a residence permit due to connections to persons who obtain a residence permit in Sweden.
The starting point for the investigator’s work must be a strict regulation that does not go beyond what is required under EU law but which continues to respect Sweden’s international commitments in general. The investigator must also review the conditions for family immigration to persons who are, for example, Swedish citizens.
The assignment is based on an agreement between the government and the Sweden Democrats and must be reported no later than August 25, 2025.
Sweden Considers Stricter Conditions for Family Member Immigration & Restricted Possibilities for Residence Permits
Last year, the government of Sweden decided to consult the Council Legislation on proposals related to stricter conditions for family member immigration in certain cases and restricted possibilities to grant residence permits on Hungarian grounds.
In this regard, the Minister for Migration Maria Malmer Stenergard, said that as a result of extensive immigration in the past few years, together with a lack of integration, Sweden is being subject to significant challenges for growing exclusion.
According to her, in order to break this trend, a number of measures are required. She emphasized that the proposals are now being referred to the Council on Legislation, adding that an important paradigm shift is now being implemented in Swedish migration policy, that will lead to a decline in immigration to Sweden.
The proposal, among others, included increasing the age limit for denying a residence permit on grounds of personal ties from 18 to 21 years.
Besides, it was also proposed that the provisions on permitting residence permits to be granted on grounds of particularly distressing circumstances be removed.
