The study is designed as an interdisciplinary socio-legal analysis. It is based on qualitative desk research, including a review of relevant academic literature as well as international, EU-level and Swedish legal and policy documents, including legislation and preparatory works. These analyses are combined with administrative statistics from, inter alia, the Swedish Migration Agency and Statistics Sweden, in order to shed light on demographic and migration-related trends. In addition, the study includes 15 semi-structured interviews with experts, stakeholders and practitioners in Sweden and internationally.

Key conclusions and recommendations

  • Reduce insecurity of status in residence permits for work and study, particularly for people in need of protection, by strengthening safeguards in cases of unemployment, increasing flexibility in permit conditions, and, for certain occupational groups, providing faster access to permanent residence permits. This is central to making Sweden an attractive country of destination and to retaining the labour force needed in the long term.
  • Design salary thresholds for labour migration with caution, as high or dynamically increasing thresholds risk excluding newly established workers and individuals with relevant qualifications but lower entry-level wages. Where salary requirements are applied, they should be set at a moderate level and should not create uncertainty over time.
  • Shorter and more predictable processing times are crucial for both employers and third-country nationals. EU-law time limits can serve as a benchmark, but Sweden has scope to be more ambitious also beyond EU-regulated permit categories.
  • Build stable, state-funded support structures for migration-related procedures and consider more active state involvement in recruitment through pilot projects, such as complementary pathways and bilateral partnerships for work and study, which can be tested and developed in a step-by-step manner.

About the authors

Zvezda Vankova is associate professor and senior researcher at the Law Faculty of Lund University.

Bernd Parusel is a senior researcher in political science at the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, SIEPS.

The report was published on 19 February 2026.

Picture: Marcus Urbenz via Unsplash.