Sweden narrows family rules for long-term residents of other EU countries from 1 October
The Swedish Migration Agency published new rules on 15 September 2026 governing family members of people holding long-term resident status in another EU country who move to Sweden. They take effect on 1 October 2026. Three changes apply. “Family member” narrows to a partner and children under 18. The family must have been formed in the first EU country, meaning the applicant held a permit there and the family lived together there. And a maintenance requirement now applies to the person already in Sweden.
Transitional protection is limited and uneven. Extension applications filed by 1 October 2027, on permits granted before 1 October 2026, fall under the old rules. There are no transitional rules for first-time applicants, so anyone applying for the first time from 1 October is assessed under the new framework regardless of when the move was planned.
Why this matters
This affects a specific route that remote workers use more than most: holding long-term resident status in one EU country and then moving to another. If you hold that status elsewhere and are planning to bring a partner or children to Sweden, the requirement that the family was formed in the first country is the one most likely to catch you out. A relationship that began after you moved, or a family that has not lived together in that first country, may not meet it. The absence of transitional rules for first-time applicants means the cut-off is hard: an application submitted on 30 September and one submitted on 1 October are assessed under different rules.
Context
EU long-term resident status is distinct from citizenship and from a national residence permit, and it carries onward mobility rights within the EU that a purely national permit does not. Those rights have always been conditional rather than automatic, and this change tightens the family-reunification conditions attached to them in Sweden specifically. It does not alter the status itself or the rules in any other member state.
For the broader position on living and working remotely in Sweden, see our Sweden country guide.
What to watch
If you are a first-time applicant with a move already planned, the date is the thing to check against the official guidance, and Migrationsverket’s own page is the authority on it. Anyone relying on the extension route should note the 1 October 2027 boundary on filing.