Life in Sweden
Make yourself at home.
From your first bank account to finding a place to live. Practical reading for everyday life in Sweden.
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First month in Sweden: personnummer, ID-kort, BankID, bank
Folkbokföring, personnummer, ID-kort, BankID, bank account: five steps that each seem to require the previous one. Here is the order that works, and roughly how long it takes.
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32 articles
Work permits
Losing your job on a work permit: the three-month rule
The count starts on your last day of employment, not on the day you were told, and it stops early if the permit expires first. What the next contract has to pay, and the four things to do in week one.
8 min read
Work permits
Starting a business in Sweden on a residence permit
Which permit your plan needs, the 200 000 kr you must be able to show, what Bolagsverket and Skatteverket cost, and the extension where Migrationsverket checks whether the business actually ran.
9 min read
Family
Förskola and school for newly arrived families in Sweden
The kommun has four months to offer a förskola place and the school has two to decide the year group. What the maxtaxa costs after 1 July 2026, and how to apply before the personnummer arrives.
8 min read
Life admin
The Swedish tax return for newcomers: your first deklaration
Whether you are folkbokförd or on SINK, who has to file, the 2026 season date by date, what the pre-filled form cannot know, and the part-year rule that decides your refund.
8 min read
Life admin
Finding your first job in Sweden: the order that works
Register with Arbetsförmedlingen, join an a-kassa, send your diplomas to UHR, and learn which support your permit actually entitles you to. What the 1 October 2025 a-kassa rules changed.
9 min read
Permanent residence
Leaving Sweden: what happens to your residence permit
One notification keeps a permanent permit for a year abroad, two years only after a research or doctoral permit. What to file with Migrationsverket, Skatteverket and Försäkringskassan, and what a long absence does to the citizenship count.
9 min read
Work permits
EU Blue Card in Sweden 2026: 53 625 kr and permanent residence in 3 years
The salary threshold since 15 July 2026, the education or experience you must show, how long the first card runs, what it costs for you and your family, and the 36-month road to permanent residence that an ordinary work permit does not offer.
8 min read
Work permits
Self-employed permit in Sweden: 200 000 kr and a two-year test
The money you must already have, the eight things Migrationsverket checks, the documents that decide the case, why the first application has to be filed from outside Sweden, and what the agency looks at two years later when you ask for permanent residence.
8 min read
Family
Inviting family to Sweden 2026: the visa, the forms, the money
Which permit a visit needs, the two invitation forms and the population-register extract you send from Sweden, the 700 kr a day and the 30 000 euro insurance your relative must show, what a visa costs, and how long a parent may actually stay.
8 min read
Family
Marrying in Sweden as a foreigner: hindersprövning in 4 months
The free certificate from Skatteverket that has to come before any ceremony, what to submit when one of you is not registered in Sweden, the waiting times of 2, 7 and 8 weeks, who is allowed to marry you, and why a wedding is not a residence permit.
8 min read
Family
Divorce and your Swedish residence permit: the three ways to stay
Your permit was granted because you live with someone. What Migrationsverket publishes about what happens when that ends, the three routes to an extended permit, the three-year line to permanent residence, and how the divorce itself works at the tingsrätt.
8 min read
Family
Parental leave as a newcomer: 480 days, and what changes in 2027
How many parental benefit days you actually get, what a day pays in 2026, the 240-day income rule, the shorter allocation for a child who moved here, and the qualification requirement that starts on 1 January 2027.
8 min read
Family
Bringing your parents to Sweden in 2026: what is actually possible
Migrationsverket's own words are that it is very difficult. Here is the exact test for an adult relative, the maintenance figures for 2026, the one-year visitor's permit that pensioner parents actually get, and what changed on 12 and 13 July 2026.
8 min read
Students
Applying to a Swedish university as an international student
One national system, two admission rounds, one 900 kronor fee. The deadlines that decide whether you can get a residence permit in time, how ranking really works, and why an offer is only preliminary until the first tuition instalment is paid.
8 min read
Students
Student money in Sweden: CSN, the 15-hour rule and the fribelopp
Who can get studiemedel as a foreign citizen, what the 2026 grant and loan actually pay per week, how much you may earn before it is cut, and the 15-hour limit on work that applies to study permits granted from 11 June 2026.
