Sweden lets visiting hunters bring their own rifles and shotguns, but the paperwork depends on where your licence comes from. Here is which route you are on, how to apply if you need a permit, how to clear Customs, and the transport rules once you have landed.
When you need this
You have been invited on a moose, roe deer or wild boar hunt and want to shoot your own rifle. You may be an EU or Norwegian hunter with a European Firearms Pass, or travelling from the UK, the US or Canada. You may be coming for a shooting competition, or driving through Sweden to a hunt in Norway or Finland. Or you are the Swedish host who has to sign the invitation.
New law since June 2026
On 1 June 2026 a new Weapons Act (vapenlag 2026:408) and Weapons Ordinance (2026:409) replaced the 1996 texts. The routes for visiting hunters survived almost unchanged, but every section number moved. Outfitter pages and forum threads that quote the old act are now citing repealed law. Everything below is read from the 2026 texts as in force in September 2026.
The starting rule is simple: every firearm, and all ammunition and suppressors, brought into Sweden needs a police import permit (införseltillstånd). Three exceptions then take most visiting hunters out of that rule.
Which route are you on?
| Your situation | Swedish permit? | Carry with you | Time limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish firearms licence | No | Swedish licence | None |
| Permanent licence from Denmark, Finland or Norway, for a hunt or competition | No | Home licence, or a Nordic-issued EFP listing the gun | 3 months from entry |
| Valid European Firearms Pass (EFP) with the gun entered, for a hunt or competition | No, if the gun’s category qualifies | EFP plus the invitation or competition entry | 3 months from entry |
| Anyone else (UK, US, Canada and so on), or a gun outside the EFP categories | Yes, import permit | The permit; for EU residents, entered in the EFP | The period in the permit |
The EFP category limit. The pass exception covers guns in categories B and C, plus category A point 7, of the ordinance annex. In practice that includes bolt-action, lever and single-shot rifles, shotguns, and semi-automatics with larger magazines. Automatic weapons and semi-automatic long guns with folding or telescopic stocks fall outside the exception and need a permit even with a pass. Tullverket calls the pass route the “simplified import procedure”.
A suppressor that belongs to a gun you may bring needs no separate permit.
Or skip the whole thing. A Swedish licence holder may lend you a gun for up to two weeks with no loan permit if you use it under their supervision. You then need no import paperwork at all, only the state hunting card every hunter pays for (see hunting in Sweden).
Applying for an import permit
If you are not covered by an exception, you apply to the Swedish Police before travelling. The whole application goes by email.
- Fill in form PM 553-10, the application for import. Complete every field, including your host’s Swedish personal identity number.
- Attach the invitation on Police form PM 553-13 (hunt) or PM 553-15 (competition), plus a scanned copy of your home firearms licence or EFP.
- US citizens, and citizens of countries that issue no firearms licences, also attach a certificate from the host on your weapon handling and shooting skill, and a certificate from your home police showing you are law-abiding and can handle the gun.
- Email everything to [email protected], one application per person, with your first and last name in the subject line. A hunt and a competition are two separate applications, each with its own fee.
- Pay when the notice arrives. Polisen posts a payment notice to the address on your form. From abroad you pay by international bank transfer, quoting the OCR reference number printed on it. Nothing is processed until the fee is paid.
- Wait for the permit by post. It states the purpose and the period, and the guns must enter Sweden within six months of the decision unless a longer time is set.
The fee is 990 kr and is charged whether or not the permit is granted. Median handling for hunting and target-shooting cases is about 29 days, and Polisen warns it may grow while the new act beds in. EU residents can get a permit covering one or more trips over up to a year, entered in the EFP.
Timing warning: processing starts only after payment, and the payment notice travels by post. A non-EU application sent today, 25 September 2026, is unlikely to be ready for the southern moose opening on 8 October. For an autumn hunt, apply in summer.
The invitation
The invitation carries the application. Polisen asks hosts to use its own forms, not a letter they wrote themselves. Only the host responsible for your visit goes on the form as contact. That is not always the company arranging your trip. For a visiting hunter, the host’s certificate can also stand in for several Swedish licence conditions, including the Swedish hunting exam.
EFP travellers send the invitation nowhere, but the law says you must carry proof that the guns are for a hunt or competition in Sweden. The invitation, or a competition entry list, is that proof.
Declaring at Customs
Every firearm, suppressor and box of ammunition crossing the Swedish border is declared to Tullverket (Swedish Customs), on every route, permit or no permit.
| Arriving from | How to declare |
|---|---|
| An EU country or Norway | Online before the trip: you get a declaration number by email, then use the green or blue channel and show the number if asked. Or at the border with Tullverket’s form “Declaration for firearms and ammunition for hunting, competition, transit” |
| Outside the EU (and not Norway) | In person: go to a customs officer at the border, for example at Arlanda or Landvetter, in the red channel |
With the paper form, fill in all three identical pages, hand in page one on arrival and page two on departure, and keep page three. After an online declaration, “denotify” the gun when you get home using the link in the confirmation email. Tullverket sends daily reminders until you do.
