Sweden heads into a general election on September 13, 2026, with both government and opposition backing a strict immigration line. Since July, asylum-related permanent residence permits have been abolished.
DR reports that Swedish migration policy has moved from one extreme to another in only a few years. Andrea Spehar, associate professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg, told the broadcaster that reporters once asked her why Sweden was the EU’s most generous country on immigration. According to Spehar, they now ask why it has become one of the most restrictive.
Since the center-right bloc won the 2022 election, the government led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of the Moderates, supported by the Sweden Democrats, has tightened family reunification, cut the quota refugee intake and scrapped a scheme that let rejected asylum seekers apply for work permits. Kristersson has called the line a paradigm shift in Swedish migration policy. As reported by DR, he has said that Denmark has shown the way on both migration and criminal policy.
The Swedish Migration Agency states that since July 12, 2026, people with protection-based residence permits can no longer be granted permanent residence. Applications already filed are handled as requests to extend temporary permits, while existing permanent permit holders are not affected.
The change was approved by the Riksdag on June 9, 2026, through amendments to the Aliens Act, covering people in need of protection, long-term residents and their family members. Sveriges Radio reported that permanent permits are fully abolished for refugees, quota refugees and several humanitarian categories. The Migration Agency adds that long-term residents now receive five-year permits, and that some can apply for citizenship without a permanent permit.
Why the rules changed in July
The Government Offices of Sweden stated in its May 6, 2026 press release that the reform adapts Swedish law to the EU Migration and Asylum Pact. The main provisions took effect on July 12, 2026, with parts of a new reception law following on October 2, 2026. The government describes the shift as bringing Sweden down to the EU minimum level.
DR notes that about 6,700 people applied for asylum in Sweden in 2025, the lowest figure in almost 30 years. Migration Minister Johan Forssell said in February, when presenting stricter deportation rules for convicted foreigners, that Sweden would end up with the toughest such rules in the Nordics, tougher than Denmark’s.
Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson has said the strict migration line will stay in place if her party wins. Peo Hansen, professor of political science at Linköping University, attributes recent tightening mainly to the Sweden Democrats, who became the second largest party in 2022. He adds that many local Social Democrats consider the course a mistake, because immigration matters to them as labor supply.
According to the latest SVT survey cited by DR, immigration ranks seventh among voters’ most important election issues and integration tenth. Spehar says around 60 percent of Swedes want the country to accept fewer refugees, while 40 percent want a more humanitarian policy.
