EU Blue Card

If you are a citizen of a country outside the EU and have received an offer of a highly qualified job, you can apply for an EU Blue Card. You must have a university education equivalent to 180 university credits, or five years’ professional experience and a salary equal to at least one and a half times the average gross salary in Sweden.

An EU Blue Card issued in Sweden entitles you to live and work in Sweden. When you have had an EU Blue Card in Sweden or other countries within the EU for five years, you can apply for permanent resident status in the country where you are living, provided that you have lived in that country for the last two years. Permanent resident status means that you have certain rights that an EU citizen has and that you are better placed to work, study or start your own company in another EU country.

Find out more about permanent resident status in Sweden

Requirements for the EU Blue Card

In order to obtain an EU Blue Card, you must have

• a valid passport
• a university education equivalent to 180 university credits, or five years’ relevant professional experience
• taken out or applied for a comprehensive health insurance policy that covers health and medical care in Sweden
• an employment contract or offer of highly qualified employment lasting at least one year
• no less than one and a half times the average gross salary in Sweden, before taxes.

Your employer must

• advertise the position in Sweden and within EU/EES and Switzerland for at least ten days
• complete an offer of employment and give the trade union concerned the opportunity to state its opinion about the terms of employment
• offer terms of employment that are at least on the same level as Swedish collective agreements or that which is customary in your occupation or industry.

Once we receive your application

If your application is granted you will receive a residence permit card with 'EU-blåkort/EU Blue Card' printed on it. This card is your proof that you are permitted to stay in Sweden, and it has your fingerprints and photograph.

If you need a travel visa to enter Sweden, you should visit the Swedish Embassy or the Consulate- general as soon as possible to be photographed and leave your fingerprints. You need to do this even if you have previously had a residence card, since your photo and fingerprints cannot be saved. For information about which rules apply at the embassy or consulate-general concerned, please visit swedenabroad.com.

If you do not need a travel visa, you should book an appointment to have your fingerprints and photograph taken once you have arrived in Sweden.

Find your closest embassy at Swedenabroad.com

Learn more about residence permit cards

Check if your application has been registered or if a decision has been made in your case

After the decision has been made

A decision on an EU Blue Card is always taken within 90 days. The decision is sent to the embassy or consulate general you selected in your online application. You need to bring your passport when collecting your decision. You can obtain a permit for the duration of the employment you have been offered, but no longer than the period of validity for your passport.

Once your residence card is ready the embassy or consulate will send it to you, unless you are able to collect it in person. Remember that it can take up to four weeks to manufacture and deliver the card to the embassy or consulate general once you have received your decision. When you enter Sweden, you must be able to show your residence card along with a valid passport.

If you are allowed to enter Sweden without a travel visa, you should be able to show a copy of your residence decision upon entry. As soon as possible after your arrival in Sweden, you must book an appointment to have your fingerprints and photograph taken. Once your residence card is ready, it will be sent to your Swedish address.

The first time you receive an EU Blue Card, it will be valid for at least one year and at most two years. The card entitles you to work in Sweden for the employer and within the occupation that you entered on your application. The card is valid for the period stated in the decision. For the first 24 months, the EU Blue Card is only valid for the employer and the occupation specified in your decision. When you have worked for 24 months and have extended your card, you can change employers without submitting a fresh application, provided that you are working within the same occupation. If you want to change your occupation or work for longer than you have a permit for, you need to apply for an extension. You should inform the Swedish Migration Agency if your employment ceases or your salary is reduced so you no longer reach the specified salary threshold. If you do not notify the Swedish Migration Agency of changes in your employment, you risk having an application to extend your EU Blue Card rejected, or having your present EU Blue Card withdrawn.

Check if your application has been registered or if a decision has been made in your case

Useful links if you have recently moved to Sweden and have a residence permit

Book an appointment at the Migration Agency in Sweden to be fingerprinted and photographed if you can travel without a visa

Learn more about how to extend your permit

Permits for family members

Your family may be granted residence permits for the same period as you. Family includes

• your partner (cohabiting partner, husband/wife or registered partner)
• your own or your partner's unmarried children under the age of 18.

