If you’ve applied for a residence permit or asylum in Sweden, the Swedish Migration Agency can decide that you need public counsel. That is a lawyer who helps you with your application and with contact with the Swedish Migration Agency. They’ll help you with everything from compiling the information needed when sending in your application, helping you understand what happens during the process and also appealing if the Migration Agency denies you a residence permit.

The public counsel must be well oriented within Swedish laws. They have to tend to your legal rights, explain the different steps and actions and assist you throughout the entire process. Most often, the Swedish Migration Agency refers you to a lawyer who’ll act as your public counsel. But if you want, you can also ask for a specific lawyer instead. Maybe someone who speaks your native language or that you trust and feel especially comfortable with. You can also ask for a counsel based on them being either male or female.

However, even if you ask for someone specific, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get the public counsel that you want. The Swedish Migration Agency accepts your requests, but will decide who your counsel will be. But regardless of whether you get the counsel that the Migration Agency chooses or the one you wanted, the Swedish government is responsible for the costs. You’re not obliged to pay for the help you get with your application.