In order to visit Sweden you may need an entry visa. A visa is a permit to travel to and stay in a country for a limited period. Citizens of a non-EU country may need a visa to visit Sweden.
The Embassy does not cooperate with any external companies or agents. No external company or agent represents the Embassy, or acts on the Embassy’s behalf. Embassy staff outside the Embassy always wear jackets or vests marked Embassy of Sweden for easy recognition. The Embassy does not charge any fee for booking of appointments. The only fees charged is when filing applications for visa, passport or any other service in accordance with the Swedish Fees Ordinance. Fees are always paid online or at a bank. For information on applications and fees see: Fees - Sweden Abroad.
Sweden is a member of the Schengen Cooperation. The Schengen Cooperation allows those who have a visa to travel to Sweden also to travel to the other member countries. The countries that form part of the Schengen Cooperation are often referred to as Schengen countries.
Citizens from the following countries/territories require a visa when entering Sweden, check the list.
General information
Information about how to apply for a visa is found below. For further information on each type of visa, please refer to the pages in the menu.
For information about the regulations of Schengen visa, please see:
Revised codex, applicable from February 2, 2020
List of supporting documents to be presented by visa applicants in Iran and Iraq.
You can apply for a Schengen visa at the Swedish Embassy in Tehran if you are legally residing in Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan. If you are not legally residing in those countries but are legally present in Iran or Iraq, you have to provide justification for lodging an application at the Swedish Embassy. We advise you to contact us by e-mail before registering and booking an appointment online in that case.
After registering your application and booking appointment online at Swedish Migration Agency's website, at the appointed time, your application should be submitted in person to the Embassy of Sweden in Tehran. Visa applications are only accepted inside the Embassy building and not in any other locations.
The Swedish Embassy is only competent to examine and decide on a visa application where Sweden is the main destination. If you are planning to visit several Schengen states during your trip, or if you are planning several separate visits to the Schengen area within a period of two months, your application should be handed in to the consulate of the Member State that constitutes your main destination in terms of the length of stay, counted in days, or the purpose of stay. If no main destination can be determined, the application should be handed in to a consulate of the Member State where you first enter the Schengen area. If you are unsure about where your application should be handed in, you can contact the Embassy by e-mail explaining your intended itinerary and we will help you.
You can submit your application at the earliest six months before the start of your intended visit. Apply as far in advance as possible and no later than 15 days before your intended trip, especially during spring and summer (April-July), to be sure to have your visa on time. Normally you will get a decision within two weeks from when the application was handed in to the Embassy.
A visa is valid in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in a 180-day period. You can use the EU Schengen calculator to find out how many days you can stay.
The number of days that you are allowed to stay in the Schengen area is specified on the visa sticker that is affixed in your passport. The days can be utilized during the period that is specified on the sticker. The period is often longer than the number of days that you may visit the Schengen area. The reason is so that you have the possibility to change your travel date if something unforeseen happens.
If you are planning to stay in Sweden for longer than 90 days you need to apply for a visitor's residence permit, or – if there are special reasons – a visa for a longer period (a D-visa). For more information you can check the page Visa for longer than 90 days.
Your visa sticker specifies how many times you may travel in and out of the Schengen area while the visa is valid.
You can apply for a Schengen visa that is valid for multiple entries if you are a regular visitor to the Schengen area. A visa with multiple entries can be valid for visits lasting up to 90 days in a 180-day period for a maximum of two years for Iranian citizens.
An entry visa is normally valid in all the Schengen countries. In exceptional cases a visa may be granted solely for entry into the country that issued it.
In certain exceptional cases your visa may be valid for entries and stays in Sweden or certain Schengen countries only, if you are registered in SIS (Schengen Information System) or if your passport is not accepted in all Schengen countries.
In most cases, the Embassy decides whether to grant a visa. However, in case of certain circumstances, the Embassy can send the case on to the Migration Agency in Sweden, who then will make the decision. It is the regulations in the EU Visa Code, that have been revised through regulation (EU) 2019/1155 of 20 June 2019, that determine whether or not you are granted a visa.
