Sweden deports 458 Britons since Brexit in shocking residency crackdown

A home, a family and decades of memories have not been enough to protect hundreds of Britons in Sweden from being forced to leave. Sweden has confirmed that 458 British citizens have been deported or forcibly removed since Brexit, revealing the scale of a residency crisis that has been quietly building since the UK left the EU. 

The figure has drawn attention because these are not simply people arriving in Sweden after Brexit and being refused permission to settle. The cases concern British citizens who failed to secure the post-Brexit residency status required to remain in the country, including people who had established their lives there before Brexit.

Thousands applied, thousands were rejected

By the end of 2024, 14,233 applications for post-Brexit residency had been submitted in Sweden, according to the Swedish Migration Agency. Almost 4,000 were rejected. A refusal does not automatically mean deportation. Swedish authorities say the 458 figure refers to cases where rejection of an application for residence status was accompanied by a deportation decision. 

However, the refusal rate has raised eyebrows, analysis by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office found Sweden’s refusal rate was 27.5 per cent, around three times higher than in any other EU member state and far above the EU average of roughly 3 to 4 per cent.  Separate Eurostat figures show that between 2021 and 2025, 2,490 UK nationals were ordered to leave Sweden. That represented almost a third of all UK nationals ordered to leave an EU country during the period, although the data does not establish exactly how many had been living in Sweden before Brexit. 

The numbers may not tell the whole story

Campaigners representing British residents in Sweden say the newly released 458 figure needs to be treated carefully. The number does not necessarily include people who left Sweden voluntarily after discovering they were unlikely to secure residency, nor does it necessarily capture Britons who obtained another form of temporary residence after their original application failed. That means the number of people whose lives have been disrupted by the residency rules could be considerably broader than the deportation figure alone suggests.

David Milstead, who heads the 9,000-member Brits in Sweden campaign group, has called for fuller and more transparent information about the circumstances behind the removals.  The concern is particularly significant for Britons who believed their established lives in Sweden were protected by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

Why are people losing the right to stay?

British citizens who were legally resident in Sweden before the end of the Brexit transition period were covered by the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. But Sweden operates an application-based system, meaning eligible British citizens had to apply for the relevant residence status. Late applications can still be accepted where there are “reasonable grounds” for missing the deadline. The dispute has centred on how strictly Sweden has interpreted that provision. The UK government has repeatedly raised concerns about the approach, with officials saying that, in practice, late applicants in Sweden are unlikely to have their reasons accepted as reasonable. 

Swedish authorities reject the suggestion that they have failed to implement the Withdrawal Agreement correctly. The Swedish Migration Agency maintains that the rules have been applied properly and that applicants have had access to appeals. Migration minister Johan Forssell has also defended the system, while leaving the door open to possible changes to make the process easier in future. 

Pressure is now coming from Brussels and Sweden

The issue is no longer confined to campaign groups and affected British residents. The European Commission is pressing Sweden for answers over its treatment of vulnerable British citizens, according to government correspondence obtained by The Local. The pressure follows reports of removal orders involving elderly and seriously ill residents.  The UK’s Foreign Office has also continued raising the matter with Swedish authorities through the mechanisms established to oversee citizens’ rights under the Withdrawal Agreement.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s opposition Centre Party has promised to reopen the application process for affected British citizens if it enters government. Its migration spokesperson has argued that people who had already built established lives in Sweden should not lose their right to remain because of administrative problems.  For Britons still caught in the system, the issue is therefore far from settled. Sweden has now put a number on those already removed, but campaigners are demanding to know how many more people have been forced to leave, remain on insecure temporary permits or are still fighting to keep the lives they established in Sweden before Brexit.