End of fast track certification model

Introduction

In 2024, Sweden will abolish the fast track certification model as part of its immigration reform. Instead, Sweden is implementing a revised system that focuses on four main categories based on occupation, educational level, and industry. Historically, Sweden’s fast track service was known for its quick processing times. 5-10 days were standard in 2011. Legislative changes since have led to an increase and uncertainty in processing times (in 2022 ­processing times increased to 4 months for initial permits and 6 months for extensions) proving that fast track has failed. fast track certification was initially efficient; ­however, the number of companies adding to it has ­increased dramatically and today, approximately 40% of all work permit cases are handled under the fast track certification procedure, which raises the question as to whether it is still fulfilling its original purpose. It was the meeting between the Swedish migration minister and ­senior industry leaders in Malmö in January 2023 that proved to be the tipping point. The message shared by companies such as Volvo, Ericsson, and AstraZeneca ­during that meeting with the minister was clear; ­processing times must be reduced, and the rules made more effective.

What led us to this point?

A vastly different immigration landscape characterized Swedish immigration in 2011. Besides the shorter ­processing times in 2011, another significant difference was the liberal requirements for application documents. To qualify, only an employment offer (government form) and a passport copy were required to begin the ­application. As a result of legislative and geopolitical changes since then, application processing times have increased, and document requirements have become stricter. Some of the key events that have played a key role in shaping the ­current immigration landscape are detailed below.

• The Swedish refugee crisis of 2015; Sweden took in approximately 163,000 refugees in 2015, causing a ­ripple effect on immigration policy and at the time ­resulting in a collapse in application timelines and ­renewals.
• In April 2016, the Migration Agency stopped ­requesting labor union comments, which meant that employers or authorized representatives had to begin requesting them, adding another 10 days to the ­standard processing time.
• Upon the introduction of insurance legislation in 2016, employers were required to ensure their ­applicants had four mandatory insurance policies: life, pension, health, and occupational injury, and policy numbers were requested during the renewal process. Due to the lack of correct policies in place, many ­applicants experienced longer processing times for ­renewals at that time.
• Changes to permanent residency eligibility introduced in 2021 making the housing requirements for the main applicant and dependents stricter.
• The Migration Agency was understaffed due to the COVID crisis when workers were reassigned to ­support other critical government agencies. This has led to backlogs and inefficiencies.
• The requirement for signed employment contracts to be submitted with applications in June 2022.
• Passport check requirements in November 2022 ­requiring that all applicants submitting an initial ­application are requested to visit an embassy in their home country before a decision is made on the permit.

The work done

In 2022, following a change in governing party in Sweden, the new party was required to announce their intended changes in Sweden in the budget proposal. The budget proposal outlines the government’s broad intentions in different areas (such as migration, education, and social welfare) and what accomplishing that goal must look like. The three points that the Migration Agency determined as the core questions to be answered were:

• How can we make it easier for international talent to come and work in Sweden and stay competitive in the international market?
• Considering the expected growth in the economy, how can we meet the need for foreign labor at newly-­established companies?
• How can we make sure exploitation of foreign labor is stopped?

The changes started with the Migration Agency’s internal focus group, which was established in 2022. This group looked at creating a new structure to bring different ­departments that interact during the work permit process closer, enabling them to communicate faster. The new structure entails a new way of working that enables ­proximity and faster communication paths between ­different departments that interact in the process. It is also expected that decision-making processes will become more efficient. Developing an action plan, establishing ­international units and phasing out the certification ­process are also part of the new situation.

After the first action plan was drawn up with regards to establishing international units and phasing out the certification process, at the beginning of 2023, the Migration Agency moved to the second step of creating an external reference group. This consists of representatives from various branches of Swedish business life, employee organizations and others. This group was asked to submit their views on the proposal for a new model with the establishment of international units and a division of work permit cases into categories based on profession and industry.

What is the plan?

As a result of its aim to achieve a competitive position on the international market and to safeguard the short ­processing times of highly qualified labor and other occupations that have an important social benefit, it has been decided to discontinue the certification process and ­replace it with a model based on the profession, education level, industry, and customer segment of cases.

• Category A: This category is intended for work permit applications for highly qualified occupations and ­professions that require higher education. This ­category will likely apply to those roles listed on the Swedish classification of occupations that start with a 1, 2 or 3. It will replace the current fast track scheme. The aim is to limit the processing time of complete applications coming under this category to 30 days.
• Category B: This category will cover work permit ­applicants for specified occupations with unique ­conditions. This includes seasonal workers, EU ­intra-corporate transferees, EU Blue Card holders, ­researchers, artists, athletes and trainees, among ­others. The processing time depends on the ­application type. According to the plan the processing times for EU Blue Card, intra-corporate transferee, and seasonal worker applications will stay the same. These ­applications will be processed within 90 days while ­researcher applications should take up to 60 days.
• Category C: Professions that are not classified as “highly qualified”, including roles that do not require higher education, will be covered by this category. However, it is only applicable to positions in industries that do not require in-depth investigation. It will include roles that constitute a significant social benefit, no matter ­whether these are not “highly qualified”. SSYK codes will also determine this category. The anticipated ­government processing time for the category is 120 days.
• Category D: Work permit applications relating to ­employment in industries that the Swedish Migration Agency defines as requiring special investigation will be covered in this category. Job categories including cleaning, construction, personal assistants in the ­medical field, and hospitality workers among others will be handled under this category.

Conclusion

Although it is debatable, there are clear benefits for ­category A (highly skilled), and that other sectors closely related to the economy will also be impacted, the ­Migration Agency has invested time, resources, and other resources into making this change a well-considered and sufficiently elaborated one. They have listened to market leaders and other actors, such as union representatives and their own staff, instead of rushing into a quick fix. Therefore, we hope the result will be a new, more inclusive system. We are looking forward to seeing how it will meet both our needs, as immigration providers, and the needs of all our clients. The success of the proposed model will depend on ensuring reliable and predictable processes.

There are still many open questions regarding the ­definition of a complete application, the process for ­revising university degrees, how the Migration Agency will hire and train the additional staff needed for the new units, how applications for dependents will be considered and so on. It also remains to be seen how the existing backlog of applications will be cleared, and how a 30-day processing time for category A (highly skilled) will be guaranteed considering the Migration Agency has ­confirmed that the passport check step will be included in this 30-day period. As a result, there is skepticism about the proposed implementation timeline of early 2024. ­Previous experience shows that process changes always come into place with elevated administrative challenges for Swedish authorities.