Swedish Work Permit Refused: Reasons, Appeals, and Next Steps for HR

Receiving a refusal decision

A work permit refusal from Migrationsverket is a stressful event for the employee and a compliance risk for the employer. The decision letter (beslutsbrev) will state the legal grounds for refusal and the deadline for appeal. HR teams that know what to look for can respond quickly and preserve the employee's options.

Most common reasons for refusal

1. Salary below collective agreement threshold

This is the single most common cause of refusal. The offered salary was benchmarked against the wrong SSYK code, a renegotiated collective agreement, or the wrong type of employment (e.g. part-time treated as full-time).

2. Insufficient advertisement of the role

For work permit applications (not EU Blue Card), the employer must demonstrate that the role was advertised for at least 10 days within the EU/EEA before offering it to a third-country national. Missing documentation of this step — typically a printout of the job posting with dates — leads to refusal.

3. Employer not approved to sponsor

New employers or employers who have not previously sponsored work permits may be rejected if Migrationsverket has concerns about the company's financial stability or compliance history. A tax debt, an open enforcement matter, or a very recently incorporated company can trigger this.

4. Application submitted too late

For extension applications, if the employee did not submit before the current permit expired, the right to stay and work during processing (AT-UND) may not apply. This is one of the most consequential errors — the employee may need to leave Sweden.

5. Missing or incorrect documents

Passport copies that expired between application and decision, employment contracts without signatures, or missing appendices are frequent procedural refusals that can often be corrected on appeal.

The appeals process

Most refusals can be appealed to the Migration Court (Migrationsdomstolen). The process:

1. Deadline: The appeal must be filed within 3 weeks of the date the decision was served (received). Missing this deadline forfeits the right to appeal.
2. Where to file: Appeals are submitted to Migrationsverket, which then forwards them to the relevant Migration Court. Do not send the appeal directly to the court.
3. What to include: The appeal must clearly state which part of the decision is being contested and provide new evidence or legal arguments that were not in the original application.
4. Timeline: Migration Court decisions typically take 6–18 months. The employee's right to remain in Sweden during this period depends on whether AT-UND (right to work while the appeal is pending) applies.

What HR should do immediately after a refusal

• Day 1: Preserve the decision letter and note the appeal deadline in the case file. Do not discard or archive the original decision.
• Day 1–3: Engage an immigration lawyer if the refusal involves substantive grounds (salary, employer approval, advertisement). Procedural refusals (missing documents) can sometimes be handled without legal counsel.
• Day 3–7: Assess whether the employee can continue working. If the original permit has expired and AT-UND does not apply, the employee must stop working immediately — continuing to employ them is a legal violation.
• Week 2: Decide whether to appeal or re-apply. In some cases, a fresh application with corrected documentation is faster than an appeal.

Preventing refusals

Most refusals are preventable. The highest-impact actions HR teams can take:

• Verify the SSYK code and applicable collective agreement before filing, not after.
• Set an application deadline of 4 months before permit expiry, not the Migrationsverket minimum of 2 months.
• Keep a complete document checklist per application type and audit it before submission.
• Track employer compliance status continuously — a new tax debt can make an otherwise clean application fail.