Migrationsverket Employer Audits: What to Expect and How to Prepare

Why Migrationsverket audits employers

The employer must keep the terms a work permit was granted on for as long as the permit runs. While a permit is in force, Migrationsverket can run follow-up checks (efterkontroller): it checks that the employee has actually received the salary and the insurances the permit was based on. The employer must give information about salary payments and insurances, and an employer that does not provide what is asked for can be fined.

In 2026 the Swedish National Audit Office (Riksrevisionen) found that these checks mostly catch employments that ended or never started. The most thorough review usually comes at the extension, when the terms for the whole permit period are examined, so the preparation below matters for both.

What is checked

• Salary and insurances: a follow-up check looks at whether the employee has actually received the salary and the insurances (medical, life, occupational injury and occupational pension) that the permit was based on.
• The whole permit period, at the extension: the terms must have been met throughout the time the employee held the permit. The employee attaches a summary of the PAYE tax return from Skatteverket for every year worked in Sweden, payslips for the current year, certificates of employment and certificates of any absence, and the employer shows that the insurances covered the whole period.
• Changes to the job: the permit applies to the employer and occupation in the decision. A new occupation or entirely new duties needs a new application, made before the current permit expires.
• Reports the employer owes: the employer must tell Migrationsverket if the employment has not started within four months of the permit being granted. Employers that Migrationsverket has given a reporting duty in the permit decision must also report worsened terms in writing within one month of them starting to apply.

Document retention: what to keep and for how long

Two retention rules apply: Skatteverket's rules for employers of third-country nationals say to keep a copy of the residence permit for 12 months after the employment ends, and payroll records are accounting records, kept until the end of the seventh year after the financial year under the Bookkeeping Act. For work permit compliance specifically, HR should retain:

• The original signed job offer for each permit application
• Payslips covering the full permit period
• The advertisement proof used in the initial application
• Any correspondence with Migrationsverket regarding the case
• Records of any changes to salary, role, or hours during the permit period

Consequences of non-compliance

If a check shows that the terms behind the permit are not met, Migrationsverket opens an investigation into revoking the permit. Then:

• If the permit is revoked, the employee loses the right to work and must leave Sweden within the time the decision sets: normally four weeks after an expulsion decision becomes final (two weeks for a refusal of entry).
• If the employee changes employer while the investigation runs, they have four months to apply for a new work permit for the new job.
• Since 1 June 2026, Migrationsverket can refuse work permits because of the employer's own record, for example certain crimes, the special fee for employing someone without the right to work, or tax surcharges.

Preparing for an audit

A follow-up check starts with a request for information about salary payments and insurances. The best preparation is to be ready before one arrives:

1. Pull the complete case file for every active work permit holder: permit decision, job offer, payslips, and any amendments.
2. Cross-check current salaries against the declared amounts in each permit application. Flag any employees whose salary has changed since the permit was granted.
3. Check that no permit holder has moved to a new occupation or entirely new duties without a new application, and that the insurances have run without gaps.
4. Confirm that any employment that did not start within four months of the permit was reported to Migrationsverket, and that any reporting duty in the permit decision has been followed.

Settio maintains a complete audit trail for every case, job offers, payslips, activity log, and all correspondence, making audit preparation a matter of exporting a case report rather than a weeks-long document hunt.

Every obligation an audit checks, from salary and insurances to reporting changes, is in our complete guide to Swedish employer obligations for work permits.

How Settio keeps permits on track

Most permit problems start with a date or a salary nobody was watching. Settio helps employers and immigration agencies watch both, for every person, before they move, after they arrive and at every renewal:

• Permit and salary monitoring tracks every expiry date and the salary each permit was granted on, and turns a dip or a missing month into a follow-up step with an owner.
• Plans for every case, from the first application to the extension, with each deadline counted for you.
• Your whole international workforce at a glance: import the people already on permits and see their risks in minutes.

Try it with your own people: see plans and start for free.

Sources

9 official sources

• Migrationsverket: Kontroller under anställningstiden
• Migrationsverket: Riksrevisionens granskning av kontroller av arbetstillstånd (2026)
• Prop. 2011/12:60: tidsfrist för frivillig avresa (utlänningslagen 8 kap. 21 §)
• Migrationsverket: Förändringar i anställningen
• Migrationsverket: Extending a permit for an employee
• Migrationsverket: Apply to extend a work permit
• Migrationsverket: New rules for work permits come into force (1 June 2026)
• Skatteverket: Anställning av tredjelandsmedborgare
• Bokföringslagen (1999:1078), 7 kap. 2 §