How high will the new salary be?
The short answer is you’ll need to earn 33,390 kronor a month to meet the new requirement.
The long answer is that Sweden’s median salary figure is updated once a year, around the middle of June. When this figure is updated, the salary threshold is also updated, as it is calculated as a percentage of the median salary.
This means that there will likely be a period of a couple of weeks where work permit applicants will need to earn at least 33,390 kronor a month to qualify for a permit, after which the salary threshold will rise again to whatever 90 percent of the new median salary is.
In past years, the work permit salary threshold has risen by around 1,000 to 1,500 kronor each year. We won’t know the next figure until it is released in mid-June.
Does this mean I have to earn that amount from June 1st?
The answer to this question is complicated.
If you already have a work permit, then your work permit will not suddenly become invalid from June 1st if you earn less than 33,390 kronor.
Instead, you will need to earn the new amount when your work permit is renewed, unless you submit your application before December 2026, as there is a six-month grace period for people renewing work permits processed under the 80 percent rule.
Be aware, though, that, as mentioned above, the median salary is updated every year in mid-June, and the median salary figure at the time of application is the one used to calculate the amount you need to earn.
This means if you renew your permit after the new figure is released in mid-June, you will need to earn 80 percent of whatever the new median salary figure is (the 2025 figure), not the current median salary figure (which refers to salaries in 2024).
If you apply for a new first-time permit after June 1st, or renew an existing permit after December 1st, you will need to meet the new requirement – 90 percent of the most recent median salary released at the time of application.
I’m planning on applying for permanent residency after June 1st. What does this mean for me?
You apply for a permanent residence permit at the same time as a work permit extension, so you will be affected in the same way as someone applying to renew their work permit (see above section).
This proposal does not change the rules for permanent residency specifically.
Does this apply to all jobs?
No, there will be some exceptions, although we don’t know yet exactly what they are. Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch, who is also deputy prime minister, said back at the beginning of March that the government had agreed with the Sweden Democrats, its support party, to exempt jobs in health and social care from the new requirement.
The government has asked the Migration Agency to draw up a list of professions which could be exempted from the new higher work permit threshold because they are in high demand despite paying beneath the proposed threshold.
The agency has until March 20th to present the advisory list to the government, but it looks set to significantly narrow the list of occupations proposed for exemption, with under 60 job titles currently on a provisional list, as The Local was able to reveal earlier this month.
READ ALSO: Why does Sweden's government want a new list of jobs exempted from the salary limit?
I’m on a different type of permit. Does this affect me?
No, this only affects people in Sweden on work permits. If you have a different permit that allows you to work in Sweden or if you are an EU citizen in Sweden under EU rules, then this will not apply to you.
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