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?

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