I have had a number of messages asking about the logistics of moving from the UK to Sweden, in particular asking about the process and what was required. As I mentioned previously, Brexit made this a lot harder and more convoluted than it would have been some years back.

I can also only speak from the perspective of moving to Sweden and would note that each country could have its own nuances so it is not a one size fits all for EU countries.

Why Sweden?

I mentioned in my last post that Sweden is somewhere we have travelled to for around 10 years and every time we go, we love it a bit more. We always spoke about ending up in Sweden and after spending a month there last June we finally thought why wait? 

I was very transparent about my intentions of moving to Sweden with my boss and thankfully he is very understanding, also with experience of living abroad. There was no pressure on my side to retain my role, definitely not a ‘I want you to find a way of me keeping my job’ sort of situation, which is not really my style anyway. However, my company is owned by a larger group who have a business in Sweden and this makes it very easy to help with this sort of move. The company in Sweden had a role advertised doing my job, I was interested in this, applied and was successful.

The group engaged with an agency who assists with the permit process and we worked with them through the various stages required.

Ahead of the move my husband and I collated all of our respective documents to produce at arrivals in country and in the various offices so we had everything organised and ready (yes pretty geeky I know, but very helpful it turned out!).

Obtaining An EU Blue Card

I have been with my company for over 25 years now and my role and position meant I qualified to apply for an EU Blue Card. There are some additional requirements you must qualify for including:

• being a citizen of a non-EU country
• hold a valid passport (which you will need to present in person at the Swedish Embassy)
• have comprehensive health insurance that is valid for care in Sweden for at least 3 months
• having received an offer of employment for highly-qualified work for at least 1 year
• at least 5 years professional experience
• a salary that is at least one and a half times the average gross salary in Sweden

Your employing company also has some requirements as follows:

• to have advertised the role for at least 10 days
• agree employment conditions and salary
• provide details of the above to the Swedish Trade Union

My EU Blue card is valid in the first instance for a 2 year period (and although it is an EU card it is only valid in the country of application, in my case Sweden), which will then require renewing. Part of the process included an application for my husband to receive a permit (dependent on mine) that allows him to work in Sweden also.

Biometrics in Sweden

Part of the process on arrival to Sweden, following residency/permit approval, is to secure an appointment at the Migration Agency and complete biometrics. You need to provide certain paperwork including:

• valid passport
• EU Blue Card approval
• get your photos taken
• get your fingerprints taken

The above is then processed to create a Resident Permit Card that will be sent and usually takes up to 2 weeks to arrive. This card is proof that you are approved and entitled to reside and work in Sweden.

Civic Registration

Once the Resident Permit Card is received, you are required to present this to the Skatteverket and complete documentation that is part of the Civic Registration. The Civic Registration starts the process to obtain a personnummer. And this is KEY!

The Swedish Personnummer

This is your personal identification number and as I said above it is key and I cannot stress that enough! We knew before moving that this number was required for a lot of things but without it had no idea how challenging things would be.

As an example this is required to open a bank, obtain insurance, buy a property, get memberships in shops, get a mobile phone and pretty much everything else you can think of hence me saying it is key (not an exaggeration)!

Swedish ID Card

Once all of the above is complete you can then apply for your ID card. This is something that requires an appointment with the Migration Agency again, which you need to pay for this in advance of the appointment. It can then take up to 2 weeks to receive this (we are in this process right now) and you will receive a text message to let you know when it is ready for collection.

This card is the Swedish national identity card, which alongside a passport is an approved document for official identity. We actually found that once we had the personnummer and went to open a bank account that we need the ID card also so again a very important, and necessary, thing to have!

Social Insurances

My company sort out insurances that cover life and accident, and long term sick, however, the Swedish system requires registration with Forsakringskassan who deal with social insurances and this is required for areas such as medical and dental. Again a very helpful service that directed by to a form on their website (5456) that you submit with relevant paperwork required ie contract to determine if you qualify for Swedish social insurance in order to receive compensation, a certificate or an EHIC (European Health Insurance Card).

I was unfortunate to lose a filling and when trying to book a dentist appointment was asked if I was registered for this as it is a system that means part is paid by Fordakringskassan (if you are registered and qualify) and part my myself.

Bringing Pets Into Sweden

We have a dog who is almost 14 years old and she is part of our family. I find people who have pets get it and people who don’t, just don’t. Honestly I lost count of the amount of people who asked if we were taking April. Of course we were! There was no question there at all and leaving her was not an option.

Sweden being a country that you can drive to from the UK (with ferry crossings obviously) meant that we could drive April rather than putting her in the hold on a flight, which was not something we were comfortable with (she is old and has seizures and we thought it might be too stressful for her). We were also taking our camper van and so the drive over was something that would be done with the van regardless. There were still requirements we had to have in place as follows:

• dogs must have either a tattoo ID number or microchip and April has the latter – they will check this at the borders and without you will not be able to proceed
• dogs must have a valid rabies vaccination that has been done at least 21 days prior to travel – again your vet will provide a certificate with this you need to present
• must have a health certificate that can only be completed by certain vets and you must then travel within 10 days of completion and present at migration on arrival

Vehicles In Sweden

My husband drove our camper van over and we hadn’t actually decided if we were keeping the van or not but it has been great in the snowy weather so we are and there are certain things we are required to do in order to keep the vehicle in Sweden including:

• Verify the origin
• Arrange for an inspection
• You are then allocated a registration number for the vehicle
• Roadworthiness test
• Register the vehicle with the Swedish Transport Agency

Swedish Information Available

Sweden are a very organised country and there is a lot of information available online as below:

• Migrationsverket – this is the Swedish Migration Agency, which is a Swedish government agency that processes and approves/declines applications in relation to both temporary and permanent residence in Sweden.
• Skatteverket – this is the Swedish Tax Agency, which is a Swedish government agency that is responsible for both national tax and population registration.
• Swedish Embassy – this is the official website for the embassy and they cover a number of areas including travel advisory, passports, visas and migration services.
• Forsakringskassan – this is the official website for Swedish social insurances and they cover a number of areas including what is required if you are moving or newly arrived in Sweden.
• Transport Styrelsen – this is the website with all the information about taking a vehicle into Sweden.
• Visit Sweden – this provides information about taking a pet into Sweden, plus we were informed by our registered vet in the UK what was required.