Vad är ditt personnummer?
Today I would like to talk about the Swedish Holy Grail, the not avoidable personnummer (PN - personal number).
This number is delivered by Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) and is E-SSEN-TIAL if you plan on staying in Sweden more than a year. Even if it feels a little bit like a tracking number sometimes, I will explain to you why I think it is important to get one, and how you can apply for it.
Samordningsnummer och personnummer, olika saker, olika rättigheter!
(Coordination number and personal number, different things, different rights)
Example of a personnummer - Wikipédia
When I arrived in Sweden, my hosting organization applied for a samordningsnummer (SN - coordination number) which identified me as a foreign worker in the Swedish tax system. This coordination number is necessary to apply for schools, or universities for instance. It is also your recognition for living in Sweden. But why applying for a PN when you already have a samordningsnummer?
Well, first of all, you will be able to tease your co-volunteers who don’t have a PN (Hej Nata!). But of course, this is not the only reason. The PN is required for the simplest things that make you feel member of a society, a key to the Swedish system.
For instance, when I opened my bank account, I could not access to all the services with my SN: look at my account through the internet banking or order something online were therefore impossible for me.
This might seem very small, but I can assure you that it is very difficult (and annoying) to keep track of your expenses when you have to go to an ATM to know how much money you have, or if you have been payed.
Impossible to create an account for the public transportation either, you have to take a non-nominative card, meaning that if you lose it, you lose your pass also and have to buy another one (I was so scared to lose mine that I was constantly checking my pockets). Same story for a membership card in most of (if not all) the stores: personnummer required.
Hur kan jag få ett personnummer?
Skatteverket’s logo - Skatteverket.se
I quickly became annoyed by not having access to the same comfort I had in France, for things that I (wrongly) took for granted. I was very surprised that a country like Sweden, member of the European Union, was, de facto, creating differences among people through a very dehumanizing way: through a number. Then, I remember that we also have a number in France, as well as in many countries. But since I did not do the application for it (thank you Mum), I never realized it before. I keep thinking about how hard it must be for an immigrant who is not aware as I am about bureaucracy and procedures… Another proof that traveling broaden your perspectives, and makes you think about others point of view.
Annoyed and impatient to live as a recognized citizen, I applied for the personnummer. Thanks to Lotta, my former mentor, we filled the file and gave the papers to Skatterverket. The process is pretty simple: a copy of your ID and job contract, and some questions to answer. After 30 minutes queuing, 10 minutes of interview and 6 weeks waiting, I received the so desired number in my mailbox! I “just” had to go through the Swedish ID process which also took approximately 6 weeks and finally, after 3 months I was handling my ID, my key to insertion. I just hope now that one day I will have an ID that has a more flattering picture of me, or I will start to think that the problem does not come from the picture itself, but more from the model.
Anyway, if you are looking for more detailed information about the application process, you can find all the information on Skatteverket website (different languages available).
Förbättrar personnumret ditt liv?
(Does the PN improve your life)
I will definitely answer yes to that question! It’s not like it is not manageable without it (there is an article from “The Newbie Guide to Sweden” that gives some advices on that topic here) but it makes your life way easier.
Some advice if you have decided to do without it or if you are waiting for yours:
- Ask a friend to associate your buss card to his or her personnummer so if you lose it, he or she can get it back for you
- Use an app that allows you to keep track of your expenses. Personally, I used CoinKeeper.
- If you come from an EU country from the eurozone, open an account in a bank that does not take a commission for your transactions in a foreign currency. I have one at the German Online Bank N26, and it works very well. It will allow you to use your euros with the rate exchange without paying a commission.
“Big brother is watching you”
Banksy’s exhibition - Amsterdam - July 2016
I will just finish this article with a small thought about data. I must say that I don’t feel very comfortable with the idea of a single number tracking me, my expenses, my travels, my center of interests, etc. I discovered that having a SN and, later on, a PN got me registered on a website that said everything about me: salary, address, phone number, etc.
Since, I asked them to take me out of their database, but the fact that it was done without me knowing makes me question the other uses that are made with this number: marketing profiling? Tracking my memberships? My locations? I will look deeper in how the data are used and protected.
This is all for today, I hope you have found this article interesting, and if not, entertaining!