https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Europe in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Anna Metreveli, a Russian PhD student in sociolinguistics, had her application to switch to a new residence permit rejected on the grounds that she did not leave Sweden to reapply, which has left her education and her son's right to specialised education and healthcare in the country up in the air. https://www.thelocal.com/20260420/phd-student-refused-swedish-permit-and-told-to-apply-from-abroad-despite-sons-disability Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:28:36 +0200 phd-student-refused-swedish-permit-and-told-to-apply-from-abroad-despite-sons-disability Sweden's border police requested that a former work permit holder be deported as soon as possible because he was too intelligent and was posing legal problems for the authorities, in an email seen by The Local. https://www.thelocal.com/20260408/swedish-police-asked-to-speed-up-deportation-of-intelligent-and-articulate-software-engineer Wed, 08 Apr 2026 11:09:11 +0200 swedish-police-asked-to-speed-up-deportation-of-intelligent-and-articulate-software-engineer Sweden's parliament has voted to bring in a new minimum salary for work permits set at 90 percent of Sweden's median wage, with the new requirement in force from June 1st. https://www.thelocal.com/20260318/swedish-parliament-votes-to-hike-work-permit-salary-threshold Wed, 18 Mar 2026 11:51:12 +0100 swedish-parliament-votes-to-hike-work-permit-salary-threshold Abhijith Nag Balasubramanya's circular-system hydroponics startup was already providing locally-grown produce to a major grocery store in Skellefteå, northern Sweden, when his business visa was denied by the Swedish Migration Agency. He has now left Sweden. https://www.thelocal.com/20260312/i-chose-my-mental-health-indian-entrepreneur-leaves-sweden-after-deportation-order Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:33:54 +0100 i-chose-my-mental-health-indian-entrepreneur-leaves-sweden-after-deportation-order Few positions are more central on Sweden’s political right than the one Fredrik Kopsch holds as chief economist at Timbro. But as he launches a new book on deportations, Utvisad, which calls for an amnesty for integrated foreigners, he says his liberal views feel increasingly at out of place. https://www.thelocal.com/20260305/does-sweden-need-an-integration-amnesty-to-stop-deportations Thu, 05 Mar 2026 08:40:28 +0100 does-sweden-need-an-integration-amnesty-to-stop-deportations As part of the landmark trade agreement announced on January 27th, the EU and India adopted a ‘mobility framework’ that aims to make it easier for Indian students, researchers and young professionals to move to the EU. https://www.thelocal.com/20260207/what-the-mobility-deal-between-the-eu-and-india-will-mean-for-skilled-workers Sat, 07 Feb 2026 09:19:01 +0100 what-the-mobility-deal-between-the-eu-and-india-will-mean-for-skilled-workers Sweden is revoking the so-called track changes ('spårbyte') immigration path, which means that thousands of foreign workers may have to leave the country. The Local has looked into the nitty-gritty of who is affected and what their chances of staying are. https://www.thelocal.com/20250324/how-does-swedens-track-change-repeal-affect-work-permit-holders Mon, 24 Mar 2025 10:00:28 +0100 how-does-swedens-track-change-repeal-affect-work-permit-holders The launch of the ‘EU Talent Pool’ has moved a step closer. It will be the first digital platform that will match vacancies in shortage occupations in EU countries with non-EU jobseekers. https://www.thelocal.com/20251122/explained-what-the-approval-of-the-eu-talent-pool-means-in-practice Sat, 22 Nov 2025 11:00:02 +0100 explained-what-the-approval-of-the-eu-talent-pool-means-in-practice The year-long disagreement among the government parties on whether to raise the minimum salary for a work permit to the Swedish median has broken out into the open. What is the controversial policy and why has it been delayed? https://www.thelocal.com/20250821/what-we-know-about-swedens-delayed-plans-for-tougher-work-permit-rules Thu, 21 Aug 2025 13:49:06 +0200 what-we-know-about-swedens-delayed-plans-for-tougher-work-permit-rules The Swedish Migration Agency has rated two job titles – cooks and pantry chefs, and cleaners – as high risk for work permits, saying it doesn't have enough data to include other professions that are also known as being