After the decision has been made
If the Swedish Migration Agency grants your application, you will receive a certificate that you have the right to live in Sweden.
Once the decision has been made, it will be sent home to your Swedish address.
The residence status only applies in Sweden.
How long the status is valid
The residence status applies indefinitely. The actual certificate of residence status is limited in time, however. It is valid for five years and thereafter needs to be renewed.
Permanent residence status
In order to get a certificate of permanent residence status, you must have lived in Sweden for five years and during that time fulfilled the conditions for a right of residence.
Certificates of a right of permanent residence and permanent residence cards are invalid as of 1 January 2021. Even you who have such a certificate or card must therefore apply for residence status to legalise your continued stay in Sweden.
Appeals
If you do not accept the Swedish Migration Agency’s decision, you have the right to lodge an appeal. If you lodge an appeal, it means you want the Swedish Migration Agency’s decision to be changed. The appeal will be considered by a court, but you should send your appeal to the Swedish Migration Agency. Your decision tells you how much time you have to appeal.
The Migration Court considers your appeal
The Swedish Migration Agency will always forward an appeal that arrives in time to the Migration Court.
Before the appeal is forwarded, the Swedish Migration Agency considers whether the decision should be changed. If the Swedish Migration Agency considers that the decision should be changed, a new decision is produced to replace the one that has been appealed. The new decision is attached when the appeal is forwarded. When the appeal has been forwarded, the Court decides whether the Swedish Migration Agency’s change to the decision was correct.
From the date on which the Migration Court receives your appeal, you should address all questions concerning your appeal and the work of the court to the court. It is your own responsibility to watch out for the Migration Court’s judgements – the Swedish Migration Agency will not do this for you.
If you change your mind and want to retract your appeal, you can inform the Swedish Migration Agency that you accept the decision. In such case, your appeal will not be considered and you cannot appeal against the decision a second time.
How to write an appeal
You will be advised on how to make an appeal in the decision documentation. If you wish to appeal against the Swedish Migration Agency’s decision, you should write a letter confirming which decision you want the Swedish Migration Agency to change, and explain why. Enclose documents or other proof in support of what you have stated, preferably in the original.
Your appeal letter should include your personal data and your case number. The case number is shown on the decision. Also state your telephone number and address where the Swedish Migration Agency or court can reach you.
It is important that the Swedish Migration Agency receives your appeal on time. The time is counted from when you were notified of the decision.
If you are unable to appeal yourself, you can ask someone else to do it for you. You will then need to provide the Swedish Migration Agency with a power of attorney for the person helping you.
If you want to appeal against the Migration Court’s judgement
If you are not satisfied with the Migration Court’s judgement, you can appeal to the Migration Court of Appeal within three weeks of the date you were notified of the judgement. The Migration Court of Appeal is the last instance and decisions made there form the basis for the decisions of the Swedish Migration Agency and the Migration Courts in similar cases.
The Migration Court of Appeal only considers certain cases where there is no legal guidance or if the Migration Court has considered the case incorrectly. In most cases, the Migration Court of Appeal decides not to consider the appeal. In such case, it is the Migration Court judgement that is valid.
Not all decisions can be appealed
There are some decisions that cannot be appealed. Your decision tells you whether you can appeal against it or not.
Amongst other things, you cannot appeal against
- a decision after you have accepted the decision and signed a declaration of acceptance
- the Migration Court of Appeal’s decision not to consider your case.
If the Swedish Migration Agency receives an appeal against a decision that cannot be appealed, the appeal must still be forwarded to the Migration Court, if the appeal was submitted in time. The Migration Court will not, however, review the appeal.
Different times for different appeals
The Swedish Migration Agency needs to have your appeal before the deadline has expired. If you want to appeal against the court’s decision, you must send your appeal to the court, so that they receive it before the deadline has expired. The decision states how long you have to appeal.
When the deadline has expired, the decision is said to have acquired legal force. This means that the decision can no longer be appealed.