The first 30 days in Sweden – the checklist, in the order that actually works
Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →
You have the keys, a folder of documents and a list of authorities you cannot yet pronounce. The order in which you tackle them decides whether your first month runs smoothly or stalls for weeks – here is the sequence that works, step by step.
If you are moving to Sweden in 2026, some rules shifted just before you arrived. Since 1 June 2026, a new work permit requires a salary of at least 90 per cent of the Swedish median wage. Since 1 January 2026, your right to sfi (Swedish for immigrants) lasts three years from your first admission. From 1 October 2026, the rules for bringing family members get stricter. The order of your first month does not change.
Almost everything hangs on the personnummer (personal identity number), which Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) gives you when you are first registered in folkbokföring (population registration). Authorities and private companies use it to identify you, so the checklist below is built around getting it early.
Before you travel: settle your right to be here
Step zero is your right to live here. As an EU or EEA citizen you have uppehållsrätt (right of residence) if you work, run a business, study or can support yourself, and you do not need to contact Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency) at all. Nordic citizens need no permit either. Citizens of countries outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland need a permit to work in Sweden – see part 2.
Skatteverket's e-service Flytta till Sverige (Moving to Sweden) accepts your notification at the earliest 14 days before you move. You log in with an e-ID, or with the Freja app if you have none; a service office can help. If you will live in a flat, the address must include the lägenhetsnummer (apartment number). Part 5 covers finding a home.
The checklist in the right order
The Swedish Institute's official guide for people moving here for work gives this order: job, work permit, housing, registration with Skatteverket, tax, ID card, bank account and BankID, then work and everyday life. The county administrative boards' newcomer guide agrees on the middle steps. In your first month, that means:
| Step | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Settle your right of residence or permit | Migrationsverket – not needed for EU/EEA and Nordic citizens |
| 2 | Secure an address, with apartment number | Landlord or housing queue |
| 3 | Notify your move, at the earliest 14 days before | Skatteverket, e-service Flytta till Sverige |
| 4 | Identity check in person | An office of Statens servicecenter (the government's joint service offices) |
| 5 | Wait for a case officer – about four weeks | Skatteverket |
| 6 | Apply for an ID card | A service office that issues ID cards |
| 7 | Open a bank account, then get BankID | Your bank |
| 8 | Report children and apply for benefits | Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency) |
| 9 | Choose a health centre | Any vårdcentral (health centre) in Sweden |
| 10 | Sign up for sfi when you can attend | Your municipality |
Source: the Swedish Institute, Skatteverket, Migrationsverket and Statens servicecenter, read 22 September 2026.
Week one: registration and the identity check
Every person who moves needs their own notification, including each child who is a minor. After submitting online, you must book and attend a personal visit at a service office for an identity check. Bring all your identity documents in original, plus your residence permit card from Migrationsverket if you have one.
Statens servicecenter runs 124 offices across the country. When advance booking for this check started on 4 December 2023, it covered about half of the offices; elsewhere it is drop-in, and the wait can be longer. Some offices are closing, among them Eslöv and two in Gothenburg, so check yours before you go.
According to Skatteverket, it then takes about four weeks before a notification is assigned to a case officer – that is not the time to a decision – and cases are handled in order, with no priority. Part 3 goes into detail.
Weeks two to four: what can start before the personnummer
While you wait, several things can already start. A samordningsnummer (coordination number) is the identity number Skatteverket gives people who are not registered in Sweden.
| Task | Personnummer needed? | What applies |
|---|---|---|
| Start working | No | You need neither a personnummer nor a samordningsnummer |
| Sfi | No | You must, however, be resident in Sweden |
| Preschool and school for your children | No | A missing number is no reason to delay a place |
| Försäkringskassan | No | A samordningsnummer can be used instead |
| Basic payment account at a bank | Not strictly | Lacking one is not in itself grounds for refusal |
| Skatteverket's ID card | Yes | The 400-kronor fee is paid in advance |
| 1177 direkt, the digital care service | Yes | Also requires an e-ID |
Source: Skatteverket, Skolverket, Försäkringskassan, Konsumenternas and 1177 Vårdguiden, read 22 September 2026.
