In a new report, the Swedish Association of University Teachers and Researchers (SULF) has slammed the government’s “exploitative revolving door” migration policy, arguing that it harms international researchers and denies them stability in the country.
In a new report, the Swedish Association of University Teachers and Researchers (SULF) has slammed the government’s “exploitative revolving door” migration policy, arguing that it harms international researchers and denies them stability in the country.
In a new report, the Swedish Association of University Teachers and Researchers (SULF) has slammed the government’s “exploitative revolving door” migration policy, arguing that it harms international researchers and denies them stability in the country.
The report, carried out by the association’s Doctoral Candidates Association (SULF-DCA) between 2023 and 2025, looked into the challenges faced by international PhD candidates and early career researchers in Sweden, specifically with regard to Swedish migration policy.
SULF calls for migration policy reform when it comes to international researchers, criticising in particular what it calls Sweden’s “exploitative ‘revolving door’ migration policy”.
“[These policies] permit recruitment of international talent to bolster innovation, but deny migrant scholars equal access to professional opportunities and preclude them from achieving long-term stability in their residence status ‒ basic prerequisites to building a successful research career,” the report reads.
It also criticises the Migration Agency for “false advertising and mixed messaging about migration policy”, accusing it of misleading applicants about their immigration prospects.
“There are chronic, glaring discrepancies between the public representation of migration processes as explained by the Swedish Migration Agency, and the reality of interacting with the migration system as a foreign researcher. Such discrepancies do not arise by accident, but rather by design,” it reads.
The working group interviewed a number of international PhD students as part of the investigation, board member Aimee Miles wrote in a statement.
“It became clear that current migration policies continue to cause significant problems for many people.”
The impact of these migration policies has led to many of these researchers feeling “trapped”, “isolated” or “stranded” in Sweden, losing out on professional opportunities and disrupting their research and careers. Aside from the professional consequences, many of them felt their mental health was affected, with the report saying that students experienced “chronic stress, anxiety and depression”.
Their insecure migration status also meant that they had less academic freedom than their EU peers and were more vulnerable to abuse, as supervisors could, for example, refuse to sign important migration documents, leading students to submit or face deportation.
Unsurprisingly, a number of researchers interviewed by SULF said they regretted moving to Sweden for their doctoral studies, and many said they would not recommend Sweden to other researchers, suggesting countries like Poland, the UK, the Netherlands or Germany instead, as a result of their more lenient rules for international researchers.
The report highlights five main hurdles for so-called ‘third country’ or non-EU PhD students.
Long processing times
The first hurdle is long processing times, which restrict the right of permit applicants to travel abroad while they are waiting for their permits to be granted or renewed.
This causes issues for many researchers, who have to turn down career opportunities like international conferences or risk being unable to return to Sweden.
One researcher speaking to SULF, who wished to remain anonymous, said that this rule was “busting [their] academic career”.
“Since May 2023 when I’ve been stranded in Sweden, I’ve been accepted to five different big international conferences which I could not attend due to the travel restrictions,” they wrote.
“I’ve also gotten travel scholarships for two of them as an early career scholar (which I now need somehow to return to the funders) … So it feels like the whole process is just busting my academic career in all possible ways.”
The Local asked then-Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard about this back in February 2023, who said that the government “would consider” changing the rules. This hasn’t yet happened, although a government inquiry is working on a proposal.
Igor, a PhD student in computer science at Umeå, explained that even if this rule were abolished, the Swedish system still penalised researchers for foreign travel in other ways.
“In most fields of computer sciences, you publish in conferences, journals don’t matter,” he said, adding that this means travel restrictions cause issues for computer science students in particular.
“Wallenberg programs have allocated funds for going abroad for a period of time, three to six months of travel. Even if the Swedish Migration Agency has promised not to revoke a current permit if PhD students are abroad while working for Swedish universities, this time gets deducted from (the qualifying period for) permanent residency afterwards.”
He added that rules around permanent residency also meant that researchers were limited in their career opportunities, as they were punished for spending too much time outside of Sweden.
“Most places don’t want you to do a postdoc in the same country… But if you leave Sweden for more than one year it gets absurd because you get your permanent residence permit cancelled out,” he said.
Unclear criteria for assessing permit applications
The association also criticised the Migration Agency’s criteria for processing permit applications, describing them as “opaque, misleading, and inconsistent”.
This includes processing times, which can vary wildly between applicants for seemingly unknown reasons, but also apparent differences in how Migration Agency staff interpret migration law.
One interviewee wishing to remain anonymous was surprised when their application for permanent residency was denied despite them having secured a permanent role.