Your application may be rejected for example if the Embassy judges that you are unlikely to leave the Schengen area before your visa expires or the purpose of your visit is judged not to be as specified in your application.
The time it takes to process an application at the Embassy varies, but decisions are generally reached within 15 days from the appointment at the Embassy. This period may be extended up to 45 calendar days in individual cases, notably when further examination of the application is needed. Make sure to submit all required and supporting documents at your visit at the Embassy to avoid unnecessary delays.
Please note that waiting times can be long to get an appointment. We advise you to book a time early, especially during high season in spring and summer (April-July).
Nationals of Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan are required to go through a mandatory prior consultation procedure during the assessment of the visa application. This is to check whether any Member State has any objection for issuing a uniform visa. The procedure takes approximately 8-9 days to finalize.
A comprehensive list of citizens subject to consultation is found in Annex 16_Prior consultation_en.pdf (europa.eu).
As soon as you receive your short-stay visa, make sure that all the information it contains is correct. Check the following:
Do this yourself to avoid any problems or extra costs arising when using your visa. If you think that the information on the visa is incorrect, tell the Embassy immediately, so that any errors can be corrected.
''DURATION OF STAY.......DAYS'': indicates the number of days, you may stay in the Schengen area. The days should be counted from the date you enter the Schengen area (the entry stamp) to the date you exit the Schengen area (the exit stamp), i.e. both days included. The period of time between "FROM ...UNTIL" is usually longer than the number of days printed in the "DURATION OF STAY" field. The difference in period is meant to give you flexibility to plan your entry into and exit from the Schengen area, but your stay in the Schengen area must never exceed the exact number of days in the "DURATION OF STAY ...DAYS" field. No matter how many days you have stayed in the Schengen area, you must leave no later than the date printed in the "UNTIL" field."
Your short-stay visa allows you to travel to Sweden and usually to other Schengen States. But it does not automatically entitle you to enter the Schengen area. So you may have to provide certain information at border or other controls. You may, for instance, have to provide information on your means of support, how long you intend to stay in Sweden and why you are visiting Sweden. In some cases, such checks may result in a refusal for the visa holder to enter Sweden or the Schengen area.
It is therefore recommended that you carry with you copies of the documents which you presented when you applied for the visa (e.g. letters of invitation, travel confirmations, other documents stating the purpose of your stay). This will help to make the border control procedure easier and avoid delays at the border.
Please note: You must follow the period of stay allowed by your visa. Misuse and overstay may result in difficulties obtaining a new visa in the future.
It is possible to appeal a decision on an entry visa. The decision to reject an application for an entry visa always has justification. This means that you get information in the decision as to why your application was rejected.
If you received a decision you are not satisfied with, you can submit a written appeal no later than 3 weeks from the day you received the decision.
In your appeal, write down which decision you are not satisfied with, and why and how you want it to be changed. If you have any documents that you didn’t submit earlier, you can supplement your case with them.
Your appeal should be submitted to the Embassy of Sweden in Tehran in writing through post or e-mail, but it should only be sent once, please do not send it several times or in different ways.
The Embassy will verify that the appeal came in on time and will go over the case again. If more than 3 weeks have passed since you were informed about the decision, the appeal will be rejected; in that case you will have to submit a new visa application.
For more information please visit the page Appeals.
The decision can be changed if new information comes in or if the Embassy considers the decision to be wrong. In that case you will be notified and informed to bring your passport to the Embassy to get a sticker in the passport.
If the appeal came in on time and the Embassy finds no reason to change the decision, the case will be forwarded as soon as possible. Your application, the decision, and all other documents submitted in the case will be sent to the Administrative Court in Stockholm. The Administrative Court then makes a decision and notifies you at the address you specified in the application or in the appeal.
After the case has been handed over to the court, all questions about the case should be addressed to them. You find their contact information on their website.
For more information you can visit the Swedish Migration Agency's website.