Criteria for residence permits: Sweden raises expectations for migrants
Two months before the parliamentary election, stricter migration law has come into effect in Sweden. "Way of life" is being introduced as a criterion for whether a residence permit can be revoked — but what exactly this means remains unclear.
Two months before the parliamentary election, Sweden is tightening its migration policy. The term "way of life" is being inserted as a new criterion for determining whether a residence permit can be revoked. Exactly what this means, however, is causing considerable uncertainty.
This was recently demonstrated by a street survey conducted by Swedish television: responses ranged from bafflement to vague interpretations. One passerby ultimately summed it up: it was probably about behaving "properly" and being "decent in all areas of life."
That is now precisely what matters. Anyone living in Sweden on a residence permit must in future demonstrate a "decent way of life in every respect" — otherwise, in extreme cases, deportation may follow. The government is convinced this is a long-overdue step.
Migration Minister Johan Forssell of the Moderate Party defends the legislative change: "Anyone living in Sweden must not cause harm to the country." For most people this goes without saying, but there are also people who do not abide by the rules. That is exactly what the law addresses, Forssell said.
No clearly defined criteria
There are, however, no clearly defined criteria. Serious criminal offences remain an unambiguous ground for deportation. What is new is that other factors may also count: among them, disregard for official decisions, debts, financial problems, or abuse of the social welfare system.
This was confirmed by Oskar Ekblad of the Swedish Migration Agency in an interview with the ARD studio in Stockholm: "The legislator deliberately chose not to define a fixed set of criteria."
It is precisely this aspect that the opposition criticises. Their charge: the law is too vague and therefore opens the door to a degree of arbitrariness. "It is not legally sound," says Niels Paarup Petersen, migration policy spokesperson for the opposition Centre Party. Ultimately, courts in Sweden will have to decide where the boundaries lie — and in doing so, make up for the legislature's unfinished work.
Another central aspect of the legislative change: various authorities are to be more closely involved in gathering information about individuals holding residence permits. In future, the police, the tax authority, the employment agency and the social insurance agency, among others, will be required to report obvious violations to the Migration Agency. Originally, schools, hospitals and medical practices were also to be obligated to do so. This particularly controversial provision, however, was dropped.
Public debate has fundamentally changed
The tightening of the law comes as no surprise. For four years, Sweden has been governed by a centre-right minority government under Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, supported by the right-wing nationalist Sweden Democrats. The basis of this cooperation is the so-called Tidö Agreement — named after a castle west of Stockholm, where the agreement was signed in autumn 2022. A stricter migration policy is a central element of that agreement.
Sociologist Zeth Isaksson from Stockholm University takes a broader view of the development, however: "In Sweden, it used to be taboo to express critical views on immigration." This taboo, he argues, was broken by a single party — the Sweden Democrats. This has fundamentally changed the public debate.
The Sweden Democrats, led by their chairman Jimmy Åkesson, are pursuing a clear goal: to reduce Sweden's migration policy to the EU minimum and to encourage people to voluntarily return to their home countries. Financial incentives have also been significantly increased to this end. Since the beginning of the year, a family can receive up to 600,000 Swedish kronor — just under 55,000 euros — if they leave the country. Individuals can receive more than 30,000 euros.
Elections in two months
However, the impact of these large sums has so far failed to materialise. This year, there have been fewer than 150 approvals so far — out of fewer than 700 applications. This is one reason why Ludvig Asplund, the Sweden Democrats' spokesperson on migration policy, is now pushing further: "The group of eligible recipients is too small," he said recently on Swedish radio. He would ideally like to expand the scheme to include Swedish citizens as well, provided they surrender their passports and return to their country of origin. However, this radical proposal does not yet have a majority in parliament.
For observers like sociologist Isaksson, the political development in Sweden is part of a broader trend: many European countries have tightened their migration policies in order to weaken right-wing populist parties. This calculation has not paid off so far. On the contrary. Two months before the election, Prime Minister Kristersson's Moderates are now polling just behind the Sweden Democrats.
And should the centre-right bloc win the election, the coalition of Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals has even offered their former political opponents from the far right a seat at the cabinet table. Should that happen, the Sweden Democrats' influence over migration policy in the largest Scandinavian country could grow even stronger in the future.
