Despite repeated warnings that stricter wage requirements would impact staffing in healthcare, statistics show that labor immigration to the sector was already very low. At the same time, a new review by the Swedish National Audit Office points to extensive shortcomings in the oversight of work permits – in several cases, sham employment and unscrupulous employers have slipped past the authorities’ scrutiny.
Reducing asylum immigration while increasing the proportion of qualified labor migration has been a central part of the Tidö parties’ migration policy. In terms of asylum seekers, the development, according to figures examined by Fokus, has moved in the direction sought by the government: last year, about 6,700 asylum applications were registered – historically low levels.
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However, family immigration remains at high levels, so the total number of residence permits issued is still high. A decline from 102,000 in 2023 down to 83,000 in 2024 has turned into an increase to 89,000 in 2025. Although it is still early, figures for January and February indicate that the total number of residence permits issued in 2026 will land somewhere in the region of 75,000–87,000, depending on how optimistically one extrapolates.
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Increased skills and wage requirements
In the area of labor migration, the government has introduced several changes to raise the skills profile and counteract misuse. Among other things, a wage requirement has been introduced, and the maintenance requirements for accompanying family members have been tightened.
In total, around 23,000 residence permits were granted in the work category last year. Just over a third of these – about 8,400 – concerned relatives of labor migrants.
This also represents a reduction compared to previous years, and tightened rules for family immigration are having an effect here as well. In 2022, the last year under the previous term, immigration in this category amounted to 41,400 people, of whom 14,100 were relatives.
Largest drop among highly qualified
Statistics obtained by Fokus show that about 4,400 of the work permits last year were for jobs requiring advanced higher education. Most in this group work as IT architects, system developers, or civil engineers.
In 2022, about 11,000 permits were granted in this category. Qualified labor immigration has thus decreased even more than labor immigration in general.
After the most qualified professions come groups with significantly lower education requirements. For example, nearly 1,000 crop growers were granted work permits last year – about as many as all the civil engineering groups combined.
In addition, there were 728 berry pickers and planters, as well as 646 forestry workers. In total, these three occupational groups accounted for over 2,300 people. Restaurant staff, cleaners, and other service occupations are also included in this category.
At the same time, some groups have declined sharply. The number of berry pickers and planters, for instance, was about 6,500 in 2022, indicating a marked decrease during the parliamentary term.
Healthcare: very small volumes even previously
The healthcare sector is often brought up in the political debate on labor migration. Left-wing critics have warned that the government’s wage floor – intended to ensure more reasonable economic conditions – risks making recruitment more difficult.
Fokus refers to an opinion piece in Dagens Nyheter where the author, Sandra Vilppala, asks the Tidö government: “How are you going to conjure up 65,600 employees?” But statistics show that labor immigration to healthcare professions was already at very low levels.
Last year, 87 doctors and 18 nurses were granted work permits. That is almost exactly on par with 2022, when the Social Democrats governed Sweden.
Even in other healthcare professions, the number was low even before the wage floor was introduced. The number of assistant nurses dropped from 87 in 2022 to 30 last year, while care assistants totaled 37 in 2022 and 26 in 2025.
The figures thus suggest that the wage requirement from 2023 has had a very limited impact on the inflow of healthcare staff, since the numbers were already very small. However, it has been a welcome boost to the paychecks of foreign healthcare workers and removed the previous label of being exploited cheap imported labor.
Most workers from India
Labor immigrants mainly come from countries outside Europe. India tops the list with just over 2,600 people, followed by Thailand with almost 2,000.
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The 15 largest source countries:
India – 2,633
Thailand – 1,974
Turkey – 764
China – 674
United Kingdom – 458
USA – 349
Iran – 313
Pakistan – 312
Brazil – 298
Sri Lanka – 200
Nepal – 172
Philippines – 169
Serbia – 169
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 163
Vietnam – 140
(Source: Swedish Migration Agency)
Family immigration varies greatly
The labor migrants themselves make up about two-thirds of the inflow. The rest are family members. However, statistics show major differences between countries.
From India, for example, about 2,900 family members arrived – somewhat more than the number of workers. From Thailand, however, only 23 family members followed, despite the country being the second-largest country of origin. From Turkey, 322 family members arrived, which means about one family member for every two workers.
Other countries show particularly high ratios. From Pakistan, 665 family members accompanied 312 workers – an average of about two relatives per person. Bangladesh shows a similar pattern, with 169 relatives to 88 workers.