“The Swedish Migration Agency claimed that it is not enough that I have a permanent contract, but I also need to show that the employer has started paying my salary,” they wrote, while adding that this was impossible as their application was submitted the month they started working.
“There was no way for me to show payslips. I appealed the decision, and to my surprise, again, my appeal was rejected.”
According to the interviewee, the judge misread the job contract and said it was not permanent, even though it was.
“I filed another appeal to the high court in Stockholm, which was approved, and the case was sent back to the immigration court in Gothenburg which decided in my favour and granted me permanent residency.”
The process took over two years and resulted in “massive financial costs” for the applicant, who also found it stressful. On top of this, they were unable to leave Sweden while it was ongoing.
Bias or unfairness in assessment of applications
The third hurdle to non-EU PhD students, SULF said, was “systemic bias or unfairness in the assessment of applications”.
This was primarily a problem for PhD students from non-Western countries, the report said, “particularly those deemed ‘problematic’”, such as Russia and Iran.
One researcher from Russia said that her husband, also a researcher, was advised by the family’s lawyer to leave the EU and withdraw his application to extend his residence permit, or else risk being issued with a 25-year EU entry ban.
“My husband started his PhD at KTH in February 2018, my two kids and I joined him as co-applicants six months later. We are both from Russia,” she wrote.
They successfully extended their residence permits in 2019 and 2021 and applied for another extension around February 2023, as the interviewee’s husband had a year left of his PhD.
They waited six months before submitting a request to conclude which was denied, and then granted in August that year after an appeal.
“After months of waiting, there was still no decision,” she said, adding that the family’s lawyer suspected they would be considered a security risk due to their nationality, predicting that their applications would be rejected.
“I personally know two Russian researchers who have received a 25-year EU entry ban as a result of these Cold War-like tactics,” she said, adding that it had left her husband in a precarious position.
“The most likely scenario for him would be to receive that deportation and entry ban immediately after his defense, which was scheduled for autumn 2024. So, he was facing two options: defend but say goodbye to his career and research abroad for 20 years, or throw out six years of his research and life.”
She said that this had left her “broken and devastated”, and she was not the only Russian citizen to have experienced this.
Another person interviewed for the report told SULF that they knew “a considerable number of [Russian citizens]” who were either waiting for a response from the Migration Agency, who had received a rejection and a ban on re-entering the EU, or who had withdrawn their applications to avoid this from happening.
They said that these were “doctoral students, academic and industrial researchers, and engineers, who have applied for a first residence permit, extension, long-term residency, permanent residence or citizenships”.
“Essentially, we all have only one thing in common: our place of birth and, consequently, Russian passports, which we did not choose,” they wrote. “The Migration Agency seems to be aiming to supply the Russian regime with great researchers and engineers.”
Lack of post-PhD opportunities
For the researchers who managed to complete their PhD studies, the issues didn’t stop after graduation.
“I cannot plan for the future because I don’t know where I will live after my PhD,” one anonymous researcher said.
“I feel sad with the current policies and the humanity in Sweden because after many years PhD students have contributed to the innovation in Sweden. The Migration Agency gets rid of PhD students (I mean we don’t have a permanent visa to reside here), just because of the maintenance requirement, while Sweden is ranked as one of the top countries in innovation.”
They called for more sustainable conditions for PhD students.
“One aspect of sustainability is residing stably and having a stable life. With that amount of time for paying tax, using our brains, and health to contribute to Swedish society, is it not enough to prove that we can live independently by ourselves without relying on the welfare systems?”
A researcher from Iran, Azar Rezapour, said that “continuous uncertainty and restrictive new policies” affected her career development and personal well-being. She holds a PhD in Tumor Immunology from Gothenburg.
“Now, even though I need to start studying for a medical license, without a secure residency status, I can’t commit to this process. Trying to find a job in the industry has also been hard. Companies often turn me away once they learn I need their sponsorship to stay in Sweden. Although I love research and want to continue in academia, the uncertainty and short-term nature of project contracts make it impossible to plan my life.”
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Limited options for appealing Migration Agency decisions
Finally, the last hurdle for non-EU researchers identified by SULF was the fact that there are limited options for applicants who receive a negative decision from the Migration Agency to successfully appeal against a Migration Agency decision they believe to be incorrect or unjustified.
Despite government proposals to improve some of these issues for international researchers, the organisation is pessimistic as to how much these will actually help.
“If the aim is to improve long-term recruitment and retention of international talent in Swedish higher education, these proposals do not go far enough,” it says, ending with a note for anyone considering pursuing an academic career in Sweden.
“SULF-DCA’s message to international researchers who are weighing a move to Sweden in 2025 and beyond: do your homework, know what to anticipate, and beware the fine print.”
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