Q&A: How will Sweden's new family immigration law affect researchers?

The new law, called "Stricter requirements for family immigration" (Skärpta villkor för anhöriginvandring in Swedish), puts stringent new requirements on those wanting to bring non-Swedish relatives to live with them in Sweden, including new financial maintenance requirements for researchers who want to bring or keep their family with them in Sweden. 

Robert Andersson is the head of negotiations at SULF (Sveriges universitetslärare och forskare), a union for higher education teachers, researchers, and doctoral candidates. The union has been active in lobbying the Swedish government for improved conditions for foreign-born researchers, so The Local wanted to talk to him about how SULF sees these new family support rules for researchers affecting people who work in higher education. 

The Local: Can you tell us about these new family support requirements for researchers?

Robert Andersson: It used to be that there were no income or maintenance requirements for family members of researchers, which was a kind of exception that we had for researchers. Now, from October 1st this year, that maintenance requirement has been introduced. What we at SULF said about this aspect of the law was that it was unnecessary, because it has not been a problem. It will only create more administration.

One thing that we were able to solve, because the politicians listened to us, was that in the initial proposal from the government inquiry, it said that the family member should support themselves and not the researcher who wants to bring their family, which would have been weird and different from all other situations. But in the end, they wrote the law so that it's the income that the family has as a whole that should be considered. So, they listened to us about that, which could have been a major problem.

As a researcher, the amount that you need to support your family members in Sweden is not very high. It's similar to what doctoral candidates need, and we haven't seen many problems there. So this might not be a very large problem in practice, given that the researchers will have salaries high enough to meet the family requirements. The problem will come later when you want to change to other types of permit, because then suddenly the family support requirement is much higher – if you apply for permanent residency or a work permit, for example.

So when would people here doing research be likely to encounter problems?

Robert Andersson: So if we look at a researcher, you will need 9,700 kronor after tax for your own maintenance, and then you'll need extra for family: about 4,000 for an adult and 2,000 or so for each child. Per month. To be exact, it's 4440 for adults and 2664 for each child. Note also that these numbers are before rent is paid.

But if you then change to other types of permit, you will suddenly need 35,000.  After tax and after rent is paid, you should have about 13,000 per month if you are two adults, and then extra for each child, which can be up to almost 7,000 per child if the child is 15 years old or more. So this is quite a lot. The difference is very large.

In the debate, it has been said that if you have an additional child, you might might have to earn over 50,000 kronor per month, and, in some cases, there is a large risk that your family will be sent out of Sweden simply because you can't support them anymore.

This could lead to us bringing researchers here – we have made easier for them to get permanent residency, but once they get it, their family might not be able to stay any longer – and then probably the researcher will leave. 

So, this is quite a large change now from what it used to be.

Is there any grace period for this? Say someone has finished their research contract, and they get a job in Sweden related to the the research they've been doing, would they be facing that big jump in family maintenance support immediately? Or would they have a certain period of time in which to reach the new amounts?

Robert Andersson: As I understand it, it's immediate. They say clearly at the Migration Agency that if you have, or if you apply for, permanent residency, and you have previously had a residence permit for work, for your own company, or as doctoral candidate – and they don't mention researcher here, but I believe that's also included – then you you have to fulfil this new requirement.

When I read it, although it is not exactly clear, it seems as though transition from a temporary permit to a permanent permit is considered as an extension and then it can be a bit easier, as the income that other family members have can count, and lower levels apply the first year, in some cases.

Because there are some transitional rules. If you are applying for an extension of a permit, the old amounts and rules should apply for the next year. But for new applications, I understand that this requirement is in place already now. So, if you want to bring your family now, you have to fulfil this. 

It's also important to know that it's now only salary and income from your own company (and savings, if they cover two years or more) that you can consider here. So, we know that many of our members go from one fixed-term contract to another. If it happens that you are unemployed when the permit decision is made, then your family cannot stay any longer. You may, of course, appeal and hope that the situation is better later on.

But, for researchers already here, during this first year, some other incomes than salary can be counted if you want to extend the permit that was granted before October 1st 2026, and you apply for an extension before October 1st 2027.  And it means that you can start to count now how much you need.

How do you think this will affect Sweden's ability to attract and retain foreign research talent?

Robert Andersson: Well, it's not very positive, of course. And it's also strange in that, the intention was clear that we want to attract more researchers to Sweden and keep them here, and then this will instead lead to a situation where some of them will have to leave Sweden. So I think this is also an example of when you enforce rules to stop other type of migration, you also affect also the migration you want to have.

What are you advising your members who will be facing this situation?

Robert Andersson: As it is now, well, the rules are what they are, so the only way out is to have a quite well-paid job. It's not easy. If the family members can have their own job, it also helps, because if, let's say a researcher or doctoral candidate gets permanent residency, their partner can also get it provided that they have their own income, and it must not be very high, but it must last for a year at least. So, that's one way to deal with it, if possible, and then hope that children also can get permanent residency. But they have to be here for at least three years first.

But at the same time, we know that there are some politicians in the parliament that would like to change these rules. So that's what we hope for. Also for some of the rules that affect teenagers; even if they have been become better, there are still some some problems there. 

What problems do you still foresee there, with 'teen deportations'?

Robert Andersson: Well, if you change the age limit from 18 to 21, that's of course better. But then if the young person that becomes 21 must have a job and earn about 34,000 per month, that's not very realistic. So one option could be to get a permit for studies instead. But then, if you have to pay study fees, it's quite expensive.

So that can also, of course, affect our members – that if their children have not yet got permanent residence, their children might be deported.

Do you know how much the universities are aware of this, and how they may or may not be informing potential employees from outside of Sweden?

Robert Andersson: No, I don't know actually how that is done, but some universities provide some services, I know. But I think we have to look at what a normal salary is for the positions that we have at the university, and ask if they will be high enough. I mean, if you are, let's say, a senior professor, I don't think it's a big problem. But for the more junior researchers that we want to recruit and keep in Sweden, this could be a major problem.

Is the union doing any work then to inform universities about this?

Robert Andersson: We have webinars that we give ourselves, and we are also invited to give them at the universities. So that's one way. But we also have contacts with universities, so we can communicate with them as well; that's that's our plan now.

Anything else that we haven't covered that you think might be important to add?

Robert Andersson: I think this is something that the politicians should be aware of – and if this was really the intention, to scare away skilled people like this. Because even if you might fulfil the requirement, if you're not sure about it, for your family, it can create a situation where you perhaps decide to leave Sweden instead, to go somewhere else where you are more welcome.