1. Introduction

Image: Mads Schmidt Rasmussen / norden.org*

This report offers up-to-date and, where possible, comparable information on how the integration of migrants and refugees is steered, coordinated, and implemented across the Nordic countries. It provides an overview of how responsibilities for integration are distributed among the ministries, agencies, and local-level actors. The report presents a snapshot of strategic policy directions and recent legislative developments, alongside practical insights into the implementation of key integration measures, such as introduction programmes, settlement schemes, and language training in each country.

The data were collected as desktop research conducted between May and September 2025. This included a review of official government websites, legislative texts, policy documents, and reports from relevant national authorities. The findings were complemented and validated through expert interviews and written contributions from each country.

The report is structured in the following way:

Chapter 1 introduces the study, key terminology and the methods used to conduct the study.

Chapter 2 presents a brief overview of immigration to the Nordic countries based on data from the Nordic Statistics database.

Chapter 3 provides a country-by-country overview of key actors, strategic directions in integration policy, and specific integration measures, such as introduction programmes, settlement schemes, language education and access to social assistance, financial support, and healthcare and schooling for different categories of migrants. The main focus is on Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, with shorter sections covering the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and the Åland Islands.

Chapter 4 summarises the main findings, highlighting similarities and differences in how the Nordic countries address integration. The study concludes with a comparative summary table.

The study was commissioned by the Nordic Welfare Centre and carried out by Nordregio, with significant input from the Steering Group of the Nordic Integration Programme, consisting of representatives from the national ministries responsible for integration.

Key terminology

Asylum seeker: A person who seeks protection from persecution or serious harm in a country other than their own and awaits a decision on the application for refugee status under relevant international and national instruments. In the EU context, a third-country national or stateless person who has made an application for protection under the Geneva Refugee Convention and Protocol in respect of which a final decision has not yet been taken. In most EU Member States “application for asylum” is understood as a synonym to application for international protection (EMN, 2025).

Beneficiary of temporary protection: A person who enjoys temporary protection under the Temporary Protection Directive (Directive 2001/55/EC) uses the term ‘person enjoying temporary protection’ (EMN, 2025).

Civic orientation course: A part of the (national) integration programmes for migrants/third-country nationals residing legally in a host country which aims to convey knowledge and understanding of the fundamental values of the host country, the legal system, the residents’ rights and duties, access to the labour market as well as important knowledge for everyday life which is needed to participate in society (EMN, 2025).

Descendant: Native-born with two foreign-born parents (Nordic Statistics Database, 2025).

Displaced person: A third-country national or stateless person who has had to leave their country or region of origin, or has been evacuated, in particular in response to an appeal by international organisations, and is unable to return in safe and durable conditions because of the situation prevailing in that country (EMN, 2025).

Family migrant: Immigrant who arrives to join family members (EMN, 2025).

Family reunification: The entry into and residence in a country by family members of a third-country national residing lawfully in that EU Member State in order to preserve the family unit, whether the family relationship arose before or after the resident’s entry (EMN, 2025).

Foreign-born: A foreign-born individual with two foreign-born parents (foreign-born with native-born adoptive parents are excluded) (Nordic Statistics Database, 2025).

Immigrant: A person who moves into a country other than that of his or her nationality or usual residence, so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence (IOM, n.d.).

Integration: The two-way process of mutual adaptation between migrants and the societies in which they live, whereby migrants are incorporated into the social, economic, cultural and political life of the receiving community. It entails a set of joint responsibilities for migrants and communities, and incorporates other related notions such as social inclusion and social cohesion (IOM, n.d.)

Integration programme: Set of measures put in place by the public actors and/or civil society organisations to support the integration of legally residing migrants/third-country nationals into the host society (EMN, 2025).

Labour migrant: Immigrant who moves from one country to another primarily for the purpose of employment (IOM, n.d.).

Migrant: An umbrella term, not defined under international law, reflecting the common lay understanding of a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons (IOM, n.d.).

Newly arrived: The term lacks a single, clear legal or statistical definition but generally refers to individuals who have recently immigrated and are eligible for specific integration measures. In Sweden, for example, it typically refers to those granted a residence permit and resettled in a municipality, usually for a period of two to three years while receiving integration support. The term also extends to their family members (EMN Sweden, 2025a).

Reception centre: Allocation with facilities for receiving, processing and attending to the immediate needs of refugees or asylum seekers as they arrive in a country of asylum (EMN, 2025).

Refugee: A person who, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it (IOM, n.d.).

Residence permit: is usually issued by a government authority and which evidences the permission a person has to reside and/ or work (IOM, n.d.).

Rest of population: Total population excluding descendants and foreign-born with two foreign-born parents (Nordic Statistics Database, 2025).

Settlement in a municipality: Refers to the formal process of assigning new newly arrived immigrants (typically refugees or those granted residence permits) to a specific municipality for residence. This process, often called municipality placement, makes the local government responsible for providing housing, services, and integration support. For example, in Sweden, this as mandated by the Settlement Act (2016:38).

Quota refugees: A quantitative restriction on the number of migrants (refugees and other individuals in need of international protection) admitted into a country. The person is admitted as part of a planned and organised programme, often in cooperation with the UNHCR. The number of quota refugees received is determined by the national government (EMN Sweden, 2025a).