Response to interpellation 2023/24:228 on foreign students and researchers who want to come to Sweden
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that Sweden should be a leading knowledge nation and that it is important to create better conditions for foreign researchers and students to operate in the country. M wants to ensure that Sweden is attractive for international talents who want to conduct research and study 1 and that it is important to be able to receive students, doctoral students, and researchers 1. M emphasizes that abuse of residence permits for studies is unacceptable and must be countered. M argues that there are strong indications of extensive abuse of study permits for work 2. M argues that the legislation is a main cause of abuse as it does not limit working hours 2.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Jan Riise has asked the Minister for Education what he intends to do so that students and researchers who are desired to come here can do so, and so that those who may be looking to exploit the system are prevented from doing so.
The work within the government is distributed in such a way that it is I who shall answer the interpellation.
The government's goal for research policy is that Sweden shall be one of the world's leading research and innovation countries and a leading knowledge nation. It is therefore important that Sweden has a strong attractiveness and competitiveness as a destination country for foreign researchers and students. It is also important that the current group is given opportunities to contribute their expertise in the whole country in the long term. We therefore need to create better conditions for, among other things, researchers to work in Sweden.
The government simultaneously views the abuse of residence permits for studies seriously. Fraud and abuse of the system is unacceptable and must, naturally, be countered.
Against this background, work is currently underway within the Government Offices to commission an investigator to propose measures that improve the conditions for foreign doctoral students and researchers to work and remain in Sweden. The intention is that a review of the regulatory framework regarding residence permits for studies shall also be conducted. The purpose of the upcoming assignment shall be to strengthen Sweden's competitiveness as a research nation as well as to counter the abuse of the system of residence permits for studies.
The Government has additionally given the Swedish Migration Agency and all state universities and colleges a joint mandate to implement measures that develop and streamline the work to ensure that abuse of residence permits for studies within higher education is made more difficult. The mandate is coordinated by the Swedish Migration Agency and shall be final-reported on 1 April 2024.
I am following this work closely and intend to return if further measures from the government's side should become necessary.
Jan Riise (MP)
Mr. Speaker! Many thanks for the answer, Minister!
It was not without reason that I submitted the interpellation to education minister Mats Persson specifically. I see the question more as an education and research policy issue with development and competition aspects as well as a migration dimension, while the answer perhaps rather reflects a migration issue with a research aspect. I can, of course, live with that, as the answer reflected both parts, but I still want to stand on my side of the court for a little while and focus on the conditions of the higher education institutions.
I happen to be on leave from Chalmers in Gothenburg, and I have been involved in this type of research project, which is based on cooperation with educational institutions in other countries - sometimes as far away as south of the Sahara. Even though there has occasionally been time pressure with visa applications, it has generally worked to get researchers and students to Sweden for study exchanges, research projects, and conferences to the benefit and detriment of all involved.
Last summer, however, I was contacted by a researcher and course coordinator at Linné University who raised the issue of students who did not show up as expected. I spoke with several other educational institutions, and it turned out that the pattern was the same everywhere. I have noted that the same problem also exists in Denmark and the United Kingdom.
To my delight, the Swedish Association of Higher Education and Universities, SUHF, has followed this. They have compiled information from various educational institutions in the matter, so when the inputs regarding the upcoming research proposition were compiled some months ago, I could note that my school - Chalmers - had used a full 2 pages, out of a total of perhaps 12-15, to speak about the importance of this. I had intended to quote a few lines from there. It is written:
"For Chalmers to be able to be a world-class university, it is required that we can attract and recruit competent, innovative employees from all over the world. We ourselves contribute to this with our good and open collaborative climate across disciplinary boundaries as well as our open and accessible research structures."
It is possible to replace "Chalmers" with the name of actually any higher education institution. This is, in some way, words and not songs. We have attractive research environments and thus also good student environments. That offsets what we might potentially have on the downside – the language is usually not a big problem, as most speak good English, and the winter half-year does not, after all, seem all too daunting. We must not lose sight of this; it could cost us a lot of future job opportunities.
Just before the summer this year, a study was published in the United Kingdom regarding what international students mean for the country in economic terms. It should be noted that the United Kingdom has received a fairly large, and increasing, number of students every year - until the new Tory government took over and began a similar shift as here, that is, to significantly reduce migration to the country.
The report has caused a great deal of attention because it points out that the students who began their studies during 2021 will generate up to 500 billion kronor - at a cost of around 50 billion kronor. It is thus a development with ten times the investment. If we translate this to Swedish conditions - we are both fewer and receive fewer - it would be a plus of approximately 20 billion. I say this with reservation for all the uncertainty in the figures; I come from a university and must therefore mention it. But it is quite a lot, so there can be no doubt that this is profitable.
