Sweden's student permit is a documents test, not a character test — there is no "will you leave?" question and no place on the form to declare a Canadian refusal, because Migrationsverket never asks about other countries' refusals at all.
NO — a Canadian study permit refusal does not have to be declared, and on the evidence it cannot hurt you, because Sweden never asks about it.
I extracted the full text of Migrationsverket's official application form 113011, "Application for a residence permit for students" (English version, revision dated 2025-05, downloaded from migrationsverket.se on 27 Aug 2026). It has 19 numbered sections. The words "refused", "rejected", "denied", "turned down", "deported" and "expelled" do not appear anywhere in the form — zero occurrences.
The only history questions are: • Section 7, "Previous visits to Sweden": "Have you previously visited Sweden?" and "Have you previously applied for a visa or residence permit for Sweden?" — Sweden-specific only, and it asks whether you APPLIED, not what the outcome was. • Section 8, "Previous stays in countries other than Sweden": "Have you previously visited any country other than Sweden?" (space for 4 countries) — this asks about VISITS/stays, not applications and not refusals.
A refused Canadian study permit where the student never actually travelled to Canada is therefore not a "previous stay in another country" and has nothing to declare against. If the student HAS physically been to Canada, that visit must be listed truthfully under Section 8 — but the visit is what is disclosed, not the refusal.
Why this matters more than it sounds: Section 13 is "Future plans", and it is the closest thing Sweden has to Canada's R216(1)(b). It is not the same test. The options are "Leave Sweden" (state date of planned departure), "Continue my education" (state what you plan to study and "In which country do you intend to continue your education?"), work ("In which country do you plan to work?"), and "Other". Sweden explicitly offers "I plan to work in Sweden" and "I plan to continue studying in Sweden" as acceptable answers on its own form. Canada refuses people for exactly that answer. Sweden prints it as a checkbox.
The Swedish decision is documentary: final admission + tuition paid + SEK 10,656/month funds + valid passport + insurance (if the course is under a year). There is no officer assessment of "ties to home country" of the Canadian kind.
Two honest caveats. (1) Never lie. If Migrationsverket or the embassy asks in a supplementary request or interview, answer truthfully — misrepresentation is a far worse problem than a refusal. (2) I could not verify what Swedish practice is on "genuine student" doubts. EU Directive 2016/801 (which Sweden implements) permits member states to refuse where there is evidence the applicant intends a different purpose, so I cannot claim Sweden has zero discretion — only that its published form and guidance contain no refusal question and no intent-to-return test.
No intent-to-leave test. Canada refused you under R216(1)(b) for failing to satisfy an officer you would leave. Sweden's form does the opposite: Section 13 'Future plans' offers 'Continue my education' and work as tick-box answers and asks 'In which country do you plan to work?' — naming Sweden is a permitted answer, not a red flag. The decision turns on admission, paid tuition, funds and insurance, not on an officer's read of your ties to India.
Nothing to declare about the refusal. The official student application form 113011 contains no question about visa or permit refusals by any country — the words 'refused', 'rejected' and 'denied' appear zero times in all 19 sections. It asks only whether you have previously visited Sweden, previously applied for a Swedish visa or permit, and which other countries you have visited.
Your money is not locked up. Canada's SDS-era GIC and Germany's blocked account both freeze your funds. Sweden refuses frozen money: Migrationsverket states that locked assets 'cannot be a basis for financial maintenance if they will be frozen during the permit period'. You show an ordinary bank statement issued within four months of the permit start date, and the funds stay yours and spendable.
The first job after graduating is exempt from the salary floor. Sweden's general work permit threshold rose to SEK 34,470/month (90% of median wage) on 16 June 2026, which locks out most entry-level hiring from abroad. But Migrationsverket exempts you: 'If you hold a residence permit as a student or researcher in Sweden when you apply for a work permit, you are exempt from the salary requirement.' You can also apply from inside Sweden once you have completed a programme of at least two semesters.
One permit covers Schengen travel, and Sweden is in both the EU (since 1 January 1995) and the Schengen Area (since 25 March 2001). Your Swedish residence permit card lets you travel across the Schengen countries without separate visas. Note Sweden is NOT in the eurozone — it uses the Swedish krona (SEK), which is why every figure on this page is in SEK and not EUR.
A published processing time you can plan around: 75% of study permit cases decided within 3 months, stated by Migrationsverket itself.
Every figure below is from Sweden's own immigration service, embassy or statute. Sources are listed at the foot of this page.
NOT free for Indian students, and stated only in SEK. Tuition is set by each university, so there is no single national figure — Sweden's central admissions service explicitly says 'It is up to each individual university to decide what the tuition fee will be for each course and programme offered.' Verified primary examples: Stockholm University charges SEK 90,000/year for humanities, social sciences and law and SEK 140,000/year for sciences. Umeå University states its degree-programme rates 'range from SEK 96,600 per year to SEK 395,700 per year, depending on the field of study'. So roughly SEK 90,000 at the low end to SEK 395,700 at the top (medicine and lab-heavy programmes). Free tuition applies ONLY to EU/EEA/Swiss citizens; exchange students and doctoral students are also exempt. The first tuition instalment must be PAID before you apply for the residence permit — Migrationsverket states 'You are only considered to be finally admitted once you have paid your tuition fee.'
