Sweden
Borders, customs and immigration in Sweden
Sweden has no border body. Its Aliens Act makes the Police Authority responsible for checks on persons, and obliges Customs and the Coast Guard to help; goods belong to Customs, the sea is shared with the Coast Guard, and residence is the Migration Agency’s.
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Sweden does not have a border body. Its Aliens Act gives the task to the police: "Polismyndigheten ansvarar för kontroll av personer enligt kodexen om Schengengränserna" — the Police Authority is responsible for checks on persons under the Schengen Borders Code. The Police Act says that police work in Sweden is carried out by the Police Authority and the Security Service. The police’s own page says the same of itself — "Polisen ansvarar för kontroll av personer som reser över en svensk gräns" — and that the police must check every person who crosses an external border.
The same provision gives the other bodies a supporting part rather than a border of their own. "Tullverket och Kustbevakningen är skyldiga att hjälpa Polismyndigheten vid en sådan kontroll" — Customs and the Coast Guard are obliged to help the police with those checks — and the Migration Agency may help by agreement with the police. At sea, "Kustbevakningen ska medverka i Polismyndighetens kontrollverksamhet genom att utöva kontroll av sjötrafiken": the Coast Guard takes part in the police’s control work by controlling sea traffic.
There is no external land border to guard between crossings. The national strategy for European integrated border management for 2024–2027, published by the Police Authority, states that "Sveriges yttre gräns består av luft- och sjögränser" — Sweden’s external border consists of air and sea borders — and that its land border is not part of the Schengen area’s external land border. At the internal land border the law provides something narrower than border control: a 2023 Act on police powers in border-near areas lets "en polisman eller en kustbevakningstjänsteman" — a police officer or a coast guard officer — carry out internal checks on foreigners in an area the Act defines to include road bridges to or from abroad.
Goods belong to Customs. Its instruction, an ordinance from the Ministry of Finance, charges it to set and collect duties, taxes and fees, and provides that "Tullverket ska övervaka och kontrollera trafiken till och från Sverige så att bestämmelser om in- och utförsel av varor följs" — Customs monitors and controls traffic to and from Sweden so that the rules on bringing goods in and out are followed.
The Coast Guard describes its own part in the same terms as the law. "I Sverige har Polismyndigheten det huvudsakliga ansvaret för gränskontrollen" — in Sweden the Police Authority has the principal responsibility for border control — and the Coast Guard helps the police and takes part in border control of sea traffic, as a rule at the sea border. It is, in its own words, "en civil statlig myndighet under Försvarsdepartementet": a civil state authority under the Ministry of Defence.
Who may stay is the Migration Agency’s. The Aliens Act provides that "Beslut om uppehållstillstånd meddelas av Migrationsverket" — residence permits are decided by the Migration Agency — and makes it the deciding authority under the Union’s qualification and asylum procedure regulations; its instruction makes it the administrative authority for residence and work permits, visas, the reception of applicants for international protection, voluntary return and citizenship. The police keep one part of the question at the border: they enforce their own decisions to refuse entry.
Animal and food controls at the border belong to two further authorities, each describing its own role. The Board of Agriculture says that at a border control post an official veterinarian checks that a consignment meets the conditions of Union law, and that imports from outside the Union must enter through such a post. The Food Agency says it is responsible for import control of food of animal origin and composite food, carried out at its six border control posts.
The Union layer is written into Swedish law at two levels. The Aliens Act ties the police’s task to the Schengen Borders Code, and an ordinance supplementing the European Border and Coast Guard Regulation names "Polismyndigheten, Kustbevakningen, Tullverket, Kriminalvården och Migrationsverket" as Sweden’s border management authorities — its part of the European Border and Coast Guard — with the police as the coordinating authority and national contact point.