I understand that this is not primarily the government's table, but I still wonder if the government shares my view and sees it in the same way as I do, that is, that our educational institutions are crucial for the development of our country.
Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Mr. Speaker! Let me begin by truly thanking you for the interpellation, for these are very important issues. I also think it is welcome that Jan Riise raises all relevant perspectives in his interpellation, that is to say the need for us to be an attractive research and study nation and on the other hand the importance of countering cheating - which in turn is also a prerequisite for us to be able to continue to be attractive.
Let me assure Jan Riise that everyone in the government is very keen on Sweden being attractive for qualified and highly qualified labor, as well as for researchers and doctoral students. I am personally completely convinced that the type of exchange we have at our educational institutions is absolutely crucial for the intellectual debate and research to be able to develop.
The parties in Tidö are also, for this very reason, in agreement to investigate the need for special rules for doctoral students and researchers. Work is therefore ongoing in the Government Offices to develop a mandate that shall review the conditions for, among other things, foreign researchers to work in Sweden. There is a background here: partly a changed subsistence requirement for permanent residence permits, and partly that there have been several years of long processing times – even though I now note that the current figures mean that the average time from application to decision is 93 days. For those who are granted approval, the average is 70 days, but it obviously looks different in different categories.
The investigator shall therefore propose measures that improve the possibilities to attract and retain foreign doctoral students and researchers in Sweden, but also conduct a review of the regulatory framework regarding residence permits for studies. The purpose is to strengthen Sweden's competitiveness as a research nation, and I hope to be able to present that assignment shortly.
I want to say something further about the processing times. The processing times for this group have been debated for a long time. They naturally affect the universities and colleges, because some applications do not get processed in time and because the educational institutions then cannot fill their study places for international students.
As a measure to address this, the Swedish Migration Agency is now developing, together with several educational institutions, a common strategy to detect signs of study withdrawal that could be thought to affect a person's status for a residence permit. The Swedish Migration Agency assesses that the number of extension applications would decrease if all educational institutions were to apply such a strategy going forward, which could also lead to a reduction in processing times. The plan is for this work to be completed in April 2024.
Another question that has been raised in the debate is that it is difficult for some to have a stay abroad during the time they are pursuing studies. I want to point out that the Swedish Migration Agency's practice regarding stays abroad has changed. The possibility of staying outside Sweden for a longer period without risking having one's residence permit revoked, as long as the stay is part of the studies, has been expanded. Previous practice meant that cases regarding revocation were opened even for very serious students. According to the Migration Agency, the change also leads to better use of the authorities' resources, and thus processing times can be shortened.
An investigation is currently underway on how highly qualified labor can be promoted and what measures are required to attract talent. The investigation has a broad mandate that also includes reviewing how shorter processing times can be made possible. The investigation shall report its results by January 31 at the latest, i.e., after the turn of the year. There may absolutely be reasons for the government to return here.
Jan Riise (MP)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the presentation. It pleases me very much that things are happening and that the Minister shares my concern regarding the institutions' opportunities to recruit and receive students and researchers. Problems also occur in connection with conferences, which is indeed extremely unfortunate in itself.
At some point we will come to the conclusion that we see the problem but that work is required. I have had explained which times apply, and it sounds like some of this could be in place already before the next autumn term.
My view is perhaps quite pragmatic, but if a quarter of the residence permits for students are incorrect - this figure has been stated, even though we have not talked about it here today - this means that three quarters are completely in order and that we welcome these students and wish for them to come here. It is naturally difficult to know who is who, but it is still an overwhelming majority that we should, in one way or another, welcome to Sweden and our educational institutions.
It is not up to me to speak about how this is to take place, but I only say that I want it to happen. What I understand is that the government changed the regulatory letter to Migrationsverket before 2023 in such a way that the agency was to devote a bit more time and accuracy to assessing the applications that came in, which with some precision led to the whole thing taking longer and that some received answers too late. It was simply that the answers came too late. Even among the three quarters of the students, there were a number who saw themselves forced to cancel their studies here in order to be able to get back the money they had spent on the courses. That is somewhat unfortunate.
If it is also the case, as has been said, that our foreign authorities' courier shipments have a lower frequency during the summer, that is extremely unfortunate. It should be an incredibly simple measure. Now I will let go of all this regarding how it should be done, because that is not my concern. I do, however, think it is noteworthy that some of those who want to come here cannot do so because we send mail too infrequently. Not only do we distribute the mail too infrequently, but we send it too infrequently. This should be solvable.
Above all, we need, just as the Minister has said, to minimize the processing times of the Swedish Migration Agency and others for all types of permits. There are a lot of special conditions for, for example, researchers, doctoral students, and students with very short employment periods. This is a plague for Swedish researchers in Sweden. One must find a system that suits them and an efficient and smooth solution for passport controls in all countries, so that people do not need to travel halfway across the world to show their passport.