SEK 10,656 per month for applications made in 2026 (set in law at 18% of the annual price base amount; it was SEK 10,584 for 2025 applications). No official EUR figure is published. Crucially, Migrationsverket's wording is: 'Your means of financial maintenance must be sufficient for the entire period for which you are applying for a residence permit' — I could NOT verify any '10 months per year' convention, so the total depends on the permit length granted (permits run one or two years). Reductions if the institution provides them: minus SEK 4,736/month for free housing, minus SEK 2,960/month for free food. Family: add SEK 4,440/month for a spouse or cohabiting partner and SEK 2,664/month per child. NO BLOCKED ACCOUNT — this is the opposite of Germany. Migrationsverket states that 'locked assets, i.e. bank funds that are deposited in an account for a certain period of time, cannot be a basis for financial maintenance if they will be frozen during the permit period'. An ordinary bank statement is what is wanted, issued no more than four months before the date the permit is to take effect.
TWO separate fees, both stated in SEK (Sweden does not use the euro; no official EUR figure exists). (1) Residence permit application to Migrationsverket: SEK 1,500 for an adult, SEK 750 for a child under 18. (2) University admissions application via universityadmissions.se: SEK 900 per semester, non-refundable, payable by non-EU/EEA/Swiss applicants regardless of how many programmes are applied for in that semester. EU/EEA/Swiss citizens, formal exchange students, doctoral students, and students already registered at a Swedish university are exempt from the SEK 900.
English-taught degrees are widely available (master's especially; bachelor's in English are fewer). No Swedish required for admission to an English-taught programme. The admission standard is Swedish upper-secondary 'English 6' (renamed 'English Level 2' in 2025). Accepted equivalents: IELTS Academic overall 6.5 with no section below 5.5. TOEFL iBT — NOTE A SCALE CHANGE: for tests taken 21 January 2026 and later, total 4.5 on the new 1-6 scale with no section below 4; for tests taken 20 January 2026 or earlier, total 90 with a written score of 20. Pearson PTE Academic, Cambridge English Qualifications and the Michigan ECPE are also accepted. Separately: Swedish is effectively required for much of the graduate JOB market, which is the real constraint on the 12-month post-study job search, not admission.
15 hours per week during semesters — this was tightened on 11 June 2026 and is worse than it used to be. Migrationsverket: 'If you are studying at bachelor's or master's level, you may work a maximum of 15 hours per week in Sweden. This applies if your residence permit was granted on or after 11 June 2026.' Before that date there was no limit at all. During June, July and August you may work without limitation. Exceptions to the cap: work that is part of your education (internships), student representation, and certain education-related, research or artistic work at your own institution. Permits issued before 11 June 2026 are exempt until the holder applies for an extension. For comparison, Canada currently permits 24 hours per week off-campus during sessions.
Up to 12 months. After completing bachelor's or master's level studies you can be granted a residence permit to look for work or start a business for up to one year (doctoral graduates: one year to 18 months). Eligibility requires having completed a higher education programme corresponding to at least two semesters with passing grades in all courses. Funds requirement SEK 10,656/month; fee SEK 1,500. Compare Canada's PGWP at up to three years — this is a real disadvantage. The offsetting advantage: when you convert to a work permit, Migrationsverket states 'If you hold a residence permit as a student or researcher in Sweden when you apply for a work permit, you are exempt from the salary requirement for work permits' — so a graduate can accept an entry-level salary below the SEK 34,470/month threshold that would block an applicant from overseas. That exemption applies to the first work permit only; on extension the salary requirement may apply.
Slow, and gated on WORK, not study. Permanent residence requires having held a work permit for at least four years and having worked in Sweden for four of the past seven years, plus the ability to support yourself from employment or your own business, plus good conduct ('it is a requirement that you can be expected to live a well-behaved life'). Time spent on a STUDY permit does not satisfy the four-year work-permit requirement. Realistic timeline for a master's student: ~2 years study + up to 1 year job search + 4 years on a work permit = roughly 7 years to PR, and only if employment is continuous. Citizenship is now materially harder: from 6 June 2026 the main residence requirement rose from five years to EIGHT, with an income requirement of at least three income base amounts (about SEK 20,000/month before tax), no more than six months of income support in the past three years, and mandatory tests for applicants aged 16-66 — the Swedish society test from August 2026, the Swedish language test later. There are NO transitional arrangements: every case not decided before 6 June 2026 is judged under the new rules.
Autumn (August/September) is the main intake and the one with a dedicated international round. Verified dates for the autumn 2026 first admissions round: applications opened 16 October 2025; application deadline 15 January 2026; fee and supporting-documents deadline 2 February 2026; master's results announced 26 March 2026; bachelor's results announced 31 March 2026; semester starts August/September 2026. A spring (January) intake also exists via a second round but offers far fewer programmes — I did NOT verify the spring deadline (secondary sources disagreed between 15 August and 15 September), so treat autumn as the plannable intake. Note the sequence: you must be admitted AND have paid tuition BEFORE you can apply for the residence permit.
Migrationsverket's published figure for a first-time residence permit for studies at higher education: '75% of recently decided cases have been decided within: 3 months' (identical on the English and Swedish pages, checked 27 Aug 2026). The agency adds that it cannot say exactly how long any individual case will take. For the later switch to a work permit: 75% of complete applications within 4 months, but 10 months for incomplete ones — completeness is the whole game.
NO PUBLISHED FIGURE EXISTS — treat this as unverified and do not print a number. Migrationsverket's statistics portal publishes GRANTED residence permits only ('Here you find statistics about granted residence permits'), with no rejection rate and no citizenship breakdown for students; the only student figures available are aggregates (9,866 permits granted in 2026 to date, 2,931 in July 2026) with no nationality split. Secondary agent sites quote a '40-50% rejection rate' but that traces back to 2019-2020 and is not attributable to any Swedish government publication. Do NOT use it.
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