According to Swedish Migration laws, International students with a residence permit for studies in higher education in Sweden that have completed their studies can get a residence permit to seek employment or explore the possibilities of starting a business in Sweden. However, the international students in Sweden should aware that it might not always be so straightforward, especially during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. This also applies to students who want to extend their residence permit to continue studying in a higher education program after their current permit expires..
Recently in an interview with Sveriges Radio, a master student from India spoke about his experience after he was told to leave the country after the pandemic caused a delay to his studies. Fortunately, he succeeded in appealing the decision as the Migration Court in Malmö came to the conclusion that the delays caused by the pandemic are only a minor disruption to his studies and should not be enough to result in deportation.
Not studying full-time was deemed a “minor shortcoming” caused by “circumstances beyond [the student’s] control”, and “not in proportion” with deporting him, the court ruled.
(https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/court-ruling-gives-hope-to-international-students-in-limbo)
Gunjan Nagpal is among many students whose field of study did not allow the possibility of remote working and was therefore delayed. The Migration Agency deemed that due to the interruption to his studies, he did not have the required number of credits per week to be considered a full-time student and decided not to extend the student’s visa. While he believes that this decision gives other international students in a similar situation hope. This is only one case from the Migration Court of Malmö and therefore it is still unclear how the highest level of Migration Court in Stockholm interprets this overall issue.
Therefore we want to inform international students who plan to extend their residence permit for study or to search for work after their graduation – to be aware of the credit requirement by the Migration Agency and avoid getting into a similar circumstance, and ensuring that your future plans go as smoothly as possible.
For more details about this case, you can listen to the interview here.
~ VNS Consulting
