Personnummer and folkbokföring – how to register and get the number Sweden runs on
Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →
An ID card, a smoother route to a bank account, digital healthcare: in Sweden they all go through the same ten-digit number. You get it by registering in folkbokföring, and the process has rules on timing, paperwork and a personal visit that are worth knowing before you start.
Folkbokföring (population registration) is the civil register kept by Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency), and being in it gives you a personnummer (personal identity number). Two things are moving in 2026. Statens servicecenter, which runs the offices where you prove your identity, is closing some of them under a plan adjusted in June 2026. And a government inquiry has proposed bringing back a registration duty for EEA citizens staying more than three months – its report, SOU 2026:9, went out for consultation in March 2026 and is still only a proposal.
Who must register – and who must not
The dividing line is one year. If you plan to live in Sweden for at least a year, you should in most cases be registered, whatever your citizenship – including EU/EEA citizens who come to work, study or live on their own means, Swedes moving back, and people earlier deregistered as emigrated or missing. If you plan to stay less than a year, you should not be registered; you can sometimes apply for a samordningsnummer (coordination number) instead.
| Your situation | Folkbokföring? | Number you get |
|---|---|---|
| Moving for at least a year, any citizenship | Yes, in most cases | Personnummer |
| Staying less than a year | No | Samordningsnummer, if you show a need and a connection to Sweden |
| EU/EEA citizen in the six months you may stay to look for work | Normally not, unless you show a real chance of a job | None yet |
| Swedish citizen moving back for at least a year | Yes, after notifying and an identity check in person | Your existing personnummer |
| Diplomat with immunity staying at least a year | No | A personnummer, on request from Regeringskansliet (the Government Offices) |
Source: Skatteverket and Migrationsverket, read 22 September 2026.
How to register, step by step
You notify Skatteverket through the e-service Flytta till Sverige (Moving to Sweden), in Swedish, English, Arabic or Ukrainian, 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 with the login. Every person needs a separate notification, including each child who is a minor, and a flat needs its lägenhetsnummer (apartment number).
Then comes the part that cannot be done online: a personal visit to a service office for an identity check, with all your identity documents in original and your residence permit card if you have one. When advance booking started on 4 December 2023, about half of the offices offered it; the rest take drop-in visitors, with a risk of longer waits.
It then takes about four weeks before your notification gets a case officer – not a decision – and Skatteverket handles cases in order of arrival with no priority, so leave a margin.
| Step | What | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notify via Flytta till Sverige, one notification per person | At the earliest 14 days before you move |
| 2 | Identity check in person, with original documents | Booked where offered, otherwise drop-in |
| 3 | Wait for a case officer | About four weeks, in order of arrival |
| 4 | Decision and personnummer | When the case has been handled |
Source: Skatteverket and Statens servicecenter, read 22 September 2026.
What the personnummer is – and what it says about you
Everyone registered in Sweden for the first time gets a personnummer at the same time. Authorities and private companies use it to identify you, and it is yours for life: it does not change if you move abroad, and is replaced only if your registered date of birth is corrected or you change your legal gender.
It has three parts: six digits for your date of birth, a three-digit birth number and a check digit calculated by machine. The last digit of the birth number is odd for people registered as men and even for people registered as women. The hyphen becomes a plus sign in the year you turn 100.
When you report a move, Skatteverket automatically passes the new address on to other authorities and to SPAR, the state register of personal addresses.
Samordningsnummer: the number for shorter stays
A samordningsnummer is for people who are not, and never have been, registered in Sweden – for example because they will stay less than a year. You must show that you need it and that you have a connection to Sweden, and you must visit a service office for an identity check. It is built like a personnummer, but with 60 added to the day of birth: someone born on 3 October gets 63 instead of 03.
It is valid for five years, becomes vilande (dormant) automatically if unused, and can be renewed if you still need it. If you are later registered, a personnummer replaces it automatically. Since 1 September 2023, under the Act (2022:1697) on coordination numbers, every number has an identity level – confirmed, probable or uncertain. The level matters: the e-ID Freja+ is open to foreign citizens living in Sweden with a confirmed samordningsnummer who register with their home country's biometric passport, currently all EU/EEA citizens.
| Personnummer | Samordningsnummer | |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets it | Everyone registered in folkbokföring for the first time | People not registered, now or before |
| Identity check in person | Yes | Yes |
| Validity | For life | Five years, dormant if unused; renewable |
| Day of birth in the number | As it is | Plus 60 |
| Wait at Skatteverket | About four weeks until a case officer | Up to ten weeks until a case officer, own application |
| Skatteverket's ID card | You can apply | Not available – it requires a personnummer |
Source: Skatteverket, read 22 September 2026.
Requests made on your behalf take different times: about eleven weeks from an embassy or consulate for passport purposes, and about three weeks from an authority, plus roughly six more to a decision. Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency) can request a number for you if you need one for benefits.
Keeping your registration right
When you move within Sweden later, report it before the move or at the latest one week after, and the new address applies from the day you moved in. Report it later, and it applies only from the day your notification arrived. If someone else is registered at the address, Skatteverket may ask them to confirm that you live there.
Registration also decides whether you can vote. The electoral roll is based on folkbokföring 30 days before election day. Citizens of EU countries, Iceland and Norway can vote in municipal and regional elections simply by being registered there; other foreign citizens and stateless people need three years in a row of registration before election day. Only Swedish citizens vote in elections to the Riksdag.
Finally, take it seriously. Since 1 July 2018, deliberately failing to report a move – within, to or from Sweden – or deliberately giving false or incomplete information has been a crime of its own, folkbokföringsbrott (population registration offence). Honest mistakes are not crimes. Skatteverket must report suspected cases to the police, and the penalty is fines or up to two years in prison. According to a 2018 analysis by the advisory firm PwC, based on the government bill, fines or up to six months apply to ordinary cases, and up to two years to gross ones, such as systematic fraud with several false identities.
What to do now
| Step | What | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Decide whether you will stay at least a year | Before you move |
| 2 | Get your full address, including the apartment number | Before you notify |
| 3 | Submit Flytta till Sverige for each family member | At the earliest 14 days before you move |
| 4 | Attend the identity check with original documents | As soon as you have submitted |
| 5 | Report any later move within Sweden | Before you move, or within one week after |
| 6 | Questions: Skatteupplysningen, Skatteverket's information line, 0771-567 567 or +46 8 564 851 60 from abroad | Weekdays, 8–16 |
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
- Skatteverket, Flytta till Sverige / Samordningsnummer · skatteverket.se
- Statens servicecenter · statenssc.se
- Skatteverket, Personnummer · skatteverket.se
- Skatteverket, Samordningsnummer; Sveriges riksdag, lag (2022:1697) · riksdagen.se
- Skatteverket, Att vara folkbokförd · skatteverket.se
- PwC, Tax matters-bloggen (baserat på prop. 2017/18:145) · blogg.pwc.se
- Skatteverket, Flyttanmälan · skatteverket.se
Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.