Sweden student visa: how long the Residence permit for studies at higher education takes, what it costs, and whether it leads to permanent residence

Q: Do you need a job offer for Residence permit for studies at higher education?

Not published on the page we read. The opened page contains the phrase 'job offer' only as insufficient proof of maintenance, not as a permit rule.

Q: What education does Residence permit for studies at higher education require?

The page states no education minimum. The page requires final admission to full-time first- or second-cycle studies, not a prior bachelor’s degree. First-cycle programmes are bachelor’s programmes you are applying to study. Old stored value bachelor contradicted that and has been removed from the program fields.

Q: How much money do you have to show for Residence permit for studies at higher education?

From SEK 10,656. Monthly maintenance for applications in 2026: at least SEK 10,656. MIGRFS 2023:1: 18 percent of the prisbasbelopp per month. Government prisbasbelopp 2026 is SEK 59,200 (0.18 × 59,200 = 10,656). 2025 applications used SEK 10,584 (18 percent of SEK 58,800). Reductions if the institution or an exchange organisation provides free food (SEK 2,960) or free housing (SEK 4,736) in 2026. Extra SEK 4,440 a month for a spouse or cohabiting partner and SEK 2,664 per child. Must cover the whole permit period.

Study permit

Temporary residence permit for full-time first- or second-cycle studies (or exchange / higher vocational / post-secondary folk high school). Must be finally admitted; distance learning does not qualify. Maintenance for applications in 2026 is at least SEK 10,656 a month (18 percent of the 2026 prisbasbelopp of SEK 59,200). Studies of at least one year: register in the population register for health care. Studies of less than one year: comprehensive health insurance. Permits granted on or after 11 June 2026 for bachelor’s or master’s level allow at most 15 hours’ work a week. This route is not on the Agency’s permanent-residence listing (that listing names work, self-employment, family ties and doctoral students). A later permit to look for work after completed studies is a separate temporary permission.

Source: Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · verified 2026-08-15

Does Residence permit for studies at higher education lead to permanent residence?

Residency: Temporary — not a permanent-residence route on its own
Source: Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · verified 2026-08-15

Do you need a job offer for Residence permit for studies at higher education?

Job offer

Not published on the page we read

The opened page contains the phrase 'job offer' only as insufficient proof of maintenance, not as a permit rule.

Source: Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · verified 2026-09-25

What education does Residence permit for studies at higher education require?

Education

The page states no education minimum

The page requires final admission to full-time first- or second-cycle studies, not a prior bachelor’s degree. First-cycle programmes are bachelor’s programmes you are applying to study. Old stored value bachelor contradicted that and has been removed from the program fields.

Source: Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · verified 2026-09-25

How much money do you have to show for Residence permit for studies at higher education?

Funds

From SEK 10,656

Monthly maintenance for applications in 2026: at least SEK 10,656. MIGRFS 2023:1: 18 percent of the prisbasbelopp per month. Government prisbasbelopp 2026 is SEK 59,200 (0.18 × 59,200 = 10,656). 2025 applications used SEK 10,584 (18 percent of SEK 58,800). Reductions if the institution or an exchange organisation provides free food (SEK 2,960) or free housing (SEK 4,736) in 2026. Extra SEK 4,440 a month for a spouse or cohabiting partner and SEK 2,664 per child. Must cover the whole permit period.

Source: Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · verified 2026-09-25

How much does Residence permit for studies at higher education cost to apply for?

Application fee

SEK 1,500

Adult application fee only: “Adults: SEK 1,500”. Children under 18: SEK 750. Some scholarship holders (Sida, EU, Swedish Institute, or Uppsala University’s International Science Programme, living-expense scholarships) pay no fee. Not a work-permit fee.

Source: Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · verified 2026-09-25

How long does Residence permit for studies at higher education take to process?

Processing time

No commitment to a processing time

Open the authority's page for this fact

Source: Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · verified 2026-09-25

We tell you when we re-read a route you follow, in the note from that check, with the official link.

Not published on the pages we read

We checked for each of these and the page carried no figure. The absence is recorded with the reason, so this page states nothing the authority does not.

Processing time
English page opened 2026-09-18: statistics for cases decided in the last 12 months, “75% of recently decided cases have been decided within: 3 months.” Swedish: “75% av nyligen avgjorda ärenden har avgjorts inom: 3 månader.” That is a statistic, not a promised range. Old 1–3 month range deleted.
Page we read
Source: Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · verified 2026-09-25
Minimum language level
Opened study pages do not publish a language-test level. Documents should be in Swedish or English. Old stored enum intermediate has been removed.
Page we read
Not yet verified against an official source

What changed when we last checked this record

English higher-education page and Swedish page (https://www.migrationsverket.se/du-vill-ansoka/studera/studier-vid-hogre-utbildning.html) opened 2026-08-15. Swedish wording: “minst 10 656 kronor per månad, om du har ansökt 2026”. Old stored age 17, bachelor minimum, intermediate language enum, dollar funds, dollar fee, 1–3 month processing, 48-month permanent-residence pathway, and a homepage officialSourceUrl have been removed. Doctoral-student permanent residence and the post-study job-seeking permit are listed on https://www.migrationsverket.se/en/you-want-to-apply/study.html and were not added. Apply hub: https://www.migrationsverket.se/en/you-want-to-apply.html.

Source: Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) · verified 2026-08-15

Other verified Sweden routes

Other study routes: New Zealand student visa: Fee Paying Student Visa · Australia student visa (subclass 500) · Canada student visa: Study Permit → PGWP · Germany student visa: Student residence permit · UK student visa · Netherlands student visa: Student residence permit for university or higher professional education · Portugal student visa: study, exchange, internship or volunteering · UAE student visa: Residence permit for study

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Official sources

Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket)

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