Moving to Sweden Boden

Moving to Sweden Boden

Sweden is a highly digital country so when you move to Sweden there are lots of things you will need to know. To try and make it easier for you, we have made this page with some tips.

Get a residence permit

This is almost always step one. Sweden’s Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) handles issues relating to immigration, visas, permits and citizenship.

Maybe you already secured the necessary residence permit required to legally reside and work in Sweden before arriving – through a job, family, or for study purposes. But you may still want to locate your nearest Migration Agency field or head office in case you need to renew permits.

SKATTEVERKET (NO, WE DIDN’T SNEEZE)

If you move to Sweden from abroad and plan to live here for one year or more, you will usually be required to be listed in the Swedish Population Register. This means you will be registered as resident in Sweden. The Swedish Tax Agency will record details such as your name, address, date of birth and civil status. Once you are registered as resident in Sweden, we will give you a Swedish personal identity number. The Swedish Tax Agency decides whether or not you meet the registration requirements.

In order to be registered in Sweden and aquire a Swedish personal identity number you need to fill in an application (Swedes love these!) to report you moving to Sweden. You can fill out the application here, we’re sorry that the link goes to a Swedish page but you can choose English right away (we just can’t link to it).

You need to visit a Swedish state service centre with your application. All of your family members who have moved to Sweden must visit a service centre. You need to bring certain documents with you to the service centre. The requirements vary depending on your citizenship and other circumstances. The application will give you suggestions of which documents to bring.

Moving to Sweden – Civil registration | Skatteverket

If you come to Sweden to work, you must be registered for tax here. This means that you must apply for tax registration whether or not you have a coordination number.

If you are not listed in the Swedish Population Register, you must submit a tax registration application for each period of work or each income year.

If you do not have a coordination number, the Swedish Tax Agency will assign one to you when we process your application for tax registration. You do not need to apply for a coordination number as well.

The length of your stay in Sweden determines how you are taxed, and how you should apply for tax registration.

Work and employment in Sweden: a guide to taxes and population registration | Skatteverket

TIPS!

A Swedish Government service when you are about to relocate to Sweden for work: Flytta till Sverige (officialswedishservices.se)

Cash is king?

Sweden is at the forefront of the digitalisation of the payment market. Among other things, this is because fewer and fewer people in Sweden are using cash while more and more payment solutions are emerging. For example, it is becoming more common to use a mobile to make payments.

A lot of stores and restaurants in Sweden are cash free and only accept digital payment. So when moving to Sweden having a bank card is important.

Electronic commerce and mobile payments, such as Swish, are becoming increasingly common. Other payment applications such as Apple Pay and Google Pay are also becoming more popular.

People in Sweden pay less and less often in cash. In ten years (according to Riksbanken), the proportion paying with cash has fallen from around 40 per cent to less than 10 per cent. Cash is now mostly used for small payments and primarily by older people.

Getting a bank card

Some things are easier said than done in Sweden. We wish we could tell you that getting a bank card in Sweden for a non-swede is easy but even tho it’s not at the click of a button, it is doable. You can’t in most cases do this online because there is next to no information in English.

But first things first, you need a Swedish Coordination Number to make this process as easy as possible. Secondly you need to visit the bank in person and talk to them. Luckily most Swedes are fluent in English so this won’t be an issue, language wise anyway.

You will need Freja

Freja eID is a free, government-approved mobile electronic identity. It allows you to access more than 300 online services, contains a digital ID card that you can use instead of your ID document at more than 5000 locations, and allows you to store and show your Covid Certificate.

Freja eID+ also comes with a free ID protection that alerts you whenever there is a change to your address in the Tax Agency’s Register (Folkbokföringsdatabasen).

Freja is designed to be fully compatible with Swedish and EU legislation around digital identities and the handing of personal data.

Thanks to this, you may use Freja to access public e-services in Sweden and be sure that you are using an approved, secure e-ID.

Most Swedes use Bank ID as their electronic ID but this only works when you have a Swedish Personal Identity Number.

Download the app and thank us later!

Moving with a child or planning to start a family?

Sweden has 480 days of paid parental leave with each child! These days are meant for you to enjoy time with your child, because on top of the 480 days paid parental leave you are entitled to 120 paid days off a year to do so through the VAB system (vård av barn in Swedish, meaning care for children). 

Daycare in Sweden is also one of the most comprehensive and generous systems in the world, with each family only paying a fraction of what they make, capped at a top rate of approximately €150 euros a month for the first child, and a reduced rate for each subsequent child. Daycare is also available for students in Sweden with children.

Make sure you are insured through Försäkringskassan so you can use this benefit.  

Being a parent in Sweden

VAB

Expecting a child

Arrange daycare or school

If you have children, investigate the different options available and get in touch with your local city council to begin the enrollment procedure. Boden Municipality only has online application for preschools and schools in Swedish.

Read more about the preschools and schools in Boden.

Learn Swedish

Don’t wait until the previous steps are completed. Begin today!

A basic understanding of Swedish will make it easier for you to find your place in Swedish society. Once you have a Swedish personal identity number, you can sign up for free Swedish courses arranged by the government programme Swedish for immigrants (SFI).

Get a Swedish driving licence

If you’re planning to drive in Sweden, check up on whether you can use your current licence (körkort) or if you’ll need a new one. Familiarise yourself with Swedish road rules, signs and parking regulations.

After one year as a resident, you are usually required to obtain a Swedish driving licence. For that, you contact the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket).

 

Learn about life in Boden and our quirks

Make sure you are insured at Försäkringskassan 

If you are going to work in Sweden but are not registered here, you need to register with Försäkringskassan. If you are going to be here for at least one year, you need to register your address at the Swedish Tax Agency so that you can be registered.

Sweden has a social insurance system to provide financial security during different stages of life. It includes social insurance benefits for families with children, people with a disability or illness and the elderly. For example, compensation for sick leave or care of children (vab in Swedish). The system is publicly funded through taxes and dues.

Healthcare

To get full access to the generous Swedish Health Care system you need to have a Swedish Personal Identity Number and that takes time. If you are citizen in an EU/EES country you have access to emergency healthcare at the same costs as a Swede. If you are from a country outside of EU/EES, you have access to healthcare but you usually have to pay the whole cost yourself. So when you move to Sweden, make sure to be insured!

Children and young people under the age of 18 are entitled to the same healthcare and dental care as other children living in Sweden. Such care is largely free for children but it can vary depending on where you live. Medication for children is free if you have a prescription from a doctor.

Dial 1177 for advice on health care

You can call 1177, 24 hours a day for advice about health care. You can also call if you are unsure of where in the health care system you should go.

At 1177.se, you can also find contact information for care centres, and see which ones are open at evenings and weekends.

Contact your care centre if you fall ill

The care centres are staffed by professionals with a broad competence, who take care of the most common ailments, chronic diseases, many of the diseases that affect children and the elderly, mental ill health and various injuries.

Here, you will get an initial assessment of your complaints. Should you need further care, you will be referred to a physician who is a specialist in his/her field, for example a dermatologist, orthopaedist, or psychiatrist.

Care centres in Boden

Björknäs hälsocentral (in Swedish)

Sandens hälsocentral (in Swedish)

Lärkans hälsocentral (in Swedish)

Health care in other languages

DENTAL CARE 

If you are insured in Sweden, you can receive free dental care until the age of 23. The year you turn 24 and are required to pay for dental care, you can receive national dental care subsidy.

Folktandvården i Norrbotten (the Public Dental Service) has clinics for general dental care, specialised dental care and hospital dentistry.
Folktandvården Boden  (in Swedish)

Dental care provided by private dentists in Boden.
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