Intra-Company Transfers to Sweden: ICT Permit Guide for HR

What is an ICT permit?

An ICT (intra-corporate transfer) permit lets a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland work as a manager, specialist or trainee at a business in Sweden that belongs to their employer abroad, or to a company in the same group. The rules come from EU Directive 2014/66/EU on intra-corporate transferees.

It is a separate route from the standard work permit, with its own requirements and its own maximum durations.

Who qualifies?

Migrationsverket names three roles:

• Managers.
• Specialists: people with specialised knowledge that is important for the company's business areas, technology or management.
• Trainees: people with a university degree who are moved within the group for career development or training in business techniques or methods, and who keep being paid during the transfer.

The employee must also:

• have been employed in the group for at least three months without interruption at the time of the transfer;
• stay employed abroad, so they can return to their job after the transfer;
• have the qualifications and experience the assignment needs (or the education a traineeship needs), and proof of the right to practise if the profession is regulated in Sweden;
• hold a valid passport.

The business in Sweden must be established here and belong to the employer abroad or to the same group. The offer must be for more than 90 days.

Pay, terms and insurance

The pay must be at least the minimum salary for full-time work under Swedish collective agreements, or what is customary in the occupation or industry. This applies even if the employee will work part-time. The terms must be at least on par with those for workers posted to Sweden, and by the start date the employer must have taken out medical, life, occupational injury and occupational pension insurance for the employee.

The employment agreement (and, for a trainee, a traineeship agreement) is signed before the application is made.

Advertising

Migrationsverket's rule that a vacancy is advertised for at least ten days in Sweden, the EU/EEA and Switzerland applies to new recruitment. It does not apply to transfers within a group as long as the position stays abroad. If the position itself moves to Sweden, it counts as a new job, with a new advertisement and a standard work permit application.

Duration and extension

• Managers and specialists: up to three years in total.
• Trainees: up to one year in total.
• A permit is never longer than the offered work or the passport's validity.
• An extension requires that the terms were met throughout the permit period. Once the maximum period is reached, the person must leave the EU/EEA and apply for a new ICT permit.
• A first-time applicant must wait for the decision before travelling to Sweden.

Moving within the EU

Someone who holds an ICT permit from another EU country can work in Sweden for up to 90 days in a 180-day period without a Swedish application. For longer, they apply for an ICT permit for long-term mobility.

ICT vs standard work permit

Factor	ICT permit	Standard work permit
Advertisement in Sweden and the EU/EEA	Not for a transfer where the position stays abroad	Yes, at least 10 days
Same group as the employer abroad	Yes	No
Maximum duration	3 years in total (1 year for trainees)	2 years per permit, can be extended
Pay floor	Full-time collective agreement minimum, or customary pay	At least SEK 34,470 a month (90% of the median salary) and on par with collective agreements

Practical HR checklist for ICT applications

• ✓ Document that the Swedish business and the sending entity are in the same group, for example with a group structure chart.
• ✓ Confirm the employee has worked in the group for at least three months without a break.
• ✓ Sign the employment agreement (and the traineeship agreement for a trainee) before applying.
• ✓ Check the pay against the full-time collective agreement minimum for the role.
• ✓ Have the four insurances in place by the start date.
• ✓ Track the total time on ICT permits so the three-year (or one-year) limit does not come as a surprise.

How Settio helps employers and agencies

Settio helps employers and immigration agencies run every work permit and relocation case in one place, from the first step to the renewal:

• Before the move: a plan for every hire, with each step, owner and deadline counted back from the start date, and documents that check themselves as they come in.
• After arrival: the employee portal shows the new hire their next steps on their phone, in their language, with no account or password.
• For the renewal: permit and salary monitoring tracks every expiry date and flags the extension in good time.

Your first hire is free, and agencies can try a real case for free. See plans and start.

Sources

5 official sources

• Migrationsverket: Employing a person from the same group as a manager, specialist or trainee
• Migrationsverket: Apply for an ICT permit
• Migrationsverket: Employing someone from outside the EU/EEA
• Migrationsverket: New rules for work permits come into force (1 June 2026)
• EUR-Lex: Directive 2014/66/EU on intra-corporate transferees