Once you have the personnummer, apply for the ID card. Pay the 400-kronor fee before your visit – it cannot be paid at the office – and book one of the service offices that issue cards. The card takes about two weeks, you must collect it in person within two months, and it is valid for five years.
Then the bank. According to the Swedish Institute, a personnummer can make banks open an account faster, while people with only a samordningsnummer may wait longer, as routines differ. BankID is ordered in your bank's app or internet bank, so in practice you need the account first – the catch-22 covered in part 4.
Healthcare, benefits and Swedish lessons
Once you are folkbokförd, you pay the same patient fees as everyone else who lives in Sweden, whatever your citizenship. You can register with any vårdcentral in the country and switch up to twice a year without giving reasons. The vårdgaranti (care guarantee) applies only in the region where you are registered. Call 1177 for medical advice around the clock, and 112 in a life-threatening emergency. Part 8 covers healthcare.
If you have children under 16, give Försäkringskassan the information it needs to pay barnbidrag (child benefit): 1,250 kronor per child per month in 2026. Försäkringskassan makes its own assessment of whether you are insured in Sweden, and while you are still waiting for a residence permit you usually cannot receive benefits. Part 9 has the details.
Sfi is free, and open to you from the second half of the calendar year in which you turn 16, provided you are resident here. Teaching averages at least 15 hours a week, and unless there are special reasons you should be able to start within three months. Since 1 January 2026 the right lasts three years from your first admission, whether or not you attend all the time, with extensions of up to six months at a time for special reasons. So enrol when you can actually attend – part 11 explains how.
Three mistakes that cost you time or money
| Mistake | What happens | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Deliberately giving wrong details, or not reporting a move | A crime since 1 July 2018 – folkbokföringsbrott (population registration offence) – with fines or up to two years in prison. Honest mistakes are not crimes | Report every move and check your details |
| Reporting a later move within Sweden too late | The new address only counts from the day your notification arrives | Notify before you move, or at the latest one week after |
| Letting the ID card lapse | It is valid for five years, and no reminder is sent | Note the expiry date in your calendar |
Source: Skatteverket, read 22 September 2026.
What to do now
| Step | What | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Check your route to residence (part 2) | Before you book the move |
| 2 | Get a full address, with apartment number | Before you notify Skatteverket |
| 3 | Submit Flytta till Sverige, one notification per person | At the earliest 14 days before you move |
| 4 | Attend the identity check with original documents | Right after submitting |
| 5 | Pay the fee and apply for the ID card | As soon as you have your personnummer |
| 6 | Open a bank account, then order BankID | Once you have Swedish ID |
| 7 | Contact Försäkringskassan, choose a vårdcentral, sign up for sfi | During your first weeks |
Source: Skatteverket, read 22 September 2026.
Official sources
The official pages this guide is based on, read 22 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.
- Skatteverket, Flytta till Sverige · skatteverket.se
- Statens servicecenter · statenssc.se
- Sweden.se (Svenska institutet), "Step by step: moving to Sweden for work" · sweden.se
- Skatteverket, Skatteverkets id-kort · skatteverket.se
- Skatteverket, Personnummer · skatteverket.se
- Försäkringskassan, Flytta till Sverige · forsakringskassan.se
- 1177 Vårdguiden, Välja vårdmottagning · 1177.se
- Skolverket, Rätt till sfi · skolverket.se
- Skatteverket, Att vara folkbokförd · skatteverket.se
- PwC, Tax matters-bloggen (baserat på prop. 2017/18:145) · blogg.pwc.se
- Skatteverket, Flyttanmälan · skatteverket.se
- Utrikesdepartementet, UD Legaliseringar · regeringen.se
- Migrationsverket, EU/EES-medborgare · migrationsverket.se
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