8 min read
Life admin
Getting a foreign degree recognised in Sweden: the free UHR statement
What UHR's statement says and what it does not, who may apply, the documents that decide how long it takes, the professions where UHR is the wrong authority, and the average processing time of two to four months.
8 min read
Housing
First-hand contract in Sweden 2026: how the housing queue works
What a förstahandskontrakt is, how queue days are earned and lost, what landlords check besides the queue, and the rules that make a second-hand flat legal while you wait.
8 min read
Housing
Buying a bostadsrätt as a foreigner: the 2026 rules
Swedish law puts no nationality condition on buying a flat. The two gates are the housing association's membership decision and the bank's credit assessment: 90 per cent loan, 10 per cent of your own, and amortisation on top.
8 min read
Life admin
A Swedish bank account without a personnummer: your right
Consumers legally resident in the EEA have a right to a payment account with basic functions, and lacking a personnummer is not in itself a reason to refuse. What the account must contain, why banks still say no, and the ten-banking-day deadline.
8 min read
Life admin
Swedish ID card and BankID 2026: 400 kr and what it takes
Skatteverket's ID card costs 400 kr, is paid before you can book, and is not refunded if the application fails. Who can apply, which documents are accepted, how an intygsperson works, and where BankID fits.
8 min read
Life admin
Phone, home insurance and electricity: your first Swedish week
Three contracts decide a large part of your monthly costs. The grid company you cannot choose, the electricity supplier you can, the insurance nobody makes you buy, and the phone subscription whose binding period you pay for either way.
8 min read
Permanent residence
PUT card renewal on Min sida: 3 years, no fee, no new application
The card is valid for at most three years. You order a new one on Min sida, earliest three months before the expiry date, with no new application, and you book a visit for a fresh photo and fingerprints. What to do if you need to travel in between.
6 min read
Family
Family reunification in Sweden: the October 2026 rules
The family-immigration changes took effect on 1 October 2026. Start with the sponsor’s permit category: the general family route and accompanying families of workers, students and researchers have different provisions.
4 min read
Permanent residence
Permanent residence after 4 years of work permits: the 2026 checks
The four-in-seven-year work route, the documents to keep and why permanent residence does not set your citizenship date.
4 min read
Healthcare
Healthcare in Sweden 2026: 1177, fees and the 1 450 kr yearly cap
Who is covered and from when, how to choose and register at a health centre, what 1177 is on the phone and on the web, what a visit costs and where the yearly cap kicks in, and the difference between 1177, närakut, akuten and 112.
9 min read
Work permits
Changing employer on a work permit in 2026: what to file first
The 24-month rule, the new application you always need, the three-month window if you are let go, and the order of operations that lets you start the new job the day after you resign.
6 min read
Work permits
Work permit in Sweden 2026: the basics, and how renewal works
What Migrationsverket checks, the new 90 per cent salary rule from 1 June 2026, what your employer has to do, and the renewal timeline that keeps you legally working while you wait.
7 min read
Students
From student permit to work in 2026: the 12-month job-seeker permit
What you can do while studying, the permit that gives you a year to find work after graduation, the longer version for doctoral graduates since 11 June 2026, and how to switch to a work permit without leaving Sweden.
7 min read
Family
A baby born in Sweden in 2026: personnummer, permit, passport
The birth registers itself and a personnummer arrives in the post. The residence permit does not: it is at most two years, never longer than the child’s passport, and it is yours to apply for.
7 min read
Housing
Renting in Sweden 2026: förstahand, andrahand and what is legal
A new privatuthyrningslag took effect on 1 July 2026 and changed how a reasonable rent is judged. Here is what each contract type means, who has to give permission, and what to check before you pay.
8 min read
Life admin
Foreign driving licence in Sweden: the 1-year clock and 4 countries
A licence from outside the EEA is valid for one year after you are registered in Sweden. Only licences from the UK, the Faroe Islands, Switzerland and Japan can be exchanged; everyone else takes the Swedish theory and driving tests. The form, the fee, the address in Örebro, and what to do in month eleven.
8 min read