Sweden’s Social Democrats propose reviewing residence rules for migrants
Sweden’s Social Democrats propose conducting an accelerated review of the rules for granting residence permits to people who have lived in the country for a long time. If it comes to power, the party wants to find a mechanism that will help prevent the deportation of young people who grew up in Sweden, UK citizens after Brexit, and elderly former asylum seekers.
Party migration spokesperson Ida Karkiainen said this in an interview with The Local Sweden. According to her, the proposed approach would take into account the length of a person’s stay in Sweden and the strength of their ties to the country when making decisions on residence permits.
Protection from deportation
Karkiainen called decisions to deport people who have spent most of their lives in Sweden unfair. She mentioned teenagers and young people who may receive deportation decisions after turning 18 or, under new rules due to take effect in October, 21.
The accelerated review could be completed in as little as two months. It is planned to be carried out in parallel with a longer review of migration legislation introduced by the current government, in order to identify and eliminate contradictions and inconsistencies.
The Social Democrats’ representative also called the unusually high rate of refusals for Britons who applied for residence in Sweden after Brexit unfair and strange. According to her, the party will seek to resolve this problem if it gains government power.
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At the same time, Karkiainen said that the Social Democrats support the need for a strict migration policy, including a low number of asylum seekers. However, in her view, this should not mean forcing people who have legally and long been established in Sweden to leave. She also warned that a new maintenance requirement for renewing a family reunification permit could lead to family separations and deportations.
Citizenship and labour migration
The party also proposes restoring transitional rules for citizenship applicants who submitted documents before stricter requirements took effect on June 6. Karkiainen called the official 54-month waiting time for a decision unacceptable and proposed increasing funding for the Migration Agency so it can hire more staff to process applications.
The Social Democrats want to introduce a temporary residence permit for people who have already become established in Sweden. It would be issued for a longer period than the currently common two- or three-year permits and would serve as an intermediate stage toward long-term residence and Swedish citizenship.
In the area of labour migration, the party advocates returning to a system under which trade unions and employers agree on vacancies for international recruitment and minimum wages for foreign workers. According to Karkiainen, this could take regional differences in pay into account and prevent wages from being lowered through labour migration.
