EU – Family members

As a family member of an EU/EEA citizen exercising their right of free movement in accordance with Directive 2004/38/EC you have the right to travel to the EU/EEA-area together with your family member or join to them in the area to settle there.

PLEASE NOTE that Swedish citizen living in Sweden are NOT exercising EU treaty rights and they do therefore NOT hold a right of residence based on Directive 2004/38/EC in their home country, unless they have recently moved back to Sweden from another EU/EEA country.

Family members are:

• Spouse/partner/common law spouse
• The direct descendants (children) who are under the age of 21 or are dependents, and those of the spouse or partner.
• The financially dependent direct relatives in the ascending line (e.g. parents) and those of the spouse or partner

Basic facts

You can apply for a short-stay Schengen visa (type C) which will permit you to enter and stay in Sweden and the Schengen area for up to 90 days.

In the event that you wish to remain in the State for more than 90 days as a family member of an EU/EEA citizen exercising their free movement rights, you must apply (when in the Member State) for a Residence Card of a family member of a EU/EEA citizen. Information about how to apply is available on the Swedish Migration Agency webpage.

Book an appointment

As a family member of an EU/EEA- citizen you should contact VFS Global in order to receive an appointment. You will usually be given an appointment within a few working days.

All family members of an EU or EEA national applying for a visa must at submit the following obligatory supporting documents:

1.     Application form filled out and signed. Please find the application link at the bottom of the page.
2.      Your passport or travel document. Make sure that your passport has at least two blank pages.
3.     Proof of relation. E.g. marriage certificate or birth certificate.
4.     Copy of the EU / EEA national's passport or national identity card
5.     If you are a dependent family member you must submit documents showing your dependence.

Please note that a family member of an EU or EEA citizen does NOT pay an application fee for Schengen visa.

Additional documents

In addition to the documents listed above there might be, depending on the EU/ EES-citizen’s circumstances, some additional documents required showing your family member’s situation.

- If your family member is having right of residence in Sweden you must provide their “Personbevis” from the tax office.

• If your family member is a citizen of Denmark, Norway, Finland or Iceland you must also provide documents showing your family member fulfil the criteria for having a right to residence in Sweden in accordance with the regulations in Directive 2004/38/EC. These documents could, depending on the situation, be a work contract and pay slips, a study certificate or documents showing your family member has sufficient income or bank assets to support themselves.

- If your family member is not settled/not having right of residence  in Sweden you may be asked to provide some documents, e.g. flight tickets, or a brief travel plan, showing that you and your family member intend to travel together to Sweden or meet in the country.