Children born in Sweden: residence permits when the parent holds PUT

A child born in Sweden does not automatically become a Swedish citizen, and does not automatically get the same permit as the parent. If neither parent is a Swedish citizen, you must apply for a residence permit for the child at Migrationsverket. This applies even if you yourself hold permanent residence.

When a parent holds PUT, the child first gets a time-limited residence permit of at most two years. The permit is never longer than the validity of the child’s passport, so get a passport for the child as soon as possible — a short passport gives a short permit.

After three years with residence permits the child can apply for permanent residence. In the meantime you need to apply for extension before each permit expires, so write down the dates. Children are exempt from the maintenance requirement, so your income is not assessed in the child’s case.

The rules that came into force on 12 July 2026 abolished PUT for people with asylum-related permits and their family members. If your own ground was asylum and you received PUT before 12 July, you are not affected, because existing PUT remains valid. How the child’s route to PUT looks depends on the parent’s permit ground — Migrationsverket decides in the individual case.

From 1 October 2026 children can be granted permits as family members up to the age of 21, which gives a little more time for families where the child turns adult during processing. Children born in Sweden normally do not need that rule, since they apply as the child of a parent who already lives here.

Practical tips: apply as soon as the child has received a personal or coordination number, attach the birth certificate and both parents’ passports and permits, and make sure the child’s passport is renewed in time. The child’s permit can never be longer than the passport, so an expired passport is the most common cause of short permits.