HE stakeholders reject cap on foreign graduate work hours

The government’s plan to limit to 15 hours per week the number of hours that foreign students who have graduated in Sweden are allowed to work is undermining its own measures aimed at making the country more attractive to foreign researchers and students, say industry, academic and student representative groups.

In an open letter published in Curie, the news magazine of the Swedish Research Council, representatives of the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations (SACO) and its student council, the Swedish University Teachers and Researchers (SULF), and the National Union of Students (SFS) argue that the government’s proposal to restrict working hours for this category jeopardises “both the supply of skills and international competitiveness”.

The groups are calling for graduates to be able to work freely while awaiting a decision on a permanent residence permit.

The measure applies only to those students from outside the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland.

“The purpose of the restriction is to prevent abuse of student permits so that unscrupulous students cannot work instead of studying ... We believe that there are other and better ways to limit abuse – for example, through the stricter study result requirements that the government is also proposing,” the letter argues.

As the letter notes, the current government proposal allows students to work freely during the summer holidays and to exceed the 15 hours per week limit if the work is connected to their studies.

However, the authors argue that not allowing students who have completed their education to work more than 15 hours per week is “problematic for several reasons”.

"Before the newly graduated students and researchers have been granted a new residence permit that allows them to work to a greater extent, they will have difficulty supporting themselves," they argue.

Increased risk of leaving

They also say processing times by the Swedish Migration Board “can be long”, especially if the application is for a permanent residence permit.

“This increases the risk that more of them will leave Sweden to work in other countries. It also makes it more difficult for employers to employ new graduates since they will not be able to work more than 15 hours per week (approximately 40% of full-time).”

In practice it also means that newly graduated doctoral students cannot start the next career step as a postdoctoral fellow, they say, because a postdoctoral position in a university is a full-time position.

The letter argues there is “no logic” in restricting work after graduation because there is no risk of student permit abuse.

“At the same time, there is every reason to make full use of their skills,” it states, before querying why a student should be able to work freely during the holidays but not after the completion of studies.

The bill approved by the government is part of what it calls a “responsible and long-term sustainable overhaul of the regulatory frameworks concerning migration”, which seeks to shift the focus away from Sweden as “a country for asylum immigration” towards a focus on being “a country for labour immigration” in order to strengthen its competitiveness and status as a research nation.

Specifically, the bill proposes to improve the “possibilities” for research and doctoral students and their family members to apply for residence permits and make it possible to grant doctoral students residence permits for research.

It also proposes to make it possible to grant researchers and doctoral students expedited permanent residence permits and to grant them extended residence permits to seek work after completion of their research or studies.

However, it also seeks to restrict the possibilities for those who have been granted residence permits for studies to work and introduces “stricter requirements” regarding acceptable academic progress and switching from a residence permit for studies to a residence permit for work.

The new rules are due to come into effect on 11 June 2026.

In a debate with the Minister for Upper Secondary School, Higher Education and Research Lotta Edholm on Radio Sweden on 9 March, SULF chief negotiator Robert Andersson said that it is important that the new legislation “gets it right” with regard to doctoral students and young researchers from the beginning of the changes in the law.

Edholm said Sweden is seeing an increasing interest from international talents in studying and working in Sweden, not least from the United States, but the main problem is how to encourage more of them to stay and work in Sweden after graduation.

She said that the government is working on a fast-track process for internationals to prevent the delays often found today.

‘What’s the problem?’

Mathilda Fredriksson, acting head of policy and public affairs at the SFS, told University World News that while the SFS was opposed to the introduction of a strict limit of 15 hours of work per week, it was positive about the exemption of summer months.

Topias Tolonen-Weckström, former chairperson of the SFS Doctoral Committee and a PhD student in mathematics at Uppsala University, said the 15-hour limit was sending “strange signals” to doctoral students.

“Highly skilled workers that are educated with public expenses should be largely incentivised and encouraged to work after their graduation, not the other way around,” he said.

“The situation is particularly worrying for recently graduated PhDs who wish to pursue a career in academia. Academic career paths are precarious even without these strange obstacles imposed by a scattered migration legislation,” he noted.

Göran Melin, a higher education expert in the Technopolis Group in Stockholm, told University World News it was “difficult to understand” why the issue of work limits continues to be on the table.

“There is almost total support from both the employees’ trade unions (as seen in the open letter) as well as from the employers’ organisations for the position that this highly educated group of immigrants should be encouraged to stay in the country so that the society can benefit from their skills and knowledge.

“It is a group that is already well-integrated and can contribute much to the economy. In all honesty, what is the problem?”