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Foreign citizen - Upper secondary studies outside the Nordic countries

If you are a foreign citizen who wants to study at an upper secondary school outside the Nordic countries you may be entitled to Swedish study allowance in various ways. On this page, you can read about what applies to you.

Right to study allowance outside the Nordic countries

Study allowance is a grant that you can receive when studying at upper secondary level, at most up to and including the spring semester the year you turn 20.

To be entitled to study allowance outside the Nordic countries you must fulfill the conditions for right to Swedish student finance. You can read about these conditions on this page.

You must also meet the other conditions

If CSN decides that you are entitled to Swedish study allowance as a foreign citizen, you also have to fulfill the other conditions for study allowance. For example, the programme you are attending must meet our standards, and you must study full-time.

Upper secondary studies within the Nordic countries?

If you are going to attend an upper secondary school in Denmark, Finland, Iceland or Norway there are other conditions that you could fulfil to be entitled to study allowance.

Permanent right of residence

You may also be entitled to study allowance for studies outside the Nordic countries if you have permanent right of residence in Sweden.

You normally have permanent right of residence if you are a citizen of an EU/EEA country (not Switzerland) and have been living legally in Sweden for at least 5 years without interruption.

If you are a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA but are a family member of an EU/EEA citizen you normally have permanent right of residence if you have lived legally together with your family member in Sweden for at least 5 years without interruption.

This is usually not applicable if your family member is a Swedish or Swiss citizen.

If you are a British citizen and have been living in Sweden before 1 January 2021, you will normally have permanent right of residence after you have been living here without interruption for at least 5 years. You also need to have residence status granted by the Migration Agency.

You who are a family member of a British citizen will normally have permanent right of residence after you and your family member have lived together in Sweden for at least 5 years without interruption. You must have been living together in Sweden before 1 January 2021.

In these cases, you who are a family member of a citizen of an EU/EEA country may be granted early permanent right of residence:

  • Your family member has retired after working in Sweden for the past year. He or she has lived here for at least 3 years without interruption.
  • Your family member has worked in Sweden but is no longer able to because he or she has sustained a permanent disability that prevents him or her from working. Your family member has also lived here for at least 2 years without interruption.
  • Your family member has worked in Sweden but can no longer do so due to an occupational injury that entitles compensation.

Family member of someone who died while working in Sweden

You may also obtain early right of residence if you are the relative of an EU/EEA citizen who passed away while working in Sweden. That person must have resided in Sweden for the last 2 years, or died due to an injury or illness caused by their employment.

As a family member to a British citizen, you can have early permanent right of residence if you have lived together in Sweden since before 1 January 2021 and your family member meets any of the following conditions:

  • Your family member has retired after working in Sweden for the past year. He or she has lived here for at least 3 years without interruption.
  • Your family member has worked in Sweden but is no longer able to because he or she has sustained a permanent disability that prevents him or her from working. Your family member has also lived here for at least 2 years without interruption.
  • Your family member has worked in Sweden but can no longer do so due to an occupational injury that entitles compensation.
  • Your family member has lived and worked in Sweden for at least 3 years and still lives here, but he or she is employed in another EU/EEA country.

You can also have early permanent right of residence if the British citizen you are related to passed away while working in Sweden. He or she must then have lived in Sweden for the past 2 years, or died due to an injury or illness that was due to work.

Family member of a person working in Sweden (EU law)

You may be entitled to study allowance if you are a family member of a person who is employed or operating a business in Sweden. Your family member must work for a sufficient amount for this to apply.

You are considered a family member if you are the child or stepchild under the age of 21, to an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen. A partner also counts as a family member. This does not normally apply if your family member is a Swedish citizen.

This condition usually does not apply to you who are the child of a Swedish citizen. If you are, please contact us for further information.

If you are a family member of a British citizen and he or she was working in Sweden before 1 January 2021, you can be treated as a Swedish citizen under EU law and be entitled to study allowance. Your family member must continue to work during your studies, and he or she must work a sufficient amount. If your family member has stopped working, he or she can still be considered an employee or self-employed person in Sweden if he or she meets certain conditions.

If you are the child of a guest researcher in Sweden, you can be entitled to study allowance for studies in upper secondary school.

Contact us for further information

If you are a Turkish citizen and have a Turkish parent or stepparent who is working in Sweden, you may be entitled to Swedish student finance. This is the case if your parent or stepparent is working or running his or her own company in Sweden. Your parent or stepparent needs to work a sufficient amount during your study period. Both of you must have residence permits, and you must have been living together in Sweden.

If you are the child of a person holding an ICT permit, you can be entitled to study allowance for studies in upper secondary school.

Contact us for further information

This counts as employment or operating a business

In order for your family member to be considered an employee or self-employed person he or she must fulfil certain conditions.

Your family member can be considered an employee in Sweden if he or she meets these conditions:

  • He or she is employed by a Swedish company or other Swedish employer.
  • He or she is working to a sufficient extent. This normally means at least 10 hours per week with a minimum employment period of 10 weeks.
  • He or she receives wages or other compensation for their work.

Your family member can be counted as self-employed in Sweden if he or she meets these conditions:

  • He or she is working to a sufficient extent in the company. This normally means at least 10 hours per week with a minimum employment period of 10 weeks. Your family member also needs to have sufficient turnover in the company and a certain level of income or profit.
  • He or she has registered the company for VAT with the Swedish Tax Agency and have an F-tax certificate.

If your family member has stopped working

If your family member has stopped working, he or she can still be considered an employee or self-employed person in Sweden. Your family member must meet one of these conditions:

Your family member is going to further their education within their professional field and the course content is connected to the previous work in Sweden. The time since they stopped working may not be excessively long.

Further training within a vocation includes, for example

  • a teacher getting further training in pedagogy
  • a musician studying at a music academy
  • an assistant nurse training to be a nurse.

Your family member is temporarily unable to work because of illness or an accident. You need to be able to prove this with a medical certificate or a certificate for sickness allowance from Försäkringskassan.

Your family member has been dismissed from their employment and registered as a jobseeker with a Swedish employment agency. If they have been employed in Sweden for less than one year, they can normally be considered an employee for six months after leaving the employment.

Updated: 2024-02-20