Sweden in Focus11 Okt 2025

What's too expensive in Sweden (and what do you miss when you're not here)?

In this week's episode we talk about the politics behind Sweden's planned new salary threshold for work permit holders.

We also look at what readers of The Local always make sure to do when they’re back visiting the countries they moved from.

For Membership+ subscribers we discuss the Swedish government’s controversial plan to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13.

Finally, we’ve been trying to get answers on who will potentially be affected by a proposal to withdraw permanent residency from some immigrants and we bring you the latest on what we know.

Host Paul O'Mahony is joined this week by regular panelists Richard Orange and James Savage.

The episode also features interviews with Ibra Idrees, a Malmö-based restaurateur whose parents face deportation over a work permit issue, and Ludvig Aspling, the Sweden Democrats' spokesperson on immigration and one of the driving forces behind a plan to revoke permanent residency from as many as 120,000 immigrants.

Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:

Work permits

Reader insights

'Everything except Wasabröd': What's cheaper or better in your home country than Sweden?

Get Membership+ to listen to all The Local's podcasts

Sign up now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.

Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+

For signed-in members: Upgrade to Membership+
For new members: Get Membership+

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(283)

Almedalen bonus: 'Sweden needs more ambition'

Sweden's Nordic editor Richard Orange was in Visby this week at the Almedalen political festival. One of the many people he spoke to was Niels Paarup-Petersen, who is the migration, education and digi...

27 Jun 15min

Almedalen special: Is Sweden's government toast?

This week host James Savage and regular panelist Richard Orange record the podcast from Almedalen, the annual politics fest in Visby on the Baltic island of Gotland. They are joined for a lively polit...

26 Jun 43min

Legal fight begins on Swedish citizenship rejections

Earlier this year the Fair Transition campaign group tried to convince Swedish decision makers to introduce transitional rules for the citizenship reforms which came into force on June 6th.Two months ...

24 Jun 32min

What kind of bad conduct could get you kicked out of Sweden?

This week we talk about the Swedish culture of long summer holidays and how to make the most of them.Also: parliament has passed a law that will make it possible to revoke residence permits for “poor ...

18 Jun 28min

Sweden's teen deportations – 'I was terrified I wouldn't get a visa'

Sweden's teen deportations have affected young people who live in Sweden and whose parents have the right to be in Sweden, but who themselves no longer meet the requirements for a residence permit.Aft...

16 Jun 4min

Sweden's Prime Minister rocked by corruption claims

This week we talk about a security scandal surrounding Prime minister Ulf Kristersson.And with the men's football World Cup kicking off this week, we assess Sweden's chances. We also discuss new restr...

12 Jun 42min

'Disappointing and sad': Treasured Swedish museums risk closure over rising rents

Two popular museums in Stockholm are at risk of closure because the government agency that owns the properties is now requiring the museums, which are also run by a government agency, to pay market re...

9 Jun 4min

Why this year's Swedish National Day will be bittersweet

This week we look at the government’s solution to teen deportations, and we discuss the new citizenship law coming into force on Saturday, which also happens to be National Day.We also talk about how ...

4 Jun 30min