at risk of abuse. https://www.thelocal.com/20250724/swedish-migration-agency-rates-two-jobs-as-high-risk-for-work-permits Thu, 24 Jul 2025 14:51:32 +0200 swedish-migration-agency-rates-two-jobs-as-high-risk-for-work-permits Sweden's Migration Agency is this week set to publish a list of the jobs which could potentially be exempted from a new salary threshold for work permits, but it stresses that there's little chance of these exemptions coming into force any time soon. https://www.thelocal.com/20250718/swedish-migration-agency-to-publish-work-permit-salary-limit-exemptions Fri, 18 Jul 2025 18:08:30 +0200 swedish-migration-agency-to-publish-work-permit-salary-limit-exemptions The Swedish government has pledged to attract international talent, while radically limiting asylum and low-skilled immigration. So why do work permit holders so often get the short end of the stick? https://www.thelocal.com/20250701/why-are-there-no-exceptions-for-work-permit-holders-in-swedens-citizenship-reforms Tue, 01 Jul 2025 14:14:33 +0200 why-are-there-no-exceptions-for-work-permit-holders-in-swedens-citizenship-reforms Denmark’s government has announced reforms to the Pay Limit Scheme, a pathway through which non-EU nationals can be granted work permits. What exactly is changing? https://www.thelocal.com/20250701/key-points-the-changes-denmark-is-making-to-work-permit-rules Tue, 01 Jul 2025 12:08:57 +0200 key-points-the-changes-denmark-is-making-to-work-permit-rules Sweden’s Migration Minister Johan Forssell has highlighted nine ways the country is trying to improve the situation for foreign talent in an opinion piece in Dagens industri, co-authored with representatives from major Swedish companies. https://www.thelocal.com/20250627/swedish-migration-minister-sweden-cant-wait-for-international-talent Fri, 27 Jun 2025 17:51:33 +0200 swedish-migration-minister-sweden-cant-wait-for-international-talent Sweden is set to scrap the rule which requires work permit holders to apply for an entirely new permit if they change employer within the first two years. https://www.thelocal.com/20250611/how-sweden-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-change-employers-on-a-work-permit Wed, 11 Jun 2025 14:24:12 +0200 how-sweden-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-change-employers-on-a-work-permit Sweden has put forward a proposal to extend the three-month deadline for work permit holders who lose their jobs to six months, bringing Swedish work permit rules in line with a new EU directive. https://www.thelocal.com/20250611/sweden-proposes-extending-three-month-deadline-for-laid-off-work-permit-holders Wed, 11 Jun 2025 14:26:49 +0200 sweden-proposes-extending-three-month-deadline-for-laid-off-work-permit-holders Sasan Kazemian, originally from Iran, has been in Sweden since 2021, speaks fluent Swedish, and currently works as a medical resident at Karolinska University Hospital after passing a test 90 percent of applicants fail. He’s also been issued with an order to leave the country. https://www.thelocal.com/20250527/its-a-brain-drain-doctor-ordered-to-leave-sweden-over-mix-up-with-migration-agency Tue, 27 May 2025 12:34:48 +0200 its-a-brain-drain-doctor-ordered-to-leave-sweden-over-mix-up-with-migration-agency Denmark’s Conservative party says it wants work permit rules to be changed to make it harder for people from Muslim countries to come to Denmark to work. https://www.thelocal.com/20250521/danish-conservatives-want-stricter-work-permit-rules-for-muslim-countries Wed, 21 May 2025 13:08:28 +0200 danish-conservatives-want-stricter-work-permit-rules-for-muslim-countries The EU Blue Card is a work and residence permit for highly skilled people from outside the EU. Why does Germany issue by far the most compared to other EU states? https://www.thelocal.com/20250516/why-does-germany-issue-by-far-the-most-eu-blue-cards-to-skilled-workers Fri, 16 May 2025 15:10:12 +0200 why-does-germany-issue-by-far-the-most-eu-blue-cards-to-skilled-workers In an interview with The Local, Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell indicates that the government has not yet decided whether it will go ahead with plans to raise the work permit salary threshold. https://www.thelocal.com/20250507/swedish-migration-minister-no-formal-decision-made-on-new-work-permit-salary-threshold Wed, 07 May 2025 12:21:42 +0200 swedish-migration-minister-no-formal-decision-made-on-new-work-permit-salary-threshold