When we started this blog, we promised to talk about the good, bad, and ugly of moving to Sweden. There has been a lot of good - see almost every other post on this blog - but today I thought I would discuss something from the “bad” category. That subject - the incredibly inefficient, disempowering process of getting started in Sweden.Â
This process starts, like with many countries, with the application for a work permit. This part is not bad. Most of the paperwork is done by your employer. However, it is your first taste of waiting for a decision. This typically takes about 10 working days from application to decision. Interestingly, in my case, I was informed that there was a decision before that 10 day point, but I had to wait several more days to find out what that decision was.Â
The real fun starts once you arrive. To function in Swedish society, you need three basic things. You need a personnummer (an ID number, the equivalent of the US social security number), an ID card, and a bank account.Â
Almost all things require the personnummer. Healthcare depends on the personnummer, opening a bank account depends on the personummer AND having an ID card, getting basic governmental services, opening a non pre-paid cellphone account, all of that - you need the personnummer.Â
I mention a bank account. You might ask - can’t you just use a foreign bank account? To some extent, you can, but this is more limited than you might expect. You need a Swedish bank account to get paid, of course, but that’s just part of the problem. Sweden is largely a cashless society, so you can’t really just withdraw some money from an ATM and use that - many businesses won’t take cash. This, hilariously, includes banks. If you have the right kinds of credit cards, you can pay using those. Fortunately, I do. Michelle had some problems with this before I arrived. Even then, because the US does not use a “chip and pin” system, you have to show ID and sign a receipt every time you make a purchase. As you can imagine, this is a slow process, and it is really embarrassing to be the one holding up a line every time you make even a simple purchase. So, you need a bank account as quickly as possible. This depends on having an ID card, which depends on you having a personnummer.Â
As a foreign resident, there is one additional step in this process. It is not sufficient to just be on file as having a residence permit. You need to have a “residence card”, an ID that only really is used when you cross the border into the European Union. Of course, you need this to get your personnummer. When you arrive, the first thing you need to do is go register for this card and get photographed and fingerprinted. The office where you do this will ask you to book an appointment, but the appointment slots are limited and often booked weeks in advance.Â
Fortunately, they do allow drop-in... for part of the day. Everyone knows this, so even arriving half-an-hour before opening, I had to get in a line that was already around the block. For the past few years, Sweden has allowed an influx of foreign refugees from the middle east. This has taxed immigration services, but at the same time, Sweden has seemingly not increased their staffing of those services. This has created a mess. Fortunately, I got through in an hour and a half or so. It could have been worst - not many people were there for biometrics that day.Â
Now, this doesn’t sound that different from the experience of getting an ID in the US. You go to the DMV, you wait, and then you register. However, in the US, you leave with an ID that day. In Sweden, the request for an ID is sent off to some other office, who will mail you the residence ID in about two weeks. Luckily, this also fell on the short end of the scale for both of us - closer to one week than two. Still, here we have a stage where an inefficient process could be simplified - just do on-site ID printing.Â
Next, you can apply for your personnummer and sign up for the social services register. This involves a trip to the Swedish Tax Agency, the infamous Skatteverket. They are infamous for their lines, and boy, that can be true. I’ve been to visit them twice so far. The second was not so bad. The first... That was a bit of a wait. In any case, you again don’t get a the personnummer that day. You register and... you wait. They tell you this can take up to 14 weeks. In practice, that number is more for those coming from active warzones. Americans seem to get through pretty quickly. I’m on this waiting step now, Michelle’s took something like a week.Â
Once you have the personnummer, it’s time for your ID card. To order this, you must again visit the Skatteverket. You need to pay about two days before you come for your appointment, and come with proof of payment. You get photographed again, but of course, you then have to wait for the ID to be printed somewhere else. This time, you don’t get mailed the ID. Instead, you have to come back to Skatteverket yet again to pick up the ID. God help you if you don’t have the right paperwork.Â
Now, finally, you can open a bank account. This, as you can probably guess, involves more waiting. You can’t just come in an open an account. You come in, fill out paperwork, then the paperwork is sent off to some other office who decides - eventually - if you are worthy of a bank account. This can apparently take up to seven weeks during the summer. Oh, and banks are only open 10 AM - 1 PM on weekdays during the summer. Good luck. Again, it looks like we’ll get accounts in a much shorter timeframe than seven weeks, but this is a sharp contrast from the process in the US, where you just go to the bank and open an account on the spot.Â
Each step of this process depends on the previous step. Each step involves, generally, at least a week of waiting time. All the while, you are waiting to get paid and are unable to fully participate in society. We have had a pretty positive experience here so far. There is a whole lot to love. This process also feels needlessly inefficient and extremely unwelcoming to new residents. During this time, you are powerless, dependent on savings, and unable to move forward on things like getting housing. Lifelong residents don’t notice - they’ve always had a personnummer, or they don’t mind waiting because no one step of this process is unreasonably long. The problem comes from having to complete the entire process at once. This process could easily be improved too. Allow ID printing on-site. Bundle ID and personnummer registration together - you can’t have one without the other. A few minor improvements would make a world of difference.
In any case, that is enough complaining for now. More beautiful pictures to come!
