New survey: Migration Agency asks 98,000 foreigners how they feel about the application process
The Swedish Migration Agency has sent out a survey to 98,000 foreigners about how they experienced the process of applying for a permit to stay in Sweden – with the aim of improving its services.
Sweden's migration system has come under fire in recent years over issues such as long waits for citizenship or the deportation of many work permit holders for often apparently minor administrative mistakes.
But a new survey hopes to give applicants the opportunity to raise their voice about how their experience could be improved.
A Migration Agency spokesperson confirmed to The Local on Tuesday that the survey has been sent to 98,000 people. All recipients of the survey received a decision at some point in 2019 or 2020 on their application for asylum, a work permit, a residence permit via a family member, a student permit, or Swedish citizenship.
"The survey allows the applicant to provide feedback on how they experience our service, our applications, our external website but also how we are perceived as an authority – from a trust perspective," explained spokesperson Annica Dahlqvist in an email.
The survey, seen by The Local, asks respondents how calm they felt while waiting for a decision and how long they had to wait, whether they received the help they needed from the Migration Agency, in which language they prefer to communicate with the agency, and how easy it was to fill out the application.
It also asks respondents if they think people tend to trust various Swedish and international institutions, and allows them to rate their answer from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" to statements such as "The Migration Agency wants the best for me" or "The Migration Agency has its own agenda".
Dahlqvist said the survey was part of the Migration Agency's efforts to live up to its development plan, which states that work to improve and develop its services "must be based entirely on the needs of our applicants, and the goal is that they should feel that our services are easy to access, easy to understand and use".
The survey results are set to be presented in a report in the second or third quarter of 2020.
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Sweden's migration system has come under fire in recent years over issues such as long waits for citizenship or the deportation of many work permit holders for often apparently minor administrative mistakes.
But a new survey hopes to give applicants the opportunity to raise their voice about how their experience could be improved.
A Migration Agency spokesperson confirmed to The Local on Tuesday that the survey has been sent to 98,000 people. All recipients of the survey received a decision at some point in 2019 or 2020 on their application for asylum, a work permit, a residence permit via a family member, a student permit, or Swedish citizenship.
"The survey allows the applicant to provide feedback on how they experience our service, our applications, our external website but also how we are perceived as an authority – from a trust perspective," explained spokesperson Annica Dahlqvist in an email.
The survey, seen by The Local, asks respondents how calm they felt while waiting for a decision and how long they had to wait, whether they received the help they needed from the Migration Agency, in which language they prefer to communicate with the agency, and how easy it was to fill out the application.
It also asks respondents if they think people tend to trust various Swedish and international institutions, and allows them to rate their answer from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" to statements such as "The Migration Agency wants the best for me" or "The Migration Agency has its own agenda".
Dahlqvist said the survey was part of the Migration Agency's efforts to live up to its development plan, which states that work to improve and develop its services "must be based entirely on the needs of our applicants, and the goal is that they should feel that our services are easy to access, easy to understand and use".
The survey results are set to be presented in a report in the second or third quarter of 2020.
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