Permanent Uppehållstillstånd

Hi, thank you for posting your question on Lawline.

The legal act in Sweden that regulates visas, residence permits etc. is called utlänningslagen and a copy of this act in Swedish can be found here. I will refer to particular sections of the act that are relevant to your question in my answer below.

Different rules apply for a foreigner who is a European Economic Area (‘EEA’) citizen and a non-EEA citizen. For non-EEA citizens who wish to stay in Sweden for longer than three months, a residence permit (uppehållstillstånd) must be obtained, 2:5 utlänningslagen. This permit can be granted temporarily (tidsbegränsat uppehållstillstånd) or without time limit (permanent uppehållstillstånd, ‘PUT’), 2:4 utlänningslagen.

The residence permit that you currently have is most likely granted on the grounds that you are married to a Swedish citizen as per 5:3 utlänningslagen. As you have implied in your question, this permit is temporary, 5:8 utlänningslagen. When that permit expires, you are to receive a permanent residence permit, provided that you have had a temporary permit for two years, 5:16 utlänningslagen. In practice, there is no special application form for the permanent residence permit. The only application that can be done in this case is an extension application. This means that when your temporary permit expires, you need to apply for an extension of residence permit. Once the Migration Board (Migrationsverket) has received your extension application, it is under their discretion to grant you a permanent residence permit as according to the rules I have described above. The application can be completed online here. The application fee is 1500 SEK for adults and can also be paid online.

Best regards,