Questions, answered · Relocation agencies
Can a recruitment or staffing agency charge workers a fee in Sweden?
Reviewed by the Settio team · Updated · Facts checked against the official sources below
No. A private employment service may not demand, agree to or receive payment from job seekers for offering or referring them to work, and a staffing agency may not take payment from a worker for placing them with a client company. Since 1 June 2026, employing a foreigner or helping one apply for a work permit while taking a payment clearly out of proportion to the service is also a crime: up to two years in prison, or six months to four years if gross.
Read the full guideHiring From Outside the EU as a Swedish Agency: How to Stay Compliant (2026)In detail
- Recruitment: the Act on private employment services, section 6, bans payment from job seekers.
- Staffing: the Act on the leasing of workers, section 10, bans payment from the worker for a placement or for taking a job with the client.
- EU law: the Temporary Agency Work Directive, Article 6(3), says agencies shall not charge workers fees for arranging their recruitment.
- Trade in work permits (Aliens Act chapter 20, section 10 a): a term on such a payment is void, and the payment must be paid back.
- Bill the client company for your work, and look at every cost that reaches the worker.
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Read more
- Agencies hiring from outside the EU: the 2026 rules
- How an agency stays compliant hiring from outside the EU
- Settio for immigration agencies
Sources
- Lag (1993:440) om privat arbetsförmedling, 6 §
- Lag (2012:854) om uthyrning av arbetstagare, 9 och 10 §§
- Directive 2008/104/EC on temporary agency work, Article 6, EUR-Lex
- Utlänningslag (2005:716), 20 kap. 5, 10, 10 a, 10 b och 12 §§ (Riksdagen)
- Migrationsverket: New rules for work permits come into force (1 June 2026)
- Migrationsverket: Employing someone from outside the EU/EEA
- Migrationsverket: Salary requirements for a work permit
- Migrationsverket: The employee's application has been approved
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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