VAB: apply within 30 days when you stay home with a sick child
For ordinary VAB, the clock starts on the first day home, not when your child recovers. Long illnesses may need an application before you return to work.
Apply for ordinary VAB within 30 days of the first day you stayed home. The deadline does not start when your child recovers.
This guide covers parents missing work to care for a sick child under 12. VAB is temporary parental benefit (tillfällig föräldrapenning).
Who can get VAB?
You must give up work, or lose unemployment benefit, to care for the child. You must also be insured in Sweden.
The child must live in Sweden, another European Union or European Economic Area country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom. The Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) assesses whether the conditions are met.
Children younger than eight months have more limited routes to VAB. Hospital care is one example. This guide does not cover every exception for infants or older children.
When do I need to apply?
Försäkringskassan’s deadline guidance says the 30-day limit applies from 1 April 2026. The previous limit was 90 days.
For a child who became ill on or after that date, count from the first day you stayed home. Do not wait for a long illness to end before considering the deadline.
Försäkringskassan says a long care period may mean applying before the child is well. Ordinary VAB is normally not paid for days more than 30 days before the application arrived.
Late applications can be accepted in exceptional circumstances. For example, the parent may have been too seriously ill or injured to apply in time.
There is a separate exception when you receive VAB because your child is seriously ill. Försäkringskassan says there is no application time limit in that situation. The 30-day rule applies again when the child is no longer seriously ill.
When does my child need a certificate?
For a child under 12, a doctor or nurse must provide a certificate from the eighth calendar day of the care period. Weekends count too.
Försäkringskassan’s certificate guidance sets out who sends it. The doctor or nurse should send the certificate digitally. If that is not possible, they give it to the parent.
The parent must send the certificate if the healthcare professional does not. A certificate and an application are separate parts of the process. Försäkringskassan still decides whether you meet the conditions for payment.
How is the payment worked out?
VAB is a little less than 80% of your usual income, with a limit. It does not replace every krona of lost pay.
The calculation depends on your sickness benefit qualifying income (sjukpenninggrundande inkomst), known as SGI.
Försäkringskassan’s SGI guidance explains that the agency assesses SGI when you apply for a benefit that needs it. The assessment considers your income and how you work.
Income from work can form the basis of SGI. Other benefits do not create SGI by themselves. You cannot get an advance SGI decision simply by looking on Mina sidor.
Where to get help
You can apply through Försäkringskassan’s website or app, or request a paper form. The agency normally decides within 30 days, but investigations can take longer.
Försäkringskassan’s contact page lists telephone and other contact routes. Its number for personal cases is 0771-524 524. Paper certificates can also be sent to the address listed there.
