What affects your chances of getting a residence permit?

Last updated: 29/11-2022

You can be granted a residence permit if you are a refugee or a person eligible for subsidiary protection.

Every asylum application has to be examined individually. This means that the Migration Agency has to investigate your specific reasons for applying for asylum in Sweden, what your particular experiences are and what you are afraid will happen to you.

You have to tell the Migration Agency who you are, why you fled and what you think would happen if you had to return to your home country. Describe as much as you can about yourself and your situation, even if it feels difficult to do so.

It is important that you tell the truth and that you don't leave anything out of your account. If you realise that you have forgotten to tell the Migration Agency something, it is important that you tell them what that is as soon as you can.

The UN Refugee Convention states what is required for a person to be regarded as a refugee. A refugee is usually granted a three-year residence permit.

You will be considered a refugee if the Migration Agency makes the assessment that you have good reason to be afraid of persecution. This persecution may be because of:

  • race
  • nationality
  • religious or political convictions
  • gender
  • sexual orientation
  • membership of a particular social group


The same applies if you are perceived to belong to one of the categories that gives grounds for refugee status. That is, if you risk persecution because other people believe that you belong to a specific race, nationality, religious or political persuasion, gender or sexual orientation.

The EU has common rules for what is required for a person to be regarded as eligible for subsidiary protection. A person eligible for subsidiary protection is usually granted a 13-month residence permit.

You will be regarded as eligible for subsidiary protection if the Migration Agency's assessment is that there is a risk that you will be:

  • Punished with the death penalty.
  • Subjected to corporal punishment, torture, or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
  • Injured due to armed conflict, despite not being a soldier.

It can be the case that an asylum seeker is granted a residence permit despite not being assessed to be a refugee or a person eligible for subsidiary protection.

Such cases include having a particularly serious medical condition, having been subjected to human trafficking and having to participate in a criminal investigation.