“Sweden should see us as employees”

Today PhD students from outside the EU will get on the streets in Göteborg and Stockholm. They demand equal treatment from the Swedish government.

Today PhD students from outside the EU will get on the streets in Göteborg and Stockholm. They demand equal treatment from the Swedish government.

Is a PhD a job or just a study? The answer to this question is of huge importance for the group of PhD students in Sweden coming from a non-EU country. Their current status as students makes life and their future in Sweden complicated and uncertain.

“After eight years in Sweden, I still have to work four more years here to get a permanent visa and if I would want to become a Swedish citizen another five years”, Ali Soltani from Iran tells. He is one of the initiators to the upcoming manifestations in Göteborg and Stockholm. After finishing his masters and PhD at in Communication at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, he now works for an international company in Göteborg. But after years of paying taxes and living in Sweden, he still doesn’t have the right to permanent visa. He considers this situation unfair.

“We do the same work as our colleagues from the EU, who are considered employees and we also pay taxes. We should not be discriminated against and we want equal treatment. Like all the others, we should be employees. Without a permanent visa it is very hard to buy a house, a car or just to have a normal way of living. It makes for an uncertain future, while many of us like to stay here. We like this country and we want to pay something back.”

“It is frustrating”

The problems mentioned at the same time also occur in Lund, according to Florian Sallaba, president of Lund Doctoral Students’ Union (LDK) and PhD student from Germany.

“Non-EU PhDs indeed have to get a new visa every year, which is frustrating. Especially during the first year this can take up to six months, during which the student cannot leave Sweden, for example to join conferences. We try to work with the University to speed up the process.”

Another issue is the fact that the student visa of the PhDs expires within three months after the end of their doctorate.

“This leaves them with no time to find a new job in Sweden, which more generally also hinders master students. I know of several PhDs for whom this has become problematic.”

Ali Soltani knows this problem as well, but he tells about the unofficial solution that many have found.

“It has become very common to postpone the defense of your PhD thesis until you have found a new job, even if you are done earlier.”

Equal treatment for all doctoral students

Florian Sallaba sympathizes with the demonstrations in Göteborg and Stockholm, but emphasizes the educational aspect of a PhD.

“We see it as an education. And it’s good that it is an education, because that means that we at the Union can work to influence and improve it. But we also support equal treatment for all doctoral students.”

A petition to change the position of the non-European PhDs has been subject of discussion in the Swedish parliament for years, but a decision has been postponed several times. On April 16^th, the proposal will be considered again. Through the demonstrations today, the hope is to gain more attention for the cause of the PhDs.