Self-employed permit in Sweden: 200 000 kr and a two-year test

You have a business plan, two signed customer contracts and 260 000 kr sitting in an account abroad. The question Migrationsverket answers is not whether the idea is good. It is whether the money, the experience and the customers are already there on the day the application is filed.

What Migrationsverket checks

The permit is called uppehållstillstånd för egen företagare. It is not a start-up visa and it is not granted on a pitch deck; the agency runs a financial assessment of your plans.

Eight requirements decide the case:

• A valid passport.
• Good experience both in the industry and in running your own business.
• Relevant knowledge of Swedish or English. If you will deal with many Swedish suppliers or customers, Migrationsverket asks for very good Swedish.
• You run the business yourself, with decisive responsibility for it, and you can prove you own at least 51 per cent.
• A credible basis for your budget.
• Established customer contacts or networks.
• At least 200 000 kr in a bank account in your own name, plus 100 000 kr for an accompanying spouse and 50 000 kr for each accompanying child.
• Enough money on top of that to cover the costs and investments the business will involve, and the purchase price if you are buying an existing company. It must be your own money; loans are not normally accepted.

The money, exactly

Two separate pots. The 200 000 kr is what you live on for two years, and Migrationsverket says so in as many words on the document list. The account does not have to be in Sweden, but the money must be transferable here.

The second pot has no fixed figure because it depends on the business. Rent for premises, equipment, stock, the purchase price of a company you are buying: you show a bank certificate covering it. Borrowed money is normally not counted, which catches out people who planned on a family loan.

You attach bank statements for the last three months as well as the certificate. Three months of statements is how the agency sees whether the balance is real or arrived last week.

The documents that decide it

The document list is long and specific, and a missing item is what turns a three-month case into a thirteen-month one.

• Certificate of incorporation for the Swedish business, and a partnership agreement or share register showing ownership.
• Contracts with customers, suppliers and business premises.
• Balance sheet and profit and loss statement for the current financial year, up to and including the previous month.
• The two most recent annual accounts or annual reports, if the business existed before.
• Purchase contract and proof of payment, if you bought the company.
• A certificate proving your Swedish or English, degree certificates, and employer's certificates from previous employers.

Everything must be in Swedish or English. A translation has to be certified and submitted together with a copy of the document in its original language.

Where you apply, what it costs, how long it takes

A first permit is applied for from outside Sweden. Migrationsverket is direct about the consequence: apply from inside the country for the first time and the application may be rejected. There are exceptions, for example if you already hold a permit to look for work or investigate the conditions for starting a business.

The permit is granted for at most two years and never longer than the passport. The fee is 2 000 kr for you, 1 500 kr for an adult family member and 750 kr per child; citizens of Japan pay nothing. Before a decision you present the passport and give fingerprints and a photograph for the residence permit card.

Processing times vary. Migrationsverket’s current waiting-time service describes recently decided cases, not a deadline for your case. Check it before planning; an old range or backlog count cannot predict a decision date.

Two years later: extension and permanent residence

The extension is a business audit. Migrationsverket checks that you still run the business and have decisive influence, that the business pays its taxes and fees, that the accounting meets the standard, that you hold every necessary and up-to-date permit, that you have no debts with Kronofogden or payment defaults, that you can support yourself and your family from the business, that the business is profitable and able to survive, and that your housing is adequate.

Permanent residence needs two years with a self-employed permit and two years of actually running the business. On top of that you must support yourself from the company's income, own at least 51 per cent, run it professionally, independently and for profit, and live a well-behaved life.

The maintenance figure is where the pages disagree. When we checked on 31 August 2026, Migrationsverket's self-employed extension page still gave the 2025 amount, 6 186 kr a month left over after housing costs for a single adult, while the partner extension page gave 6 243 kr for 2026. Budget on the higher figure and read the page again on the day you apply.

Accompanying family members need three years of residence permits of their own before they can be granted permanent residence, and adults among them must support themselves.

Ahmed applies from Amman on 12 October 2026 to run a Swedish limited company that installs and services commercial kitchen equipment. He has fourteen years in the trade, seven of them with his own firm, and two signed service contracts with restaurants in Gothenburg.

He shows 218 000 kr in his own account for living costs, 96 000 kr set aside for tools, a van deposit and three months of premises rent, and pays 2 000 kr. His wife applies with him, so he shows another 100 000 kr; their daughter adds 50 000 kr. The family's living money on the application is 368 000 kr.

The permit is granted in September 2027 for two years, to September 2029. In summer 2029 he applies to extend and for permanent residence at the same time. His rent is 11 400 kr a month, so after tax he needs roughly 17 600 kr a month left in his own pocket to clear housing plus the 6 243 kr living figure that applied in 2026.

What we do not know yet

Migrationsverket does not publish how large the business pot has to be. It depends entirely on the trade, so a bank certificate that comfortably covers your own written budget is the only defence.

Nor is there a published waiting time for complete self-employed applications, because too few of them are decided. The thirteen-month figure covers incomplete files, and no one outside the agency knows how much of that is queue and how much is the letters going back and forth.