My hope is, of course, that the investigation announced by the Minister - or perhaps even the investigations - covers all these aspects and works with a goal that allows us to regain some of the lost competitiveness among foreign students.
My question is: Can I get back in touch with those I have had contact with and say that this will get better and that, perhaps even before the autumn, a proposal will come that meets the institutions' wishes?
Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Mr. Speaker! The answer is yes. Jan Riise can reconnect and say that we are doing everything we can to shorten processing times. This also applies to other categories of cases where we are struggling with all too long processing times. We are also working very intensively to make Sweden more attractive for researchers, doctoral students, and students who want to come here and who have serious intentions.
Jan Riise was indeed involved in the abuse, and I thought I would dwell on that a bit. There have been indications for a long time that the system for studying in Sweden has been abused. According to a report from last year, the Swedish Migration Agency has found strong indications that there has been quite extensive abuse of residence permits for studies by students using the permits when the actual intention has been to work. In my opinion, we have very generous rules for international students regarding working alongside studies.
The main cause of this abuse is, according to the report, the design of the legislation. The legislation does not limit how much one can work, and it provides the possibility to apply for a work permit after only one term of studies - in other words, a kind of track change. This leads to that persons whose primary intention is to work in Sweden instead apply for residence permits for studies, because the regulations for this are relatively generous.
Let me be a bit more concrete. The Swedish Migration Agency's report shows that only just over a third of the Pakistani master's students in Sweden applied for a residence permit for studies to attend the second year of their two-year education. Almost one third instead applied for a permit to work.
Another reason why the system is being abused is that some educational institutions do not place enough focus on attracting students with a sincere intention to study when they recruit international students. Even the Swedish Association of Universities and Colleges has, as Jan Riise mentioned, noted deficiencies in the legislation that make it easy for applicants without study intentions to apply to a Swedish educational institution for the purpose of obtaining a residence permit in Sweden.
In addition to the deficiencies that the Swedish Migration Agency has noted, SUHF has pointed out that the possibility for accompanying family members and persons who are granted a residence permit on another basis, for example work, after one term of studies, to study free of charge can constitute an incentive for cheating.
The Swedish National Audit Office has noted certain deficiencies in the system for residence permits for studies in an audit report. It was decided in November 2023 to conduct an audit regarding third-country students in higher education. Within the framework of this audit, the Swedish National Audit Office will examine whether the system for admission and organization of education for third-country students functions effectively.
We are working on both sides here. This has been an important part of our regulatory letter. Our intention is not for this to extend processing times, but we believe, as I explained in my previous post, that in the long run it can lead to shorter processing times because those residence permits for studies that should be revoked are identified early. Consequently, no extensions are granted regarding these individuals.
Since Jan Riise mentioned the passport controls, I would finally like to say that this is another situation where we must make a trade-off between potential fraud and trying to have a smooth application process. Therefore, the government has tasked the Swedish Migration Agency with facilitating for students to present their passport in original, which is now a requirement. Therefore, this has been done, for example, on the US West Coast, which I believe Jan Riise mentioned in his interpellation.
Jan Riise (MP)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answers.
I conclude by once again underlining how important it is to be able to receive students, doctoral students and other researchers, both for Sweden as a country and for our universities and colleges.
The Minister touched upon the concern that students can be presented with an education and then, without being the initiators themselves, be forced to work under lousy conditions. This, of course, we must not have either.
For my part, I also see greater opportunities to expand the exchange with low-income countries, which I mentioned at the beginning. It is possibly a form of aid, but a valuable one that can mean a lot. When we were working on this, it turned out that individual researchers and doctoral students who came here also involved their colleagues at their home universities, and suddenly relevant development research was carried out in collaboration with international groups. It is unfortunate that the funding for this has been withdrawn. The last thing that happened before I took leave to come here to the Riksdag in September last year was that I received a small grant to develop a project together with a Nigerian university.
Finally: The Academy advances the research through, among other things, conferences, and in that case, it is important that visiting researchers, who may only come for a few days, receive their visas in time and thus have the opportunity to book travel.
It perhaps became a bit more about the academy than about migration as a starting point. I look forward to continuing the discussion, and I will, of course, follow the work.
Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Mr. Speaker! I thank Jan Riise again for an important interpellation and for the member taking up this pressing issue.
I believe that we are fundamentally in agreement on much, and that is not always the case for the Moderaterna and Miljöpartiet in migration policy. I note, however, that we have similar ambitions here, and I can guarantee Jan Riise that we will do everything we can, both I within my area of responsibility and Minister Mats Persson within his area of responsibility, to ensure that Sweden is attractive for international talents who want to come here to conduct research and study.
Lastly: If I do not return to the chamber before Christmas, I would like to take the opportunity to wish the Speaker's Presidium and the members a very good and hopefully peaceful Christmas.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.