Moving from Sweden to Norway or Denmark – who needs what as a Nordic, EU or non-EU resident

Moving from Sweden to Norway, or to Denmark from Sweden, can mean one visit to a tax office – or a brand-new permit. Your passport decides which, not your current address. Here is who needs what, what to do in the country you leave, and what changed in 2025 and 2026.

Moving from Sweden to Norway, from Norway to Denmark or in any other direction between the three Scandinavian countries is simplest with a Nordic passport and hardest when your right to live here rests on a permit. Several rules have shifted recently:

Date	What changed	Who it affects
1 January 2025	The Øresund Agreement on tax counts working days over 12-month periods, not three months (part 4)	Sweden–Denmark commuters
March 2026	Swedish report SOU 2026:9, proposing that EEA citizens staying over three months must register, sent out for consultation – not law	EU/EEA citizens moving to Sweden
1 June 2026	New Swedish work permits require at least 90 per cent of the median wage: 34,470 kronor a month in autumn 2026	Non-EU citizens moving to Sweden
6 June 2026	Swedish citizenship: the main residence requirement rose from five to eight years; Nordic citizens need two	Nordic citizens in Sweden
1 September 2026	Norway's national ID card opened to citizens from outside the EU/EEA/EFTA, at first only in Ski	Non-EU residents in Norway

Source: the Danish Tax Agency, Migrationsverket, the Government Offices of Sweden and the Norwegian Police, read 23 September 2026.

Moving from Sweden to Norway or Denmark: who needs what?

Your citizenship, the length of your stay and – for non-EU citizens – the country that issued your permit decide your route, in any direction.

You are	Sweden	Norway	Denmark
A Nordic citizen	No permit; register with Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) if staying at least a year	No permit; report the move if staying six months or more	No permit; register for a CPR number (personal identification number) if staying more than six months
An EU/EEA citizen	Right of residence through work, business, studies or own means; register if staying at least a year	Free for three months, then register and get a registration certificate from the police	Free for three months, then an EU residence document before the CPR number
A non-EU citizen with a permit from one of the others	Your own Swedish residence permit, as a main rule applied for from abroad	Your own Norwegian permit, granted before you move	Your own Danish permit – a Swedish one does not count

Source: Migrationsverket, Skatteverket, UDI, Skatteetaten, IMDi, Info Norden, New to Denmark and Life in Denmark, read 23 September 2026.

Do Nordic citizens need a permit to move?

No. Nordic free movement rests on long-standing agreements: the passport agreement of 12 July 1957, which abolished passport checks at the internal Nordic borders, the Helsinki Treaty of 23 March 1962 and the common Nordic labour market agreement, in force since 1 August 1983. As a Nordic citizen, you can live, work and study in the other countries without applying for anything.

What you need is registration. Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency) says Nordic citizens only register with Skatteverket, and UDI (the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration) says all you do is report a move to the National Registry. New to Denmark, the Danish immigration portal, confirms you need no visa or residence permit – you can even enter without a passport if a driving licence or other official photo ID identifies you. Part 2 explains registration.

Family members who are Nordic citizens follow the same rules. Those who are not apply for residence under EU rules in Denmark, and for a residence card or residence permit in Sweden – see part 6. Citizenship comes sooner, too: Nordic citizens can apply for Swedish citizenship after two years, and meet Denmark's residence requirement after two years of uninterrupted residence.

Moving to Denmark from Sweden, or to Norway, as an EU or EEA citizen – what applies?

As an EU or EEA citizen, you move under EU free movement rules. You can stay in any of the three countries for up to three months without registering.

In Sweden you then have uppehållsrätt (right of residence) if you work, run a business, study or can support yourself, with no need to contact Migrationsverket; you register with Skatteverket if staying at least a year. Sweden scrapped a registration duty for EU/EEA citizens in 2014, and the 2026 proposal to bring one back is not law.