National Audit Office: serious checks failures
A new review from the National Audit Office highlighted by Fokus shows that authorities’ oversight of labor immigration has significant shortcomings.
The review, covering 2023–2025, shows that work permits are often granted without being able to ensure that the jobs are genuine or that the employers are reputable.
According to the report, 1,344 work permits were granted in 2023 and 2024, even though the employer had previously been assessed as disreputable or linked to sham employment.
Additionally, about 1,700 cases were identified where permits were granted despite risk indicators suggesting that the employer might be untrustworthy.
The National Audit Office describes companies offering outright fake jobs, not paying wages, providing incorrect information to authorities, and hiring people without work permits.
An example in the report concerns a person who continued to receive a salary for two years after leaving Sweden just a month after arrival.
The malpractice occurs not only among small business owners. There was considerable attention when the police had to carry out a raid at the multi-billion flagship for green steel, Stegra, to stop the company’s use of illegal labor.
Limited ability to check
A central reason for the problems is that the Swedish Migration Agency has limited possibilities to verify the information in the applications. The case handling is mainly in writing. Interviews with employers or employees are rare. Even in risk cases, according to Fokus, oral investigations have only been conducted in 6 percent of cases.
Furthermore, the agency lacks legal support for workplace inspections and has limited access to certain key data, such as detailed income information.
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These problems have been known for several years. Already in a 2023 review, the National Audit Office pointed out similar shortcomings. At that time, it was noted, among other things, that 1,700 people with work permits were registered as residents in Sweden without any reported work income, without their permits being revoked.
The Tidö parties have made strong statements about closing loopholes for extensive fraud and misuse, but by all accounts it has continued after the 2023 warnings and the necessary oversight functions have not been given the resources or authority needed to resolve the problems.
Migration Agency: “It’s the employer’s responsibility”
Merima Ilijasevic, Section Chief at the Migration Agency, says in a comment to Fokus that the regulations limit the authority’s capabilities.
– The regulations prevent the Migration Agency from collecting and analyzing data in a way that would allow identifying patterns and unscrupulous actors in time.”
The agency also lacks legal grounds for conducting its own workplace inspections. It states that it has been in contact with the government during 2025 to obtain permission to store and analyze information in order to better detect fraud.
When asked if the authority can guarantee that people with work permits really work in accordance with the conditions, she says that, for now, the responsibility does not rest with the agency.
– The employer has the ultimate responsibility to ensure the employment conditions are met. We act on indications that come to our attention.
Aspling: “Very poor from the government”
The Sweden Democrats’ spokesperson on migration policy, Ludvig Aspling, is critical of the government not yet having addressed the Migration Agency’s request for better opportunities to store and analyze data.
– If their legal assessment is correct, then it’s very poor of the government not to have dealt with this. It’s not a complicated issue, he says in a comment to Fokus.
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He believes amendments to the Aliens Data Act should have been implemented during the term. As for wage requirements, he believes the reform has already had an effect.
– My assessment is that there has been a filtering. Companies have been able to bring in people at very low wages. With the higher wage requirement, the incentive disappeared. They keep those for whom it is actually worthwhile.
The fact that many work permits are still granted in low-wage professions is mainly explained by seasonal work, which is still not covered by the wage floor.
Aspling also points out that family immigration is substantial in some cases, and that’s because this issue is not regulated in the Tidö Agreement, so the Sweden Democrats have no influence over it.
– Unfortunately, the governing parties often reason that if it’s not in the Tidö Agreement, they don’t have to deal with it.
Government: effects may take time
Minister for Migration Johan Forssell (M) says in a comment to Fokus that the government takes the National Audit Office’s criticism seriously and that it “views seriously” the abuses that the review reveals.
He emphasizes that the government has already proposed legal changes that will make it possible to deny work permits if the employer is suspected or convicted of a crime.
On the goal to increase the proportion of highly qualified labor migration, Forssell says effects may take time.
– As with all major political overhauls, you have to expect some delay in the effects.
He therefore believes it is too early to draw sweeping conclusions from the statistics of a single year.
Regarding the opportunity to bring family members, he highlights that competition for international talent means Sweden must maintain generous rules and cannot tighten too much.
– When Sweden competes with other countries for international top talent, the possibility for newcomers to also bring their families is often crucial. Here, Sweden should by no means fall behind.