Hej look, it's another fun Swedish compound! Anknytningsperson is formed from anknytning + person, nouns meaning "a connection" or "a close relationship" and, straightforwardly for English-speakers, "a person".
Various forms of the word anknytning have developed more specific meanings over time: the meaning "a close relationship between people with a strong emotional bond, often between parent and child" has been attested since 1852, and developed from related forms meaning of "a connection" or "a tie".
In 1990, an even more specific definition got added to the dictionary: the Svenska Ordbok (the official dictionary of the Swedish Academy) gives "connection to person(s) in a specific country that may be relevant to decisions regarding immigration to that country" as its fourth definition.
This is the meaning used in the compound word anknytningsperson, which underlies much of Swedish migration law on family reunification, including the new rules coming into force on October 1st 2026.
In the terms of that law, an anknytningsperson is someone who resides in Sweden (and/or has the right to reside in Sweden) who is applying to have a foreign relative live with them – or to continue living with them – in Sweden.
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In current Swedish migration law, there are different categories of anknytningspersoner to which varying requirements (for example financial support) apply. The categories correspond to the residency status of the anknytningsperson; there are, for example, anknytningspersoner with permanent residency permits, anknytningspersoner on time-limited research or work permits, and anknytningspersoner who are Swedish citizens.
Etymologically, the knyt part of anknytning is as close to English as the word person – closer, actually. While person came to the Germanic languages via French and Latin, knyt is an old common Germanic word that has cognates (cousin-words) all over the modern Germanic languages.
The Swedish anknytning, for example, is closely related to the verb att anknyta ("to connect to a larger whole"), which is in turn derived from att knyta en knut "to tie a knot."
From there it's easy to see the connection to various related English words like "knot" and "to knit."
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