The Swedish Parliament has officially passed a government bill to end permanent residence permits, which will offer a vastly stricter approach to the country’s immigration policy. Under the new legislation, the government “eliminates the possibility of granting permanent residence permits to asylum seekers” and other immigrant groups specified in the reform.
Set to take effect on July 12, the updated rules dictate that affected individuals will now only be eligible to receive temporary residence permits. However, those who currently hold valid permanent residence will keep their existing status and remain unaffected by the change.
While temporary permits have become standard practice in Sweden over recent years, this reform goes significantly further by preventing specific groups from converting those temporary stays into permanent ones. Through this measure, the Swedish Executive aims to tighten its oversight regarding the long-term status of foreigners within its borders.
This legislative shift takes place amid deep public and political concern over escalating violence tied to criminal networks and the cost of mass immigration. Recent data emerging from Scandinavia, specifically from the Danish Ministry of Finance and analyzed by the White Papers Policy Institute, showed that Scandinavian nations like Denmark and Sweden are spending billions on their migrant populations.
Austrian MEP Harald Vilimsky cites the data, which was complied by the White Papers Policy Institute:
“The financial consequences of mass immigration. The White Paper Policy Institute also refers to the costs for Somalis in this context and concludes that Sweden will spend approximately 117.3 billion euros on the 102,000 Somalis living in Sweden over the next 50 years,” the MEP wrote on X.
Security is also a top concern. For years, Sweden has grappled with rampant shootings, targeted gang retaliations, and turf wars driven by drug trafficking networks, many of them made up of individuals of immigrant origin. Of course, there is also the issue of gang rape, rape, and robberies, which are dominated by foreign offenders.
In some cases, lives have even been lost as gang violence spiraled out of control in many major cities. According to official police data published in May, “23 people outside these gangs have died and another 30 have been injured in shootings” linked to organized crime over the last three years. Law enforcement officials emphasize that these bystanders were not the intended targets but were rather caught in the crossfire by stray bullets, misidentified by attackers, or targeted simply due to their personal associations with gang members.
This newly approved immigration law aligns with a broader, multi-pronged crackdown targeting individuals connected to organized crime. Notably, the Swedish Migration Agency recently revoked the permanent residence permits of 11 individuals who maintained “strong connections with criminal networks and long stays outside the country.”
According to state authorities, these individuals were living abroad in nations such as “Iraq, Lebanon, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, and Morocco.” Stripped of their permanent Swedish residency, they have lost access to the national welfare system and now face severe restrictions regarding international travel within the Schengen zone and their ability to conduct business.
Despite these measures, there are still many anti-immigration critics of the current conservative coalition government. They argue it has done little to truly stem the tide of mass immigration and reverse the radical open borders policies that dominated Swedish society for many years.