Several shortage occupations were exempted from the new salary requirement the government introduced in June as a condition for obtaining a work permit in Sweden for citizens of countries outside the EU/EEA.
However, personal assistants are completely excluded from the possibility of a work permit.
It hits hard, not least for those who need assistance, according to Henrik Petrén, an industry expert at the employers' organization Fremia.
It has become increasingly difficult to recruit personal assistants. Since the assistance allowance has fallen in value compared with wage developments, it is also difficult to compete on salaries, he tells TT.
Four years of work
One of those whose family is now worried about the new rules is 19-year-old Tilda Primén. Due to severe cerebral palsy, she needs help with everything in her daily life.
Her anchors in life are two personal assistants from Ukraine. One of them, Anastasiia Chervonoshtan, started working full-time as a personal assistant shortly after she and her daughter moved to Sweden.
"Through work, I have been able to support myself and my daughter here. I now feel deep anxiety about being forced to leave a profession that I enjoy," she writes in an email response to TT.
Forced to change profession
Although the assistants have residence permits through the Mass Migration Directive and are among the exceptions, they wish to one day obtain permanent residence permits based on work permits as personal assistants. Usually, a temporary work permit can be converted into a permanent one after four years.
However, those who have a residence permit via the Mass Migration Directive may not use the number of years worked in Sweden as a basis for obtaining a permanent residence permit.
If the EU's mass exodus directive, which is valid until March 2027, were to end, Ukrainians who have worked in Sweden as personal assistants would need to change profession to obtain a work permit, the Swedish Migration Board confirms.
Something that worries Tilda's father, Joakim Primén.
For Tilda it would be a disaster. It is difficult to find employees who will stay, he tells TT.
Counteract cheating
In an email response to TT, Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M) writes that it is about combating cheating and abuse.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to problems that have existed within the occupational group linked to exploitation, sham employment and exploitation that ultimately resulted in people being harmed," he states.
Facts: Two professions are excluded
In most cases, a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA needs a permit to work in Sweden.
As of June 1, a salary requirement of 90 percent of the median salary in Sweden at the time of application for a work permit was introduced.
With today's median salary level (37,100 SEK per month), this means that a person needs to earn 33,390 SEK to be granted a work permit in Sweden.
For professions that are exempted, a salary of 75 percent of the median salary in Sweden is sufficient.
These professions include nurses, butchers, lumberjacks, welders and engineers. Special exemptions also apply to mass refugees from Ukraine and recent graduates.
Two professions are completely excluded from the possibility of a work permit, regardless of salary level: forest berry pickers and personal assistants.
This is despite the fact that the Swedish Migration Board has defined personal assistant as one of the shortage occupations that it thought should be included in the exceptions to the salary requirement.
Source: Swedish Migration Board.
