The Embassy of Sweden in Kampala has announced that effective 2 March 2026, it will no longer handle or respond to migration-related matters for Ugandan citizens or individuals holding Swedish residence permits, shifting the responsibility entirely to the Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi.
Under the new arrangement, all applications and inquiries related to residence permits, including work, study and family reunification, as well as long-term visas and other migration matters such as extensions or issues involving existing Swedish residence permits, will be processed exclusively in Nairobi.
Applicants have been advised to direct migration-related questions to the Nairobi embassy via email at ambassaden.nairobi-visum@gov.se.
However, short-stay Schengen visa applications (for tourism, business or visits of up to 90 days) will continue to be submitted locally in Kampala through VFS Global. The Swedish embassy in Kampala does not process these applications directly — a system that has been in place since September 2024, when Nairobi became the regional processing hub for Uganda. Applicants will still book appointments, submit biometrics and track their visa applications through the VFS centre in Kampala.
Other consular services, including document legalization and assistance to Swedish citizens in Uganda, remain fully available at the Kampala mission.
The shift means Ugandans applying for long-term permits may now be required to travel to Nairobi for interviews, additional biometric submissions or other in-person procedures, potentially increasing travel and accommodation costs.
Applicants are encouraged to monitor the status of their cases through the Swedish Migration Agency’s official portal at migrationsverket.se and to avoid unofficial intermediaries claiming to offer expedited services.
The move reflects a broader trend among European diplomatic missions to centralize migration processing in regional hubs, a strategy aimed at streamlining operations and managing growing visa and residency workloads across East Africa.
