Illegal immigrants should not be allowed to stay and apply for a new residence permit.

Published December 17, 2024 at 8:39 PM

Domestic Affairs. The government wants to streamline the return of people whose asylum applications have been rejected. A new legislative proposal proposes that deportation decisions should be valid for a longer period of time and that the possibility of so-called track switching be abolished. Illegal immigrants will thus be forced to leave the country and come back if they want to apply for a new residence permit.

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– The proposals mean that we reduce the incentives to remain in the country without permission and streamline return work. It is crucial for confidence in our migration system that those who have received a deportation decision actually leave the country, says Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M).

According to the proposal, removal decisions will be valid for five years from the time the foreigner leaves the country.

If a person refuses to leave Sweden within the set deadline, a longer re-entry ban can also be issued.

In addition, the government wants to abolish the track change – a controversial possibility that has so far given rejected asylum seekers a chance to remain in Sweden by applying for a work permit from within the country.

The Sweden Democrats' migration policy spokesperson Ludvig Aspling welcomes the proposal:

– With this proposal, removal decisions will never be time-barred as long as the foreigner remains in Sweden. This change is important in the fight against the shadow society, he said when the proposal was presented at a press conference on Tuesday.

The Liberals are also clear in their criticism of the current system, where track change has been used to circumvent rejection decisions:

– Today, it happens that the asylum system is used with the aim of obtaining a work permit instead. It undermines trust in the system and is also not fair to all people who flee and are affected by long processing times in their asylum process. Cheating and abuse feed the shadow society, we cannot accept that, says the Liberals' migration policy spokesperson Patrik Karlson.

The proposals are proposed to come into force on April 1, 2025.