Sources
Sources
Utlänningslag (2005:716) (Aliens Act) — consolidated text
Sveriges riksdag — Svensk författningssamling · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: which authority is responsible for border checks on persons, which authorities must assist it, and which decides residence — nothing about any procedure, ground or individual case. The Riksdag’s consolidated text, stated on the page to be amended up to SFS 2026:1752; the page also carries provisions not yet in force, and none of those is relied on. Supports ch. 9 s 1: "Polismyndigheten ansvarar för kontroll av personer enligt kodexen om Schengengränserna" — the Police Authority is responsible for checks on persons under the Schengen Borders Code — "Tullverket och Kustbevakningen är skyldiga att hjälpa Polismyndigheten vid en sådan kontroll", "Migrationsverket får efter överenskommelse med Polismyndigheten hjälpa till vid kontrollen", and "Kustbevakningen ska medverka i Polismyndighetens kontrollverksamhet genom att utöva kontroll av sjötrafiken"; that "Beslut om uppehållstillstånd meddelas av Migrationsverket"; that "Migrationsverket är beslutande myndighet enligt skyddsgrundsförordningen och asylprocedurförordningen"; and that "Polismyndigheten ska verkställa 1. sina beslut om avvisning" — the police enforce their own decisions to refuse entry.
Polislag (1984:387) (Police Act) — consolidated text
Sveriges riksdag — Svensk författningssamling · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: which bodies carry out police work in Sweden. The Riksdag’s consolidated text, stated on the page to be amended up to SFS 2026:1611. Supports s 1, "Polisverksamhet bedrivs av Polismyndigheten och Säkerhetspolisen" (police work is carried out by the Police Authority and the Security Service), and, among the Police Authority’s tasks in s 2, to "fullgöra den verksamhet som ankommer på Polismyndigheten enligt särskilda bestämmelser" — the work that particular provisions give it.
Gränspolis — Polisen (the police’s border police)
Polismyndigheten (Swedish Police Authority) · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the Police Authority’s own account of its border police, published in its careers section — relied on only for what the police say they do. Supports "Polisen ansvarar för kontroll av personer som reser över en svensk gräns" and "Polisen är skyldig att utföra kontroller av alla personer som reser över en yttre gräns". What the page says about any other authority is not relied on.
Polismyndigheten (Swedish Police Authority) · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the shape of Sweden’s external border as the national strategy states it. The strategy for 2024–2027, as published by the Police Authority; who adopted it was not established. Supports "Sveriges yttre gräns består av luft- och sjögränser" (Sweden’s external border consists of air and sea borders) and "Sveriges landgräns utgör inte en del av Schengenområdets yttre landgräns".
Lag (2023:474) om polisiära befogenheter i gränsnära områden (police powers in border-near areas)
Sveriges riksdag — Svensk författningssamling · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: what the Act provides for in areas near the border, and which officers it empowers — nothing about how any check is carried out. The Riksdag’s consolidated text, stated on the page to be amended up to SFS 2025:647. Supports s 1, "Denna lag innehåller särskilda bestämmelser om inre utlänningskontroll och brottsbekämpning i gränsnära områden" (internal checks on foreigners and crime prevention in border-near areas); s 2, whose definition of a border-near area includes "broar för vägtrafik till eller från utlandet"; and s 3, "I ett gränsnära område får en polisman eller en kustbevakningstjänsteman vidta kontroll enligt 9 kap. 9 §" of the Aliens Act.
Förordning (2016:1332) med instruktion för Tullverket (Swedish Customs’ instruction)
Sveriges riksdag — Svensk författningssamling · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: what Swedish Customs is charged with. The Riksdag’s consolidated text of the ordinance, issued by the Ministry of Finance and stated on the page to be amended up to SFS 2024:776. Supports s 1, "Tullverket ska fastställa och ta ut tullar, skatter och avgifter så att en riktig uppbörd kan säkerställas", and s 2, "Tullverket ska övervaka och kontrollera trafiken till och från Sverige så att bestämmelser om in- och utförsel av varor följs".
Gränsövervakning — Kustbevakningen (the Coast Guard’s border surveillance)
Kustbevakningen (Swedish Coast Guard) · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the Coast Guard’s own account of its part in border control. Supports "I Sverige har Polismyndigheten det huvudsakliga ansvaret för gränskontrollen och ansvarar för in- och utresekontrollerna" (in Sweden the Police Authority has the principal responsibility for border control), "Kustbevakningen hjälper Polismyndigheten i kontrollverksamheten och medverkar i gränskontrollen av sjötrafiken", and that border surveillance is therefore as a rule at the sea border ("Därför sker gränsövervakningen i regel vid sjögränsen").
Kort om Kustbevakningen (about the Coast Guard)
Kustbevakningen (Swedish Coast Guard) · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: what kind of authority the Coast Guard is, in its own words. Supports "Kustbevakningen är en civil statlig myndighet under Försvarsdepartementet" — a civil state authority under the Ministry of Defence.
