Moving to Sweden, living in Sweden as an EU, UK or Australian Citizen

Moving to Sweden is one of the best, and most complicated, things I have ever done. At first I thought it was just me not looking hard enough, but the more and more people I talk to, I have realised that there is a real information gap online when it comes to Swedish visas, residence permits, and more general information like how to get a personal number or what to do if you are moving to Sweden as an EU citizen or from the UK. In this guide I have included information about work visas, the sambo visa (partner visa), student visas and tourist visas.

Before I continue I want to mention that Sweden is well structured for people who fit in the system. For example, if you are moving from a country outside of the EU, such as Australia and are under 30, you can apply for a working holiday visa. I will talk more about this below! However, if you are like me and don’t quite fit into their system then it makes everything much more complicated! 

My Visa Experience

I am a British Australian Dual National which makes things a little complicated. As a member of the EU I was able to move to Sweden for 6 months as a jobseeker without needing a visa. Healthcare gets much harder in that situation and I needed to have insurance I was not a UK resident before moving. Post-Brexit residency has also been SO hard because of some requirements I did not have due to being Australian. This includes healthcare, income etc. But I will talk more about that later!

I thought I would put together a guide for moving to Sweden to make it easier for all of you! I have included all the information and links that I wish I could have found when I first started researching.

DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert on any of these things, I have just compiled a list of information that I know about or have read up on during my move. If you have any specific questions then I would recommend contacting the Swedish Migrations Agency. Bear in mind that everyone’s case is different.

This guide includes:

• Different Types of Visas
• Getting a Personal Number
• Setting Up a Bank Account

Visas you need to know about if you’re thinking of moving to Sweden

This one depends where you are coming from and what your reasons for moving are! The best place to search for information is on Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Office) or Skatteverket (The Swedish Tax Agency). I have include the best links I could find for every type of Visa below.

Sambo Visa or the Partner Visa

This visa is specifically if you are moving to Sweden for love. It includes moving with/ or to a person you are either married to or who is your de-facto partner. Migrationsverket usually prefer that you have lived together for 6 months before moving to Sweden together. It can be a little risky applying for this if you haven’t but still worth a try. There are two different types of sambo visa, one for EU citizens and one for those who are not.

An EU citizen moving to Sweden on a sambo visa

As an Australian UK dual national, I was able to apply for the EU citizen moving to a partner in Sweden residence permit. For this permit, you are allowed to be in Sweden while your application is pending. The cost is free, but the waiting time is anywhere from 13 – 24 months. During the process both you and your partner have to fill in a long online interview about your relationship. Closer to approval there is also a formal interview. In order to qualify for this visa, it must be clear that your partner meets the maintenance requirement. This means the amount of money required to support you in Sweden. The exact amounts can be seen here, but it is around 8200kr a month for two partners living together.

Due to brexit this no longer applies for UK citizens and they must now apply for the visa below.

Sambo visa for countries outside the EU

If you are not an EU citizen, you must apply for the sambo visa before you move to Sweden. You can find information on it here. You must include proof of passport, proof of shared accommodation and shared lifestyle costs. The visa costs 2000kr ($320 AUD or $340 USD) and takes around 11 – 13 months to be approved. During the process you have to provide a detailed response online about how you met and your time together. This is a great visa to have as you have right of residence in Sweden until either your relationship ends or you can apply for permanent residency. If you have the time to wait for the application to be approved then I would definitely take this route! 

Moving To Sweden on Working Holiday Visa

I mentioned the Working Holiday Visa briefly earlier. It is a 1 year long visa that allows you to live and work in Sweden. To be eligible for this visa you must be a citizen of Australia, Chile, Hong Kong, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea or Uruguay. You must also be between the ages of 18 and 30. The application itself costs 1500kr (around $240 AUD), and you must have at least 15,000kr ($2400 AUD) in your bank account. This is to support yourself when you are first living in Sweden. On top of this, you must either have a return ticket home, or enough money to buy one. The waiting time for this visa is around 7 – 10 months.

This is a great visa for young people that want to experience life in Sweden for a short time! I would recommend it to anyone living in the eligible countries as the best way to start out.

EU Citizens Moving To Sweden

Due to the freedom of movement, it is quite an easy process to move to Sweden from another EU country. You are able to live in Sweden for 3 – 6 months as a ‘“job seeker”, and after this time, if you do not have right of residence you must apply for a residence permit. Right of residence in Sweden means either working, studying, or being self-sufficient. If you are any of these things, you do not need to register yourself of apply for a visa.

