Migrationsverket Processing Times 2026: What HR Needs to Plan Around

Why processing times matter for HR

Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency) decides applications for work and residence permits. For HR teams managing international hires, these timelines directly affect start dates, project staffing, and employment contracts. An offer letter that doesn't account for Migrationsverket's current queue can create months of costly delay.

This article summarises the figures Migrationsverket published on its application pages in October 2026, what they mean, and how to plan around them. Migrationsverket says it cannot give exact waiting times, and the figures change, so check the waiting times page before planning.

How Migrationsverket reports processing times

Migrationsverket does not publish a target or a guaranteed time. It shows how long it took to decide 75% of recently decided cases, split into complete and incomplete applications. An application that has everything from the start is decided much faster.

Published figures by permit type (October 2026)

Application	Complete application	Incomplete application
First work permit ("other employments")	4 months	10 months
Extension of a work permit ("other employments")	4 months	12 months
Highly qualified workers, including the EU Blue Card	1 month	2 months
Family of a permit holder who apply afterwards	2 months	11 months

Figures: 75% of recently decided cases were decided within this time.

What makes a case take longer

The gap between the two columns shows that missing information is the biggest delay you can control. Things Migrationsverket requires that are easy to miss:

• The advertisement: for a new recruitment, the vacancy must have been advertised in Sweden and within the EU/EEA and Switzerland for at least ten days. Keep the ad ID or the EURES reference number.
• The salary: for permits decided from 1 June 2026, at least 90% of the median salary (SEK 34,470 a month), and terms at least on par with collective agreements or common practice in the occupation.
• The union's comment: the employer must give the relevant trade union the chance to comment on the terms of employment.
• Insurance: medical, life, occupational injury and occupational pension insurance arranged by the start date, plus comprehensive health insurance where the employment lasts at most one year.
• Translations: documents must be in Swedish or English. Translations must be certified and sent with a copy in the original language.
• Employers in some industries (for example cleaning, hotels and restaurants, construction, trade, agriculture and forestry, services and staffing) must show they can pay the salary for at least three months.

From 1 June 2026, Migrationsverket can also reject an application because of circumstances relating to the employer, such as certain crimes or earlier sanctions for employing people without permits.

How to plan start dates

• Don't commit a non-EU hire's start date to the business before the permit is granted, unless you have a plan for the gap.
• Migrationsverket suggests leaving the start date in the contract open ("when the permit is granted") to avoid delays.
• For extensions, the application can go in no more than two months before the current permit expires. Gather the documents before the window opens.

Working while an extension is processed

An employee who has had a work permit for six months or more and whose extension application was registered before the current permit expired may keep working while Migrationsverket decides. If the application is registered late, the employee cannot work while waiting. Read more in working while your extension is processed.

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

8 official sources

• Migrationsverket: Waiting times
• Migrationsverket: Apply for a work permit in Sweden
• Migrationsverket: Apply for an extension of a work permit
• Migrationsverket: Apply for an EU Blue Card
• Migrationsverket: Family of someone with a permit to work who apply afterwards
• Migrationsverket: Employing a citizen of a non-EU/EEA country
• Migrationsverket: New rules for work permits come into force (1 June 2026)
• Migrationsverket: You are waiting for a decision, work in Sweden