How your family is to apply

If your family plans to accompany you to Sweden, you can include them in your online application.

If they not apply at the same time as you, they can do their own online application.

Learn more about how family members can do their own online application

Extending your permit

If you wish to continue working in Sweden, you must extend your EU Blue Card. You must also submit a new application if you have an EU Blue Card but wish to switch profession or function. If you have been working for less than two years and want to change jobs, you need to apply for a new EU Blue Card. Your application should be submitted before your current EU Blue Card expires.

Once we have received your application

You have the right to keep working pending our decision if you have submitted your application before your previous permit/EU Blue Card expires. Once you have had an EU Blue Card for Sweden for 48 months, you may be granted permanent residence. Time spent in another EU country does not count towards this period, even if you have had an EU Blue Card for your stay there.

If you obtain a permit, you will also receive a residence permit card. The card, which is proof that you have the right to be in Sweden, contains a photo and your fingerprints. Book an appointment as soon as possible to have your picture and fingerprints taken. Your photo and fingerprints cannot be saved, so you need to go through the process even if you have had a residence permit card before.

Book an appointment at the Migration Agency to be fingerprinted and photographed

Learn more about residence permit cards

Decision

The decision will be sent to your Swedish address. When your residence card is ready, it will be sent to you within about a week.

If the Swedish Migration Agency rejects your application

If the Migration Agency refuses your application, you can appeal the decision within three weeks from the date when you were informed of the decision. Your decision contains information about how to do so.

If you do not apply online

If you are not able to apply online, you must fill out the form Application for an EU Blue Card for work in Sweden – for applicants not currently in Sweden, number 181011, and submit it to a Swedish embassy or consulate-general in your country of residence. The application form specifies which documents to enclose. For information about which rules apply at the embassy or consulate-general concerned, please visit swedenabroad.com.

Application for an EU Blue Card for work in Sweden – for applicants not currently in Sweden, form number 181011 (in English)

Application for permit for family members of employees, visiting researchers, athletes and self-employed persons, form number 133011 (in English)

Offer of Employment, form number 232011 (in Swedish and English)

Find your closest embassy at Swedenabroad.com

If there is no possibility to submit an application in your country, you must apply at the embassy or consulate-general closest to your country of residence. For information about which rules apply at the embassy or consulate-general concerned, please visit swedenabroad.com.

If you are applying at an embassy or consulate-general, you pay the fee when you hand in your application. For more information about the fee, contact the embassy or consulate-general where you are applying, as they do not have the same fees and terms of payment as the Migration Agency.

Valid EU Blue Card issued in another EU country

If you have a valid EU Blue Card issued in another EU country, you may in certain cases submit your application in Sweden.

To be able to apply in Sweden you need to have stayed in another EU country for at least 18 months with a valid EU blue card. The application should be submitted within a month from the day you arrived in Sweden. In that case you fill out the form Application for an EU Blue Card for work in Sweden – for applicants currently in Sweden, number 183011. The application form specifies which documents to enclose.

Send your application to the Swedish Migration Agency, Box 3100, 903 03 Umeå.

Application for an EU Blue Card for work in Sweden – for applicants currently in Sweden, form number 183011

Permit application for family members of employees, visiting researchers, athletes and self-employed persons, form number 133011

Offer of Employment, form number 232011 (in Swedish and English)

Extend a EU Blue Card or switching profession or function

If you want to extend your permit, fill out the form Application for an EU Blue Card for work in Sweden – for applicants currently in Sweden, number 183011. You must also submit a new application if you have an EU Blue Card but wish to switch profession or function. The application form specifies which documents to enclose.

Send your application to the Swedish Migration Agency, Box 3100, 903 03 Umeå.

Application for an EU Blue Card for work in Sweden – for applicants currently in Sweden, form number 183011

Application for permit for family members of employees, visiting researchers, athletes and self-employed persons, form number 133011 (in English)

Offer of Employment, form number 232011 (in Swedish and English)

In most cases you must pay a fee.

Learn more about fees and how to pay