Difficulties for non-EU citizens to cross-border commute between Sweden and Denmark
Both Sweden and Denmark have regulated that residence permits cannot be issued on the basis of work permits in the other country. An individual from a country outside the EU (EEA / Switzerland) who has a residence and work permit in Sweden cannot work in Denmark. In addition, a citizen from a non-EU country who has the same permit in Denmark cannot move to the Swedish side of Øresund without losing their residence and work permit.
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.
Individuals who arrive from countries outside of the EU and EEA cannot reside on one side of the Øresund and work on the other as the work permit that allows them to reside in one EU country does not allow them to reside in another country than where the permit was issued. This affects businesses and public authorities seeking to employers but cannot employ so-called “third-country nationals from the other side of Øresund.
There is a large unused labour reserve in the Øresund region that could be used if this border issue was solved. In a study from 2012, Copenhagen Economics estimated that approximately 50.000 non-EU citizens live in Skåne. Of these, about 30,000 belonged to the workforce.
Today, there is one exception to the rule through a special Danish legislation (Lov om ændring av udlændingeloven og kildeskatteloven, Opholdstilladelse med henblik på ansættelse på forskningscentret European Spallation Source (ESS) i Sverige) which ensures that third-country nationals who are employed or tied to the research facility ESS in Lund can choose to live in Copenhagen, even though they work in Sweden.
The fundamental problem is that these difficulties make the region less attractive for professionals outside of the EU or EEA who might want to, for example, start a family. This means that the region misses out on skilled individuals. According to a case in the Swedish Migration Court (Migrationsdomstolen), this problem has been considered as contrary to the intention of the Swedish labour immigration legislation.
Further, the Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration (Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet) states that “a third-country national with a country of residence other than Denmark, for example Sweden, can be granted a work permit in Denmark as a cross-border commuter, if the relevant party has fulfilled the conditions in the Danish immigration law for acquiring a work permit according to one of the existing Danish business schemes”.
