Refusal 

Last updated: 18/3-2024

If your asylum application is rejected it means that the Swedish Migration Agency has made the assessment that there are insufficient grounds for allowing you to stay in Sweden.

If your application is refused you have three choices:

  • To appeal the decision.
  • To return to your home country or to some other country where you have a permit to stay.
  • To apply for a work permit, if you have a job in Sweden.

You have to begin planning your return journey, regardless of whether you choose to appeal or to return. If you are cooperating with the Migration Agency they can help you arrange your return journey.

The decision usually begins to apply three weeks after you have received it. You must leave Sweden once the decision has begun to apply and can no longer be appealed.

If you do not accept the Migration Agency’s decision you have the right to appeal it.

The document with the Migration Agency’s decision will specify how much time you have to appeal. Usually this is three weeks from the day on which you received and read the decision.

If you have a public counsel, s/he can help you appeal.

Appeal to the Migration Court

If you want to appeal the Migration Agency's decision you have to write a letter to the Migration Agency. This letter must state:

  • Which decision you want the Migration Agency to change.
  • Why you want the Migration Agency to change the decision.
  • Your personal data.
  • Your case number. This is printed on your Asylum seeker card.
  • A telephone number and address where the Migration Agency or the court can reach you.

The Migration Agency will review your appeal to check whether the decision needs to be changed. If the Migration Agency concludes that it has made an incorrect decision, it can change the decision. This could be, for example, if there were asylum grounds that the Migration Agency was not aware of when it made the decision.

If the Migration Agency does not find that there is any reason to change the decision, it will be sent on to the Migration Court. The court can either change the decision or agree with the Migration Agency.

Appeal to the Migration Court of Appeal

If you are not satisfied with the ruling by the Migration Court, you can appeal it to the Migration Court of Appeal. You have to make your appeal to the Migration Court of Appeal within three weeks of the day on which you received the ruling by the Migration Court.

The Migration Court of Appeal only considers certain cases. This is known as reviewing the case. The Migration Court of Appeal can review a case when there is no guidance available from previous rulings, known as precedents, or when the Migration Court has reviewed the case in the wrong manner.

In most cases the Migration Court of Appeal decides not to review the appeal. That means that the ruling by the Migration Court applies. If the Migration Court of Appeal decides not to review the appeal, the ruling by the Migration Court begins to apply immediately.

When an appeal is not possible

You cannot appeal a decision:

  • If you have accepted the decision and signed what is known as a declaration of acceptance (nöjdförklaring).
  • If the Migration Court of Appeal has decided not to review your case.
  • If you have been granted a residence permit for a limited period of time.

If you receive a decision for deportation or refusal of entry, you will be summoned to a meeting with the Migration Agency's case officer in order to plan your return. You will also be given information about the various available alternatives, and you can ask questions.

If you are unable to arrange your journey yourself, the case officer will plan and arrange your return journey together with you.

When do you have to leave Sweden?

You will be given a certain period of time in which to leave Sweden after receiving your decision. The decision will specify how long that period of time is.

If you do not leave Sweden and return to your home country (or another country where you have a permit to stay) within the specified time, you risk getting a re-entry ban. This means that you will not be allowed to enter any country in the European Union (EU) as well as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Romania or Bulgaria for a period of between one and five years. Your notification of the decision will say how long a re-entry ban would apply for in your case.

If your asylum application is refused, but you were working while you were waiting for the decision, you can apply for a work permit instead of a residence permit.

In order to be granted a work permit you have to meet the requirements for one specific job. You cannot have two or more jobs and partly meet the requirements in each of them, so that you meet the requirements only when all your jobs are considered together.