Family-Joining law in Sweden: apply in advance?

Hi Runesmith,

Unfortunately, Brexit does mean that the answer to your question is not very clear-cut. Typically, as an EU citizen, you would not need a residence permit to live in the country. However, for the purpose of your situation, let's assume you would be following the same regulations as someone without EU citizenship.

In this case, here are a few very comprehensive pages I found on the website of the Swedish Migration Agency. It seems that the process of applying for a residence permit based on a marriage is meant to be done from outside the country, at a Swedish consulate or embassy. One snag you might come across is that it appears to me that the applicant who has the right to stay in Sweden needs to be in Sweden first, before the spouse can apply to join them? I could be misinterpreting the requirements though, and I think you'd definitely need to confirm this with a Swedish embassy or consulate in your home country.

Here are those pages from the Swedish Migration Agency that I mentioned:

• Residence permit to move to a spouse, registered partner or common law spouse in Sweden
• How to apply for a residence permit to live with someone in Sweden with whom you are married, a registered partner or cohabiting

I hope you find this helpful - as I said, it's difficult to pin down an answer to this kind of a question in the midst of Brexit.

Best of luck.

M