Förordning (2019:502) med instruktion för Migrationsverket (the Migration Agency’s instruction)
Sveriges riksdag — Svensk författningssamling · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: what the Migration Agency is the authority for. The Riksdag’s consolidated text of the ordinance, stated on the page to be amended up to SFS 2026:1190. Supports s 1, "Migrationsverket är förvaltningsmyndighet för frågor som rör - uppehållstillstånd", work permits, right of residence, visas, the reception of applicants for international protection, voluntary return and citizenship; and, among its duties, to "bedriva en effektiv och ändamålsenlig återvändandeverksamhet".
Jordbruksverket (Swedish Board of Agriculture) · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the Board of Agriculture’s own account of veterinary border control. Supports "Vid gränskontrollstationen kontrollerar en officiell veterinär att sändningen uppfyller villkoren enligt EU-lagstiftningen" and "Import från länder utanför EU ska ske via en gränskontrollstation".
Gränskontroll — Livsmedelsverket (the Food Agency’s border control)
Livsmedelsverket (Swedish Food Agency) · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the Food Agency’s own account of its import control at the border, on its national control plan pages. Supports "Livsmedelsverket ansvarar för importkontroll av livsmedel av animaliskt ursprung och sammansatta livsmedel" and "Importkontrollen sker vid Livsmedelsverkets sex gränskontrollstationer". What the page says about other authorities is not relied on.
Förordning (2022:1058) med kompletterande bestämmelser till EU:s gräns- och kustbevakningsförordning
Sveriges riksdag — Svensk författningssamling · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: which Swedish authorities form Sweden’s part of the European Border and Coast Guard, and which coordinates them. The ordinance supplementing the EU Border and Coast Guard Regulation, as the Riksdag publishes it. Supports s 4, "Polismyndigheten, Kustbevakningen, Tullverket, Kriminalvården och Migrationsverket, här kallade gränsförvaltningsmyndigheterna" — the border management authorities — are the national authorities that make up Sweden’s part of the European Border and Coast Guard, and "Polismyndigheten ska vara samordnande myndighet"; and s 5, that the Police Authority is to "vara nationell kontaktpunkt enligt artikel 13 i EU:s gräns- och kustbevakningsförordning".
Publications Office of the European Union (Cellar) — consolidated text · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: the current wording of the Schengen Borders Code, and only what it says at Union level. Read directly from the Publications Office. The publisher’s own metadata records the latest consolidation of the whole act — as distinct from its individually consolidated segments — as 2016R0399/20251012, dated 12 October 2025 and marked final. It consolidates the original act, Regulation (EU) 2017/2225, Regulation (EU) 2024/1717 and corrigenda, over the previous 10 July 2024 consolidation. LEGAL EFFECT, STATED BY THE DOCUMENT ITSELF: "This text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. … The authentic versions of the relevant acts … are those published in the Official Journal of the European Union." It is cited for current wording, never as the authentic instrument. Supports Art. 1, that the Regulation "provides for the absence of border control of persons crossing the internal borders between the Member States of the Union" and "lays down rules governing border control of persons crossing the external borders". Supports Art. 2(1) and 2(2), defining internal borders (common land borders, airports for internal flights, ports for regular internal ferry connections) and external borders (land, sea, air and port borders "provided that they are not internal borders"). Supports Art. 22, that "Internal borders may be crossed at any point without a border check on persons, irrespective of their nationality, being carried out", and Art. 23, that this "shall not affect … the exercise of police or other public powers". Supports Art. 5(1), that external borders "may be crossed only at border crossing points and during the fixed opening hours", with Member States notifying their list to the Commission. Supports Art. 15, that "Member States shall deploy appropriate staff and resources in sufficient numbers to carry out border control at the external borders", and Art. 16(1), that border control "shall be carried out by border guards". Supports Art. 2(14), that a "border guard" is "any public official assigned, in accordance with national law, to a border crossing point … who carries out, in accordance with this Regulation and national law, border control tasks". THE AGENCY APPEARS EXACTLY ONCE in the whole consolidated text, and only as a recipient of Member State risk assessments and six-monthly reports: this record does NOT support any claim that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency carries out border checks or replaces a national authority. Establishes nothing about which states apply the Code, nothing about customs, and nothing about any national institution.