New minimum wage level for labour immigration and stricter requirements for family member immigration

Everyone who works in Sweden should have good conditions. With the level adjusted to 90 per cent of the median salary, labour immigrants would now have to earn the equivalent of a monthly salary of SEK 33 390. 

If necessary, the Government will be given the mandate to announce exceptions from the wage level requirement and be given the ability to exclude individual professions from the possibility of being granted a work permit.

The Government and the Sweden Democrats have been in close dialogue with businesses and sectoral organisations. The aim has been to strike a balance that creates more incentive for individuals who are already in Sweden to take the jobs that are available, while at the same time making abuse more difficult and protecting Swedish competitiveness. The solution to the skills shortage in certain professions cannot be mass immigration.

“Since I took office as Minister for Migration, I have had high ambitions for highly qualified labour immigration and said that Sweden should be the obvious destination for international expertise. Today’s decision is an additional step in this direction. This is good for Sweden and ultimately a matter of growth. The adjusted wage level is one part of our offensive in which we make it easier for those who do the right thing while at the same timing making it more difficult to abuse the system,” says Minister for Migration Johan Forssell.

“I am proud that the Government listens to Swedish companies that need more engineers and the right expertise to measure up to global competition. With today’s decision, more experts, specialist nurses and programmers will build Sweden strong,” says Minister for Education and Integration Simona Mohamsson. 

The Government and the Sweden Democrats also announced that they intend to proceed with proposals to impose stricter requirements for family member immigration. This includes introducing a waiting time of two years and limiting the number of eligible relatives. 

The parties also agreed to draft proposals on the further tightening of requirements as regards the inquiry’s maintenance requirement proposals. This mainly concerns raising the level to match the planned level for citizenship, plus a supplement for each arriving family member. This work has commenced at the Ministry of Justice. 

“With today’s agreement, we will have far fewer people receiving residence permits than before, with certain measures targeting the categories of migrants who cause the most problems. Sweden currently allows family member immigration to a far greater extent than required under EU law, and this cannot continue,” says Ludvig Aspling, migration policy spokesperson for the Sweden Democrats.

“Our Government is taking important measures to stop abuses within labour immigration and get more Swedes in jobs. At the same time, the Government will receive the mandate to determine exceptions, which means the wage level can be set at a lower level for certain professions,” says Ingemar Kihlström, migration policy spokesperson for the Christian Democrats.

It was also announced that the Government and the Sweden Democrats will appoint an inquiry in the coming year to examine what can be done to increase the criminal liability for those who employ subcontractors that use illegal labour.

The Government will soon present the proposals on labour immigration in their entirety.