Transit. Danish, Finnish and Norwegian licence holders may cross Sweden with hunting or competition guns on the way to a hunt or match in one of those countries without a Swedish permit. Anyone else taking a gun through Sweden needs a transit permit from the Police and declares to Customs as usual. Changing planes inside the EU still counts, even if you never collect your bag.
Flying with a gun
EU aviation security rules ban firearms of every type, their parts and ammunition from the cabin, so the gun flies as checked baggage. Airlines set their own rules for gun cases, ammunition and advance notice. Ask yours before you book the ticket.
Transport and carrying in Sweden
Once the gun is in Sweden, the same rules apply to you as to a Swedish hunter:
- Transport: unloaded, and where suitable taken apart and packed, with secure measures so no unauthorised person can get at it.
- In public or in a vehicle on a public road: only when justified by the gun, the purpose and the circumstances.
- Storage: when the gun is not in use it belongs in a security cabinet or an equally secure space. Handing it to someone else to store needs a permit unless lending rules would allow the same handover, so ask your host before you arrive how storage between hunting days will work.
- Papers: carry the EFP, Nordic licence or permit whenever the gun is with you.
Breaking the transport rule or carrying without good reason is punished by fines or up to six months in prison. Forgetting your pass at the lodge is fined, unless you show Polisen within a week that you had the right to the gun and it was a one-off slip.
Mistakes to avoid
- Overstaying the three months. The clock runs from the day you enter. After it you hold the gun without a right, which is a weapons offence (vapenbrott) carrying up to five years, or fines or up to six months if less serious or careless.
- Bringing an ineligible gun on the pass. It then needs a permit. A gun that arrives without any right must be declared and taken out within four months, or it passes to the state.
- Skipping Customs because no permit was needed. The declaration applies on every route.
- Leaving the invitation at home. On the EFP route the pass alone is not enough.
Practical information
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Police import permit | 990 kr per application, charged even if refused (checked 2026-09-25) |
| Median handling time | About 29 days for hunting and target cases (checked 2026-09-25) |
| Nordic licence or EFP route | No Swedish permit fee; 3 months from entry |
| Customs declaration | Online (EU and Norway journeys) or at the border; no fee stated |
| State hunting card | 400 kr per hunting year, separate from gun paperwork (checked 2026-09-25) |
| Applications | [email protected] |
| Governing law | Vapenlag (2026:408), vapenförordning (2026:409), in force 1 June 2026 |
FAQ
Can I bring my hunting rifle to Sweden?
Yes. With a valid European Firearms Pass listing the rifle, and your hunt invitation, you may bring it for up to three months without a Swedish permit. Danish, Finnish and Norwegian licence holders may do the same with their home licence. Everyone else applies to the Swedish Police for a temporary import permit before travelling. On every route, declare the rifle to Swedish Customs.
Do I need an import permit if I have a European Firearms Pass?
Usually not. The pass covers guns entered in it for temporary hunting or competition use for up to three months, if they are in categories B, C or A point 7, which includes most hunting rifles and shotguns. Carry the invitation or competition entry. Automatic guns and folding-stock semi-automatics are outside the exception and still need a permit.
How do I get a temporary firearm import permit for Sweden?
Email form PM 553-10, your host’s invitation on form PM 553-13 and a copy of your home firearms licence to the Police at [email protected]. Polisen posts a payment notice; the fee is 990 kr and processing starts once it is paid. The median handling time is about 29 days, and the permit arrives by post.
How do I declare a firearm to Swedish Customs?
From an EU country or Norway, declare online before the trip and keep the declaration number, or declare at the border with Tullverket’s firearms form. From outside the EU, go to a customs officer in the red channel on arrival. Show the guns, ammunition and your pass, licence or permit on request, and close the declaration when you leave.
Can UK or US hunters bring guns to Sweden?
Yes, with a temporary import permit from the Swedish Police, applied for before travel with the host’s invitation and your home licence. US citizens, and citizens of countries that issue no firearms licences, also attach the host’s certificate of your shooting skill and a police certificate of good conduct. Allow over a month. Hunting with your host’s gun under supervision avoids the permit.
How long can I keep my gun in Sweden?
Under the European Firearms Pass or a Danish, Finnish or Norwegian licence, at most three months from the day you enter. With an import permit, for the period written in the permit; an EU resident’s permit can cover several trips over up to one year. Guns brought in without any right must leave within four months of declaration or they pass to the state.
Can I fly into Sweden with a rifle?
Yes, but never in the cabin: EU aviation security rules ban firearms, their parts and ammunition from hand luggage, so they travel as checked baggage. Airlines set their own rules for cases, ammunition and advance notice, so book the gun with the airline. On landing you still declare it to Swedish Customs and carry your pass or permit.
Related guides
- Hunting in Sweden: hunting rights, the 400 kr hunting card and moose-season dates
- Hunting seasons in Sweden: when each species may be hunted
- Guided hunts in Sweden: what an outfitter arranges and what stays your job
- Sweden customs allowances: everything else you declare at the border
- Sweden’s knife law: your hunting knife follows different rules
Facts verified 2026-09-25. Sources: the Weapons Act (2026:408) and Weapons Ordinance (2026:409) (Sveriges Riksdag), Polismyndigheten, Tullverket, the European Commission and Naturvårdsverket — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.