Permanent residence: an exception for long-term illness

Permanent uppehållstillstånd (PUT, a permanent residence permit) normally requires that you can support yourself. Migrationsöverdomstolen (the Migration Court of Appeal) is the highest court in residence permit cases. It has now ruled on when illness can be a reason for an exception to that requirement.

The försörjningskrav (the requirement to support yourself) is one of the conditions for a permanent permit. An exception to it is possible if there are särskilda skäl (special reasons). The judgment is about when illness can be such a reason.

What the court ruled

The court set out what such a special reason can be. It is that you have an illness or a disability that causes a longer-term reduction in your ability to work.

That means your ability to work is reduced for a longer time, not just for a short period.

• If you have such a reduction, Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency) cannot require you to have actively tried to meet the support rule.
• Migrationsverket only counts ability to work that could lead to a job on the open labour market.

The judgment has case number UM 3040-25. Sveriges Domstolar (the Swedish courts) wrote about it in a news item on 9 June 2026. Judgments from Migrationsöverdomstolen show how the rules are to be applied, so Migrationsverket and the migration courts follow them.

What the case was about

You can have a temporary residence permit because of anknytning (you are a family member of someone in Sweden). After three years you can apply for a permanent permit. The main rule is then that you have to be able to support yourself.

The case concerned a person in exactly that situation. The question in the case was whether there were special reasons to make an exception.

Migrationsöverdomstolen found that the evidence in the case showed a reduction of that kind in the ability to work. The person was therefore granted a permanent residence permit.

What has not changed

The support rule itself still stands as the main rule. The ruling is about when an exception can be made, not about removing the requirement. It is Migrationsverket that assesses whether there are special reasons in your particular case.

On the Migrationsverket page about applying for a permanent residence permit, the agency writes that you must have lived in Sweden with a residence permit for a certain time. You also have to meet particular requirements covering, among other things, how you support yourself and your skötsamhet (how you have conducted yourself).

So which requirements apply depends on the type of residence permit you hold today. Migrationsverket has separate pages for family reunification, work permits, business owners and doctoral students, among others.

This article describes what the court decided. What applies in an individual case is for Migrationsverket or a court to determine. A qualified lawyer is the one to ask about your own situation.