Every LMA card stops being valid after 1 October 2026. LMA is short for lagen om mottagande av asylsökande (the law on the reception of asylum seekers). If you hold one, you have to swap it for an ansökningskort (the new card for people who have applied for protection) by that day.
The card stops being valid even if a later date is printed on it. Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency) published this on 28 July 2026. It states that LMA cards are no longer valid after 1 October 2026.
This is not the new mottagandelag (reception law), which also starts on 1 October 2026. That one is about where you live and the money you get. This is only about the card.
What you have to do
You get two letters. The first is sent over the summer and explains how the swap works. The second is sent when the card is ordered and says when and where you can collect it.
You have to go to Migrationsverket in person. They take a new photograph and new fingerprints. That applies even if you gave both when you got your LMA card.
The letter tells you when to come.
If you lose the card, or if it is stolen, report it to your mottagningsenhet (the unit at Migrationsverket that handles your case). Migrationsverket then blocks the card and orders a new one.
The new card
The ansökningskort arrived on 12 June 2026, the day the EU migration and asylum pact started to apply in Sweden. It comes from asylprocedurförordningen (the EU regulation on how asylum applications are examined).
If you applied for asylum on or after 12 June 2026, you already have one. The swap is for you if you applied before that day and hold an LMA card.
The new card is valid for one year. If you have no decision when the year is up, you apply for a new card.
The LMA card works differently. It is extended three months at a time, each time you visit Migrationsverket.
The card and the right to work
Both cards carry a QR code. Migrationsverket tells employers to scan it to see whether the card is valid and whether the holder has an undantag från kravet på arbetstillstånd (AT-UND, an exemption from the requirement to hold a work permit).
If you have AT-UND, it is on the card, and the QR code is what shows it.
An employer without a scanner can check the card on the web instead. Every card has its own web address printed on the back.
The QR code on the ansökningskort shows a little more than the old one does. It also shows when you applied and which country you are a citizen of.
What this means for you
After 1 October 2026 an LMA card is not valid. An employer checks the card before you start a job, so you need the new one.
Migrationsverket has not published what happens if the card is not swapped in time. The letter tells you when to come. Beyond that, the agency has not written anything.
This change does not alter the rules for working in Sweden. It changes the document you show, not what you are allowed to do.
This article describes what Migrationsverket has published. Only Migrationsverket can say what applies to your own card and your own case.
Sources
Official details can change. Always confirm what applies to your own case directly with the responsible authority.
