Swedish government tells Migration Agency 'limited need' for work permit exemptions

The government is set to pass a law in parliament this spring which will set the minimum salary for a work permit at 90 percent of Sweden's median salary – currently 33,390 kronor a month – with the new higher requirement coming into force at the start of June. 

As part of the law, the government will rule on a list of in-demand professions which pay less than the new threshold and should therefore be exempted so that labour can be recruited overseas, and in January it asked the Migration Agency to propose a list of professions which could be included. 

In the order to the Migration Agency, which The Local has obtained through a Freedom of Information request, the government stresses that the number of exemptions should be limited, in what looks to be a warning not to repeat what it did last July when it proposed an expansive list of 152 job titles which should be exempted. 

"Starting with the premise that the need for exemptions is limited, the Migration Board shall present a list of proposals for professions that can be exempted from a salary requirement as a condition for a work permit," the order to the agency reads. 

The instructions add that the agency should give arguments and evidence to support each proposed profession. 

The agency should also include: 

• the number of work permit applications made 
• the approval rate 
• the difference between the lowest monthly salary that is either allowed in collective bargaining agreements, or commonly paid and the salary threshold of 90 percent of the Swedish median wage 

This final figure, should, the government says, "be given special importance". 

Sofia Råsmar, business policy expert at Sweden's hotel and restaurants union Visita, told The Local in an interview earlier this month that she was worried that an order to focus on the number of work applications made in each industry would make it more difficult for her members to recruit staff internationally. 

"From what I have heard from the Migration Agency, it will have an increased focus on whether labour immigration has occurred or not and for us that is negative. That is problematic for our sector, because even with the new sufficiency requirement, which was set at 80 percent of the median salary, most of our workforce didn't meet that threshold, so it will look like there's not much need for labour immigration in our industry."

• READ ALSO: The jobs that could be exempt from Swedish work permit salary limit

The government has asked the Migration Agency to work with the Swedish Public Employment Service to identify professions where: 

• the need for labour cannot be met within Sweden, or within a certain part of Sweden 
• the minimum monthly salary according to Swedish collective agreements or practice within the profession is lower than the salary requirement proposed in the bill (90 percent of Sweden's median wage) 

The government also asks the Migration Agency to have a dialogue with "associations of employers and employees, as well as other relevant actors", indicating that it should at least speak to the Confederation of Swedish Industry and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. 

The list should be delivered to the Ministry of Justice no later than March 20th. 

The Local has contacted the Migration Agency to ask how the details of the government's request will change the way it draws up the list and to ask whether it will be consulting with employer groups and unions.  

The order is included as a section in the Letter of Appropriation, or regleringsbrev, the annual set of instructions the government gives to the agency.