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I am an asylee in the United States. I am from Afghanistan and have an Afghanistan passport, but because I was granted asylum, I am not able to use my Afghanistan passport. I have an I-131 refugee travel document issued by USA. I want to travel to Sweden to visit family members.

How can I do it? Do I need a visa? Or it is visa-free for USA travel document holders? How long it is going to take to get a visa? What kind of documents do I have to provide?

I need to know details so I can plan appropriately. Also any source that provides more information would be great.

2 Answers 2

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Yes, unless you have a passport from a country that doesn't require visa to Sweden, a visa is required (you can check here, for example). Follow the instructions here.

Since you're an Afghani citizen, you'd need a visa to Sweden with your home country passport anyway. You do not have to use the Afghani passport if you have a US refugee travel document (in fact, you may not be allowed to, based on the comments), but you do need a visa. Only US passport holders can travel to Sweden visa-free for short visits. US travel document (not a national passport) holders need a visa.

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    This isn't really all that clear. It seems that the OP doesn't have a (usable) passport at all. He's got one from Afghanistan, but it seems that asylum status has, essentially, voided the Afghan passport.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Feb 12 at 17:41
  • My answer was written before the information about Afghanistan was edited in. I'll update it.
    – littleadv
    Commented Feb 12 at 18:00
  • Ah, my bad. I didn't look at timestamps. Sorry.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Feb 12 at 18:15
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    OP cannot use their Afghanistan passport. The way US asylum law works, that would cause OP to lose their asylee status in the United States. Similarly, they must apply for a Swedish visa on their US travel document, not on their Afghanistan passport. Commented Feb 13 at 20:45
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    @A.R. it's not just US asylum law; it's in the refugee convention. The US is actually rather more lax on this question that it has to be; see for example asylumist.com/2022/05/25/… -- they mostly don't like it if you have lied in your initial claim. Once you have a green card, if the situation at home has genuinely changed, you don't jeopardize your status by using your national passport.
    – phoog
    Commented Feb 13 at 22:00
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I want to clarify the issue:

  1. You will travel on your U.S. Refugee Travel document

  2. You will need a visa for traveling to Sweden on the document.

  • But do check with the Swedish Embassy as these rules may change. Some countries allow visa-free entry, not Sweden as far as I know.

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