Denmark
Authorities publish updated income statistics applicable from 1 April 2025.
The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) uses income statistics made by the Confederation of Danish Employers (DA) in the case processing of applications to decide if an offered job is within the Danish standards for salary. This applies to the Pay Limit Scheme, the Positive List and the Fast Track Scheme, among other routes.
The new income statistics contain information from the fourth quarter of 2024 and will take effect for applications submitted from 1 April 2025. It is expected that the income statistics will be updated each quarter and that the next update will take effect from 1 July 2025.
SIRI will usually assume that the salary corresponds to Danish standards, and will not make further assessment, if it is stated in the application form and employment contract that:
• The employer is covered by a collective agreement.
SIRI will assess whether the salary corresponds to Danish standards when the employer is a member of an employers’ organisation, but the employment relationship is not covered by a collective agreement. If the salary is just above the regular pay limit, SIRI will generally assume that the salary corresponds to Danish standards.
In cases where the employment relationship is not covered by a collective agreement and the employer is not a member of an employers’ organisation, SIRI will assess whether the salary corresponds to Danish standards up to approximately DKK 71,000, using the income statistics from the DA as a guideline.
Sweden
Track change abolished and rules on statutory limitation period changed
The Swedish Parliament has decided to abolish the possibility of changing tracks, to change the rules on statutory limitation periods for deportation decisions, and to give the Swedish Migration Agency the possibility to decide on longer re-entry bans. The new rules will enter into force on 1 April 2025, without transitional arrangements.
The system of changing tracks has meant that those whose asylum applications have been rejected, and who have worked during their asylum process in Sweden, under certain circumstances can have their application for a residence permit on the basis of work examined without having to leave the country. This means that they have been exempted from the main rule that applications for residence and work permits must be made from the home country or other country in which the person has the right to stay. The Swedish Migration Agency estimates that it affects around 4,700 people.
The abolition of track changes means that it is no longer possible to apply for an extension of existing permits. Most people who have been granted a residence permit on the basis of work through a so-called change of track will have to leave Sweden when their current permit expires.
At the same time, the Parliament has decided to change the rules on statutory limitation periods and re-entry bans. From 1 April, decisions on expulsion or deportation will be valid for five years from the date the person leaves the country in accordance with the decision, which in most cases also includes leaving the territory of EU countries and the Schengen area. The difference from before is that the statutory limitation period then started to run from the date the decision entered into force, regardless of whether the person had left Sweden or not, and applied for four years.
The new rules apply to persons who have a rejection or expulsion decision that has not expired by 31 March 2025.
The new amendments also introduce the possibility for the Swedish Migration Agency to decide on a longer re-entry ban than before, if a person has not left the country when the deadline for voluntary departure has expired.
