Questions, answered · Relocation agencies
How does a Swedish staffing or recruitment agency stay compliant when it hires people from outside the EU?
Reviewed by the Settio team · Updated · Facts checked against the official sources below
Know your role first: a staffing agency that employs the workers and leases them out is their employer and carries every permit duty, while a recruiter or relocation agency works for the client employer. Never take money from the worker: Swedish law bans it for staffing and recruitment firms, and since 1 June 2026 a payment clearly out of proportion to the service, for a job or for help with a permit, is a crime. Then meet the permit's conditions, and keep meeting them every month after approval.
Read the full guideHiring From Outside the EU as a Swedish Agency: How to Stay Compliant (2026)In detail
- A salary of at least 34,470 SEK a month for applications from 16 June 2026, and terms on a par with collective agreements.
- Four insurances from the first day: health, life, occupational injury and occupational pension.
- Staffing is an industry with higher requirements: the employer shows it can pay the salary for at least three months.
- Since 1 June 2026, Migrationsverket can refuse a permit because of the employer's crimes or sanctions.
- After approval: tell Skatteverket on form SKV 1160, keep a copy of the permit until 12 months after the job ends, and tell Migrationsverket if the work hasn't started within four months.
- Employing someone without the right permit costs a special fee of two price base amounts per person, four after three months.
How Settio helps
Settio gives every case a plan from the country's rules, checks documents before you file, checks each month against the permit's terms, and invoices your work to the client company.
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Read more
- Agencies hiring from outside the EU: the 2026 rules
- Can an agency charge workers a fee?
- Immigration and relocation agency software
- Permit and salary monitoring
Sources
- Migrationsverket: New rules for work permits come into force (1 June 2026)
- Migrationsverket: Anställa en person som är medborgare i ett land utanför EU/EES
- Migrationsverket: The employee's application has been approved
- Utlänningslag (2005:716), 20 kap. 5, 10, 10 a, 10 b och 12 §§ (Riksdagen)
- Lag (2012:854) om uthyrning av arbetstagare, 9 och 10 §§
- Lag (1993:440) om privat arbetsförmedling, 6 §
- Migrationsverket: Employing someone from outside the EU/EEA
- Migrationsverket: Salary requirements for a work permit
Related questions
- What software do I need to start an immigration agency in Sweden?
- Which case management software suits a relocation and immigration agency in Sweden?
- Is there global mobility software an independent agency can use without competing with the vendor?
- Which Swedish platforms help with work permits, relocation and bringing a family?
- Can a recruitment or staffing agency charge workers a fee in Sweden?
- What if the country I work with isn't supported by Settio?
Informational only. This guide is not legal advice. Always verify requirements with official government sources before acting. Facts checked 10 November 2026. About this information