Swedish Personnummer

Welcome to the Forum

Because you are from the EU, you have a right to stay in Sweden for 3 months and work. However, you will still need to get a Personnummer if you plan to stay in Sweden for the long run.

To apply, you will need to be able to either:

Have a job offer in Sweden from a Swedish company (and with proof – the easy way)
A Migrationsverket uppehållstillstånd (the right to stay in Sweden longer than 3/6 months and the card to prove it)
Evidence that you can support yourself with some form of regular income (with proof – really hard)

You will also need to show:

Your passport
Your European Health Insurance Card
Someone/something that can confirm your address
Ideally, a Swede to help with the process
Have all this ready in good time as the more you can bring, the more chance you have of your application being processed.

To Apply

You need to go in person to a Skatteverket Office (the list is here) and there is no paperwork to fill in before – just bring ALL of your documents. Be as prepared as possible. Get there before 9am (there will be a long queue) and be brutal. Push through, run to the reception, tell them what you need and get the form to fill in. The Skatteverket Offices processes Personnummer and ID-Card (ID-Kort) applications. You just want to apply for a Personnummer!

Fill in the 4-page form they give you in as much detail as possible. If you have any questions then just ask at the desk.

You will then be passed to an advisor who will process your application.

The Application

The desks at the Skatteverket Offices are high up so you feel like an ant. Give your paperwork and start telling the advisor what they need. The more you have (and have documented), the better your Personnummer application will be.

The person you speak with will ask you questions regarding your application, what you are doing in Sweden, what you plan on doing here, etc.

After your Visit

The waiting times for a Personnummer are better than Migrationsverket and are something like:

1/2 weeks if you have Migrationsverket uppehållstillstånd
3/4 weeks if you are applying with some other grounds

Next Steps

Then it is a waiting game. I’ve heard stories of people getting their personummer in 1 week, and others can wait months. Unfortunately, the truth is that it really depends on the case worker you get.

You can read up on more from the Sweedish Tax Office Website in English.

Hi, you can also apply for a personnummer through your Sambo if you have lived more than 2 years together (even in England). Go to Skatteverket with your previous tenancy contract as proof. This is what I did, and it worked well :-)

Hi all,

I am Italian based in Ireland, working for an Irish company and would love to move to Sweden this summer. I plan to work remotely as I also may be responsible for the development of the company in the Nordics. I will need the personnummer as I will have to get a local SIM Card and bank account. From impossible to nearly impossible how difficult is that going to be? I can bring my contract, payslips, and the forms I have to fill in as a posted worker. Massive Thanks. J.

@Jmargraf: Is your company registrated in Sweden? And paying it's employer taxes?
If yes, it's possible.
Otherwise you are supposed to be on a business travel and don't need personnummer.

Thanks for this. No, they are registered in Ireland only. That's the whole idea of me going there. To study the market and then take it from there. If the company decides to register in Sweden then we will proceed with this. As I mentioned I plan to stay up to 2 years under the posted worker scheme. Thanks for this.

In that case, you should read this page. Since you didnt mention 2 years frame earlier.

https://www.av.se/en/work-environment-w … in-sweden/

Hi Ekhfaiz, maybe thanks for that. I'll read it tomorrow morning. I was pretty sure I had the 2 year live in it. I posted similar message on a few forums today. Again, massive thanks for this.

Hi J.
I am an English woman who moved to Sweden in October 2017. My partner (also English) moved 18 months prior to me moving....to set up home etc.
I am still waiting for my personnummer. Even though I have a home and do not require any financial support (my partner started a business here and has bought land to build on). We have had to answer lots and lots of questions.
It is possible. But very difficult at the moment. 
I am only allowed to holiday here for three months at a time. So I regularly have to travel to another country......even it I only stay there  for the day. I assume on a business 'visa' things are different.
When I first came here and declared that I wasn't going to need to work and was staying with my partner. We had to provide evidence that we had lived together as a couple in the UK.......I guess because we are not married (we have been a couple for over 20 years!). That my partner had a right to be here and that he could support me (as I said he started his own business and bought land!).
Anyway. After six months of waiting and answering increasingly personal questions (get used to everyone knowing everything about you, down to what you earn and how much tax you pay.....any Swede can find out all about you just by searching a website here). We have decided that his company will employ me. Now we just have to prove there is enough work for me for at least a year!!!????

Next plan. Live in the woods, be self sufficient and ignore humanity 😂😂😂

Good Luck

Myrtlesmith wrote:

Hi J.
I am an English woman who moved to Sweden in October 2017. My partner (also English) moved 18 months prior to me moving....to set up home etc.
I am still waiting for my personnummer. Even though I have a home and do not require any financial support (my partner started a business here and has bought land to build on). We have had to answer lots and lots of questions.
It is possible. But very difficult at the moment. 
I am only allowed to holiday here for three months at a time. So I regularly have to travel to another country......even it I only stay there  for the day. I assume on a business 'visa' things are different.
When I first came here and declared that I wasn't going to need to work and was staying with my partner. We had to provide evidence that we had lived together as a couple in the UK.......I guess because we are not married (we have been a couple for over 20 years!). That my partner had a right to be here and that he could support me (as I said he started his own business and bought land!).
Anyway. After six months of waiting and answering increasingly personal questions (get used to everyone knowing everything about you, down to what you earn and how much tax you pay.....any Swede can find out all about you just by searching a website here). We have decided that his company will employ me. Now we just have to prove there is enough work for me for at least a year!!!????

Next plan. Live in the woods, be self sufficient and ignore humanity 😂😂😂

Good Luck

If you are English, why do you need to leave every 3 months? You are an EU national so you don't have to leave.

I did question this. But have been informed both in person and via email from Skatteverket.

SimCity.....regarding the three months stay. You mentioned it in your detailed post earlier on in this thread. So whilst I do not know the reason behind the ruling. I am guessing it is not a new rule. Every other EU country I have lived and worked in I have not waited more than three months to 'exist' so it has never affected me.

Myrtlesmith wrote:

SimCity.....regarding the three months stay. You mentioned it in your detailed post earlier on in this thread. So whilst I do not know the reason behind the ruling. I am guessing it is not a new rule. Every other EU country I have lived and worked in I have not waited more than three months to 'exist' so it has never affected me.

I thought this was only if you worked in Sweden. But each country have different rules. I guess it will all change after Brexit, but who knows.

Every country has different rules and as you quite rightly said, the rules can be interpreted  differently by each official person. So it really does depend on who deals with your case.
In my case the uncertainty surrounding Brexit I believe is having a negative impact. Plus my case worker is taking advantage of the seemingly endless holidays the Swedes have 😁😁