Sarmad came to Sweden as a Master’s student in systems control and mechatronics, did his PhD in automation, and went immediately into highly skilled roles developing machine software. He is now a senior software engineer at a top vehicle automation technology company based in Gothenburg.
Sweden has been his home since 2011. Yet he and his wife, a civil engineer, are trapped in a nightmareish limbo with the Swedish Migration Agency, with no end in sight.
“I haven’t seen my parents in about two years”
It was in 2020, after nine years in Sweden, that Sarmad applied for citizenship. In December 2024 he got a court order from the Swedish Migration Court directing Migrationsverket to conclude his case. But he has still heard nothing, despite following up to ask for information.
“I’ve written to [Migrationsverket] saying, ‘I have a court order, why are you ignoring it?’ They responded by saying ‘it’s not very important that you have a court order. We have our own procedures.’ My lawyer said he doesn’t know why they don’t follow a court order because this isn’t North Korea.”
Sarmad says one of the hardest things about being in this limbo is the constant uncertainty – along with not being able to travel whenever the Migration Agency is holding his or his wife’s documents.
“They have our permanent residency cards and my wife’s passport and her Iranian residency card,” he told The Local. “We haven’t been able to do business trip or go see our families. I haven’t seen my parents in about two years, in case [Migrationsverket] starts to process my case. My parents are in their late 70s, I don’t know how much longer they’re going to be around.”
Sarmad read that you can request your documents back temporarily so that you can travel, but since he has also heard that it could delay case processing he is apprehensive of using that option. To get solid information, he contacted the Migration Agency to ask if requesting their documents back for travel would delay his and his wife’s case.
“I contacted them multiple times, asking, ‘if I take my passport and PR card back to travel for business and see my family will it affect my case?’ They never gave me a clear answer.”
In the absence of clear information from the Swedish authorities, Sarmad, like many anxious and uncertain people caught in such situations, resorted to Reddit boards, trying to learn from others who had had experience requesting their documents back. There, he found people saying that yes, you would be put to the back of the queue. While he knows this isn’t reliable information, with the Migration Agency not providing solid information, he feels it’s too risky.
“I regret trusting that the Swedish government cared about foreign talent.”
The fundamental insecurity he now feels in Sweden, despite being here for 15 years, learning the language, loving the country, and being consistently employed in highly skilled jobs, is making Sarmad consider something he never thought he’d have to: leaving what he thinks of as his home.
“I am considering leaving Sweden now,” he says. “This is my home. I don’t want to leave. But if the plan is to make my life more difficult every day and strip me of my rights, it’s just wise, prudent, to keep my options open – to have a plan B.”
He certainly has options, as he also did in 2011 when he chose Sweden – a decision he is now questioning.
“I had admission to similar [Master’s] programs in Italy and in the US. I chose Sweden because I was interested in the car industry and Chalmers University had a lot of joint activity with Volvo. I also had a friend who had come here and he said a lot of positive things about Sweden – that people are nice and friendly. There were a lot of welcoming and positive messages [about Sweden in the larger world], saying they really value international professionals and talent.”
While he loves his work, his friends, and colleagues in Sweden, he feels something akin to heartbreak for how he is being treated more broadly by a country he loves.
“I’m sad to say that I regret being naive and thinking so highly and positively of Sweden and the Swedish system. I have had positive and respectful treatment here, often. But definitely something changed near the last election. Before the election I could never imagine myself in a situation where I would wonder ‘do I regret moving to Sweden?’ Now I think it would have been wise to keep my options open.”
It was during that election cycle, when the openly anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats won an unprecedented vote share, that Sarmad says he first began to feel afraid.
“Before that, anytime someone told me that Swedish people were against foreigners, I would say ‘no, absolutely not! They just want people to be law-abiding. But in that election, I was shocked. Politicians were lumping everybody in the same category. It wasn’t just Sverigedemokraterna (the Sweden Democrats). Politicians from all the parties were dropping every immigrant into the category of criminal. The atmosphere was very charged against foreigners.”
Sarmad and his wife are now considering their options; even thought they don’t want to, he says they can now imagine Sweden stripping them of their rights – including their permanent residency status.
“I still have options,” he says. “But I’ve made a life here. I own my home. I own my car. I’ve spent a lot of time to integrate into this society, to learn Swedish. I don’t want to throw it away.
But I can imagine myself being stripped of my rights. They have created a sense of instability. I don’t feel safe or secure.”
“I want to officially feel like it’s my country, it’s my home”
Sarmad says he agrees with the Tidö parties on one thing: that citizenship should be meaningful.
“It is meaningful. You should fight for it. That’s what I have done. You want to belong. You are contributing. It’s a bit like falling in love with a person: you show love, you show up, you work. But you don’t get anything back.”
“The politicians are talking about responsibilities — of course it’s about responsibilities; it’s my country. But am I the only one with responsibilities? Do [Swedish politicians] not also have a responsibility to treat us with dignity?”
