Refusal

Last updated: 21/2-2024

If your asylum application is refused, this means that the Migration Agency does not think there are sufficient reasons for allowing you to stay in Sweden.

You and your guardian talk to the Migration Agency about your situation and what your thoughts are about the future.

If your asylum application is refused you have two options:

  • To appeal the decision.
  • To return to your home country or to some other country where you have a permit to stay.

If you accept the Migration Agency's decision to refuse your asylum application, this is known as a declaration of acceptance. If you have made a declaration of acceptance you cannot choose to appeal the decision later on.

If you don not find that the Migration Agency has assessed your case in the correct way, you have the right to appeal the decision.

Appealing the decision means that you and your guardian write to the Migration Agency and tell them that you don't agree with the decision.

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 want to appeal the Migration Agency's decision, you and your guardian have to speak to your public counsel. S/he will help you appeal in the correct manner.

Appeal to the Migration Court

If you want to appeal the Migration Agency's decision, your public counsel will send a letter to the Migration Agency. The letter must state the following:

  • 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 Migration Court's ruling you can appeal it to the Migration Court of Appeal. Your public counsel can help you.

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 have received a decision on expulsion or rejection, you and your guardian will be called to several meetings with the Migration Agency in order to plan your return journey to your home country, or your journey to another country that you have the right to be in.

At these meetings you can ask the Migration Agency's case officer questions. You will be given information about different options for your return journey.

If you are under 18 there must be a parent, another relative or an organisation that can receive you when you arrive. You and your guardian have to provide names and phone numbers of your parents or relatives, so that the Migration Agency can contact them.

If you choose to return voluntarily, the Migration Agency will help you with the journey. If the Migration Agency finds that you are not cooperating in your return, you will have to arrange the journey yourself.

If you are over 18 and you are receiving a daily allowance from the Migration Agency, they can reduce your daily allowance if they find that you are not cooperating in your return.

In certain cases you may be given financial support that will be paid to you in connection with your having returned. This depends on which country you are returning to. You have to apply for such financial support before you leave Sweden.

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