Sweden’s relaxed visa rules for foreign PhDs ‘don’t go far enough

Doctoral students in Sweden have welcomed legislative changes that will help them stay in the country post-graduation but there are fears that broader anti-immigration policies could yet hamper the government’s effort to attract talent.

Sweeping amendments to the country’s notoriously difficult residency requirements have been announced by the government, allowing international doctoral students and researchers to obtain permanent residence permits “more quickly”.

Further changes include the creation of permits specifically for research purposes and the length of permits being extended to allow graduates more time to find employment after they’ve finished their studies.

Robert Andersson, the chief negotiator at the Swedish Association of University Teachers and Researchers (SULF), told Times Higher Education that the sweeping amendments marked a “large step forward” but they “don’t go far enough”. 

Andersson said doctoral students and researchers will be able to apply for permanent residence after three years instead of four, but he felt this duration was still too long and students should be able to apply after two years.

“After an application for permanent residence, you have to show you have an income from employment that lasts about a year, and a decision can take several months,” he said. 

Doctoral programmes typically run for four years and a student who applies at the three-year mark may have too little guaranteed employment time remaining to satisfy the income requirement, Andersson added.

“When the handling time is longer in some cases and shorter in others, you can have different outcomes for identical cases,” he said.  

Following advocacy by SULF, doctoral candidates with a residence permit for doctoral studies are now generally exempt from a 15-hour weekly work cap that would have applied to them after they had completed their studies.

The reforms also include measures to curb what the government calls a misuse of study-related permits, and provisions that would allow family members’ permits to be revoked “under certain conditions”.

The changes were adopted by the country’s parliament on 29 April and are set to take effect on 11 June. 

Times Higher Education has contacted the Swedish government for more details.

Andersson said researchers bringing families under a research permit may face new income requirements. “There’s a proposal that the partner should be able to support themselves, no matter what the researcher earns. This could make it harder for them to come,” he explained.

The broader political climate around immigration could also deter international researchers from choosing Sweden, Andersson added.

From June, Sweden’s general residency requirement for citizenship will rise from five years to eight and applicants will have to undergo Swedish language tests.

“Many students say that it’s the general sentiment that immigration is something bad and this makes them feel uncomfortable, even if they are not affected as much as others,” he said.

Last year, SULF published a report about the impact of Sweden’s stricter residency requirements introduced in 2021 for doctoral students from outside the European Union. Many said they would not recommend pursuing a PhD in Sweden, pointing to long permit processing times and limited employment opportunities after graduation.

Göran Melin, associate consultant at the research and consulting organisation Technopolis Group, said the rule changes affecting doctoral candidates and researchers would likely have a positive impact overall.

But he said the changes focused on reducing misuse of student residence permits reflected broader political concerns about immigration.

“In my view this part of the changes is driven by certain rightwing political parties which are totally allergic to the risk of anyone from outside Europe migrating to Sweden,” Melin said. “If this set of changes will lead to less cheating and misuse, it remains to be seen. Regardless, such misuse is not a large problem in the system.”

Melin said practical issues such as housing shortages and difficulties accessing healthcare posed greater barriers for international researchers than national policies like migration rules.