Begin your new life in Sweden
Last updated: 19 6 2019
Read here about what you need to do and what public authorities you need to contact when you have been granted a residence permit.
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Notification of your move to Sweden
Once you have moved to Sweden, you have to be registered in the Swedish population register. In order to be registered there, you have to notify the authorities that you have moved to Sweden. You do that by going to the Tax Agency's local service centre.
When you visit the Tax Agency's service centre to notify them of your move to Sweden, you also have to provide information for your registration in the population register. All the members of your family who have moved to Sweden have to accompany you to the Tax Agency's service centre, including any children. Once the Tax Agency have registered you and your family in the population register, they will send you a letter (at the address you specified that you had moved to) containing personal identity numbers for you and your family.
Before you visit the Tax Agency's service centre, you need to fill in an application available via the Tax Agency's Move to Sweden e-service on their website. The e-service also tells you what information and documents are required to ensure the process is as quick as possible once you go to the Tax Agency's service centre. The Move to Sweden e-service is accessible to everyone. When you have filled in the application, you have to print it out and take it with you to the service centre. If you do not have access to a computer, there are computers at the service centre you can use.
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Folkbokföring (Population register)
Everyone who lives in Sweden is registered in the population register, which maintains data on who lives in Sweden and where.
When you visit the Tax Agency's service centre to notify them of your move and to get registered in the population register, it is very important that you are able to answer the questions the Tax Agency needs to ask you. If there are documents missing or no answer is given to specific questions, you may have to wait much longer to become registered and get your personal identity number.
If you provide the Tax Agency with complete and correct information, you will be registered in about four weeks. Applications containing all the requested information are given priority. If information is missing, you may have to wait much longer – possibly several months. In that case, it is also very important that you have given correct contact information to the Tax Agency. You may have to wait even longer if they are unable to reach you to ask you about the missing information. It is important, therefore, that you notify the Tax Agency if you move to another address before you have received a reply to your application – so that your papers are sent to the right address.
You need to take the following with you to the Tax Agency's service centre:
- Passport, if you have one
- Swedish residence permit
- A document certifying your civil status
- Birth certificates for your children, if you have any
- Your address
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Personnummer (Personal identity number)
When you get a reply from the Tax Agency saying that you have been registered, you will also receive a personal identity number (personnummer). Your personal identity number is necessary for:
- Receive various payments from Försäkringskassan.
- Open a bank account.
- Apply for an ID document.
- Apply for an e-ID.
- Participate in activities in Arbetsförmedlingen's introduction programme.
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Id-kort (ID card)
ID is short for identity card. You use your ID card to prove your age and your identity, for example when you buy medication in a pharmacy, use a bank card to pay in a shop, or when taking care of bank business. You can apply for an ID card at some Tax Agency service centres.
Before you visit a Tax Agency service centre to apply for an ID card, you have to:
- Be registered in the Swedish population register
- Be at least 13 years old
- Have paid the application fee of SEK 400 and be able to prove your payment with a receipt or an extract from your bank account
- Be able to prove your identity. Take an approved identity document (such as your passport) or a valid residence permit with you
- Have your custodians' approval (if you are under 18).
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Getting a bank account
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E-legitimation (E-ID)
An e-ID is an electronic proof of identity that you use online. You can use the same e-ID for many services on the internet regardless of which government agency, municipality or company is providing the service (such as Arbetsförmedlingen or the Tax Agency).
You can get a BankID and a Mobile BankID from the bank where you have an account.
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Visit Arbetsförmedlingen
It is important that you contact Arbetsförmedlingen as soon as possible after you have received a decision on your residence permit. Arbetsförmedlingen will determine if you are eligible to participate in the introduction programme.
When you visit Arbetsförmedlingen, you have to take the decision on your residence permit (which you will have been sent by the Migration Agency) with you. The first thing that will happen is that an assessment will be made of your previous knowledge – this is in order to adapt your action plan to your individual circumstances. The assessment can begin before you have been registered and have received your personal identity number, but you must have documentation that you have been granted a residence permit, and you have to be able to prove your identity. You will receive an allowance during the period of the assessment.
You have to be registered and have received your personal identity number in order to be enrolled in the introduction programme. It is important, therefore, that you answer the questions that the Tax Agency will ask you when you notify them of your move to Sweden so that you can become registered in the population register as quickly as possible.
You have to be enrolled in the introduction programme to begin doing activities to prepare you for work or training/education. You will then be eligible to apply for an introduction benefit from Försäkringskassan.
If you are new in Sweden and taking part in the Establishment Programme, the Intensive Year could be an opportunity for you. Over a period of one year, you can study at a fast pace or do an intensive full-time internship at a place of work, in combination with spare-time activities. The goal is for you to find a job quickly.
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Benefits from Försäkringskassan
Once you have been registered with Arbetsförmedlingen for the introduction programme you can apply for benefits from Försäkringskassan. You apply for one month at a time, retroactively.
Försäkringskassan have a video in which they explain what the introduction benefit is and how you apply for it. This information is only available in Swedish.