The most common form of residence permit is applying as “an EU citizen moving to live with a family member in Sweden”. I briefly spoke about this visa about in the sambo visa section – the same rules apply for other family members. To be eligible for this visa, your family member must meet the maintenance requirement (the amount of money needed to prove they can support you). The exact amounts can be seen here. This visa has a much longer waiting time of 13 – 24 months, but you are allowed to stay in the country while you wait for your visa to be approved.

Work Visa

In order to get a work visa in Sweden you must already have a signed job with a Swedish company and an income that is more than 13,000kr per month before taxes. You can find all the detailed information here. This visa is initiated by the employer and can take anywhere from a week to 8 months to be approved (depending on your situation).

If your job contract is for a year of more, you will be able to register in the Swedish Population Register and get a personal number. I will speak more about this later though.

Tourist Visa

I would not recommend getting a tourist visa if you are looking to move to Sweden as it makes the rest of the process very complicated. However, if you are just on this page to find out how to come to Sweden on a holiday, then this is the visa for you!

Depending where you are from, you may not have to apply for a visa at all. The list of countries that do need a visa can be found here. If you are planning to stay for 90 days or longer then you must apply for a visitors residence permit. For this, you must have a return ticket and enough money to support yourself over the period you are visiting.

Getting A Personal Number

Why is a personal number important when moving to Sweden?

Something nobody tells you before moving to Sweden is that a personal number is everything. Without a personal number it is a struggle to pick up post and visit the health centres, as well as the more simple things in life like go to the gym or joining the supermarket rewards programs. I say this, however, it is definitely not impossible to live here without one, just VERY, VERY difficult! As I am writing this, I still do not have a personal number so don’t let it put you off – it is just something to keep in mind!

How To Get A Personal Number

To get a personal number you must be living in Sweden with the intent to stay for a year or longer. This means:

• Having a job contract that lasts more than 1 year
• Being a part of a study program that lasts more than 1 year
• Having a residence permit that lasts over a year (sambo visa etc.)

If you have one of these things then you can take the relevant documents in to Skatteverket and they will help you process an application. It can take anywhere from 4 days to 10 months to get this processed (depending on your circumstances).

If you are working but do not have a 1 year contract, you must apply for a Samordingsnummer, or co-ordination number. This is essentially a temporary tax number which means you can get paid, and pay tax in Sweden. With this number you can often open bank accounts and join programs such as SFI (Swedish courses for immigrants), however it is still quite limited.

Setting Up A Bank Account in Sweden

Setting up a bank account was honestly one of the most painful things I have had to do here. It involved WAY too many trips to the bank with different documents and to sort out features that it turns out that without a personal number I cannot even have.

I am no expect on this – so all the information I am giving comes purely from my own personal experiences.

What Bank Should I Open My Account With?

I have had two bank accounts in Sweden, one with Swedbank and one with Nordea. Personally, my favourite has been Nordea, only because I think that the online features that I have access to are much better than those with the basic Swedbank account.

What is Bank ID?

Bank ID is the Swedish form of security when it comes to online banking. This is connected to your personal number and used for everything online that requires proof of identity – whether it be paying for something by card or logging on to the Migrationsverket website.

Opening a bank account with a personal number

Banks in Sweden are quite strict when it comes to opening accounts for people without personal numbers – they want to make sure you are opening one for legitimate reasons. Nordea, have the rule that you can only open an account on the basis that you either have a job in Sweden, are studying in Sweden, or have a personal number.

Legally, if you are from the EU, you are eligible for a bank account in Sweden. They often try and tell you that you are not but if you are persistent it pays off. I found that if you can show that you have money to transfer that you have earnt yourself, then they will generally bend the rules for you. For example, I took in my last 3 Australian pay slips and copies of my debit and savings accounts to show them. With this they were able to open a basic account for me.

A basic account means that you have access to a debit card and basic internet banking. This is only enough to send and receive money online but it works. However, you cannot have Mobile Bank ID and you must validate all online purchases with a small security device. This means that if you are sometimes buying things online, on the go, you must carry it around with you.

If you have any questions at all – drop them down in the comments or send me an email at katiesaway@gmail.com!

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