MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A person arriving in Sweden with valid identification to seek asylum is typically allowed to work despite not having a work or residence permit, as Migration Agency grants them an exception automatically. However, the onslaught of migrants coming into the country made it impossible to find or create as many vacancies.
"There were incredibly many people who looked for asylum in Sweden and in order to be able to register them all, we had to prioritize tasks, and that was the question of work," Migrationsverket (Migration Agency) Lisa Bergstrand told SVT broadcaster.
Sweden toughened the procedure for asylum seekers after the country received over 163,000 migrants and refugees in 2015 – the largest number of refugees per capita in the European Union. According to the Migration Agency, it now takes 180 days on average to process an asylum request.
