This article uses the concept of 'time' in order to better understand the situation of precarious migrants in Sweden. Through analysing a number of reports and interviews undertaken with newly arrived migrants in Sweden, it displays how different temporal understandings of the migrants are linked to and managed by governing bodies, laws and regulations. The article centres around two related research questions: (i) What constructions of time are used in the governing of precarious migrants? and (ii) How do these migrants understand their own and society's time?