The Swedish Migration Agency is to close its contact centres, with the functions moved to the national government service centres which already handle face-to-face meetings for the Tax Agency. Sara Åhman, the agency’s director for national operations, told us how she hopes the change will benefit applicants.

The Migration Agency announced on Tuesday that from New Year’s Day, it would no longer accept drop-in visits from applicants at any of its 11 service centres, and that the centres would successively be shut down.

Their functions, it said, would now be carried out by phone, online, or at one of the 32 contact centres run by Swedish National Government Service Centres, an agency under the finance ministry which already handles face-to-face meetings for the Swedish Tax Agency, Swedish Social Insurance Agency, and the Swedish Public Employment Service. 

Åhman told The Local that this reorganisation had been under consideration ever since the Migration Agency signed a deal with Sweden’s National Government Service Centres to handle a few of its functions back in 2021, and was primarily motivated by a wish to make the process easier for applicants. 

“We really hope this will make us more accessible and make it easier for people who want to contact us,” Åhman said. “I think it’s really good that there’s a place where several authorities are situated, so people have just one place to go.” 

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As an example, she said that someone living in Kiruna, who currently has to travel 350 kilometres to Boden to visit a Migration Agency contact centre, will be able instead to visit a national government service centre in Kiruna. 

She said that the move was expected to be “cost-neutral” for the agency, meaning it will neither save the agency money nor involve additional costs. Staff who currently work at its contact centres will be redeployed to other roles within the agency. 

Tasks that will be moved to Swedish National Government Service Centres include handling general inquiries and leaving fingerprints and having a photo taken. 

The Migration Agency has already run courses for personnel at the national government service centres.

“We’ve carried out training measures, and I believe the staff there will be at least as knowledgeable as those you meet in our own service centres,” she said. 

The national government service centres will not, however, be able to answer case-specific questions, meaning that applicants who want to know who their case officer is, whether a case officer has been appointed to their case, or if any progress has been made in their case will only be able to do so by ringing the Migration Agency or contacting it online. 

“It’s very easy to call in. You can always call the Migration Agency directly if you have a specific question about your case – like, what’s the status, what’s happening, or who’s handling it. Then you’d contact us by phone,” Åhman said, adding that people who find it hard to understand how to do this will be able to get help at a national government service centre. 

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Even though the 11 service centres run by the agency will all be closed, applicants will still be called to one of the agency’s offices in some cases, such as when requesting asylum, making a personal appearance as part of a citizenship application, or about issues with accommodation provided by the Migration Agency. 

“Those processes will remain with us. But most offices will close completely, including all drop-in services, at the turn of the year,” Åhman said.

As only a few offices will carry out these tasks, this could, she conceded, mean that people claiming asylum or making a personal appearance as part of a citizenship application might have further to travel.