Sweden’s government said it plans to reform immigration rules after a series of cases in which young adults have been ordered to leave the country while their parents remain legally resident. The migration agency has temporarily suspended such deportations while the government prepares changes to the regulations governing family migration.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the reform is intended to give migrants who have integrated into Swedish society a stronger chance of remaining in the country. “We have agreed on a reform of family immigration that gives those who have come to Sweden, learn Swedish, study or work and do their part, a better chance to build a future for themselves in Sweden,” he told a press conference.
The issue—often referred to in Swedish media as “teenage deportations”—concerns migrants who arrived in Sweden as minors with parents seeking asylum but later lose their right to remain once they reach adulthood.
“A teenager who has done nothing wrong and is growing up here with parents who work should not have to leave our country,” Integration Minister Simona Mohamsson said.
In these cases, the parents may hold legal residence permits while the adolescents, once they reach adulthood, must reapply for their own right to remain and can be ordered to leave if they do not meet the requirements.
Under earlier rules, children of asylum seekers granted residence permits were typically given a permanent right to stay. Since reforms introduced in 2021, however, they receive only temporary residence permits and must reapply once they turn 18. In some cases, this has resulted in young adults being ordered to leave the country even when their parents remain legally resident.
The rule was introduced as part of Sweden’s broader effort to tighten its asylum system after the country received one of the highest numbers of migrants per capita during Europe’s 2015 migration crisis.
