Difficulties for non-EU citizens commuting between Sweden and Denmark
Non-EU/EEA and Swiss citizens may face difficulties living on one side of Øresund and working on the other because residence and work permits are issued under national rules.
Border Issue Status: Registered in the Border Database
This problem is registered as a border issue in the Nordic Council’s Border Database and has been prioritized by the Freedom of Movement Council.
Both Sweden and Denmark have rules that prevent residence permits from being granted on the basis of a work permit issued in the other country. A non-EU/EEA or Swiss citizen who has a residence and work permit in Sweden cannot therefore work in Denmark on the basis of that permit. Similarly, a non-EU citizen with a residence and work permit in Denmark cannot move to the Swedish side of Öresund without losing their Danish residence and work permit.
People from countries outside the EU and EEA cannot live on one side of Øresund and work on the other on the basis of the same permit. A work permit that gives them the right to reside in one EU country does not give them the right to reside in another. This affects businesses and public authorities looking to recruit employees, as they may be unable to employ third-country nationals living on the other side of Öresund.
There is a large untapped labour reserve in the Öresund region that could become available if this border issue were resolved. In a 2012 study, Copenhagen Economics estimated that approximately 50,000 non-EU citizens lived in Skåne. Of these, around 30,000 were part of the workforce.
There is currently one exception to this rule under special Danish legislation, Lov om ændring af udlændingeloven og kildeskatteloven, Opholdstilladelse med henblik på ansættelse på forskningscentret European Spallation Source (ESS) i Sverige. This legislation ensures that third-country nationals who are employed by or affiliated with the European Spallation Source, ESS, research facility in Lund can choose to live in Copenhagen while working in Sweden.
The fundamental problem is that these difficulties make the region less attractive to professionals from outside the EU and EEA who may, for example, want to start a family. As a result, the region risks missing out on skilled professionals. According to a case before the Swedish Migration Court, Migrationsdomstolen, this issue has been considered contrary to the intention of Swedish labour immigration legislation.
The Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration, Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet, also states: “a third-country national residing in a country other than Denmark, for example Sweden, can be granted a Danish work permit as a cross-border commuter if they meet the requirements under the Danish Aliens Act for obtaining a work permit under one of the existing Danish employment schemes”.