In Norway, IMDi (the Directorate of Integration and Diversity) lists the order for longer stays: a Norwegian ID number, a registration certificate from the police, a tax deduction card if you work, then an electronic ID. In Denmark, you need an EU residence document before you can register an address and get a CPR number.

After five years of continuous legal residence in another EU country, you gain permanent residence there, according to Your Europe, the European Commission's guide. In Sweden, it lapses only after more than two years in a row abroad.

Living in Scandinavia on a non-EU permit: does it carry over?

No – and this is the biggest trap in moving within Scandinavia, because each country issues permits under its own national rules. Øresunddirekt, the official Danish–Swedish information service, explains that with a Swedish residence and work permit you cannot work in Denmark on that permit, and with a Danish one you lose it if you move to the Swedish side of the Øresund.

The problem is registered in the Nordic Council's border database. One exception in Danish law lets third-country nationals at the European Spallation Source in Lund live in Copenhagen. Otherwise, the Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration says someone living in Sweden can get a Danish work permit as a cross-border commuter under one of the Danish schemes.

Norway works the same way: from outside the EU/EEA, you need a Norwegian residence permit to work or to stay more than 90 days, granted before you move. IMDi notes one exception: a temporary assignment in Norway for an employer established in another EU/EEA country may not require a permit. Part 6 has the details.

What do you do in the country you leave?

One notification often does the work of two, because the Nordic population registers cooperate.

Leaving	What to do	Good to know
Sweden	Notify the move in the new country if you will live there six months or more. Away more than a year? Also send Skatteverket the form Anmälan – Flyttning från Sverige (SKV 7665)	You are registered as emigrated on the day you are registered in the other Nordic country, and keep your personnummer and citizenship
Norway	Notify the move only in the country you move to	Norway registers you as emigrated automatically once the move is approved. Your Norwegian tax liability does not necessarily end
Denmark	Report the move to your municipality before you leave – also for another Nordic country – and tell the Danish Tax Agency	Deregistration ends your Danish social security cover, and your health insurance card goes back to the municipality

Source: Skatteverket, Info Norden, Skatteetaten and CPR-kontoret (the Danish civil registration office), read 23 September 2026.

Moving from Norway to Sweden, you no longer report the move from your Norwegian municipality, says Grensetjänsten Norge–Sverige (the Norway–Sweden Border Service). Leaving Sweden, report at the latest one week before you go.

What to do now

Step	What	When
1	Find your row in the table above	Before you plan the move
2	Non-EU citizens: apply for a permit in the new country	Before you move
3	Report the move in the new country (part 2)	Norway: within eight days of arriving; Denmark: within five days of getting a home; Sweden: after you arrive
4	Leaving Denmark: report to your municipality. Leaving Sweden for over a year: send SKV 7665	Before you leave
5	Check where you will pay tax and which social security system covers you (parts 4 and 5)	Before your first payday
6	Ask Info Norden, Øresunddirekt or Grensetjänsten Norge–Sverige	If your case is unusual

Source: Skatteverket, UDI, Denmark's citizen portal and Info Norden, read 23 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 23 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Guide: Moving to Sweden · norden.org
• Nyidanmark.dk (New to Denmark) – Nordic citizens · nyidanmark.dk
• UDI – Nordic nationals who are going to live in Norway · udi.no
• UDI – word definitions: EU/EEA national · udi.no
• Migrationsverket – Fri rörlighet inom EU – hur fungerar det? · migrationsverket.se
• Øresunddirekt – Difficulties for non-EU citizens to cross-border commute between Sweden and Denmark · oresunddirekt.se
• Your Europe (European Commission) – Residence rights when living abroad in the EU · europa.eu
• UDI (word definitions: Schengen) and Your Europe (non-EU nationals travel page) · udi.no
• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Guide: Moving to Denmark · norden.org
• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Guide: Moving to Norway · norden.org
• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Guide: Moving from Denmark · norden.org
• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Guide: Moving from Norway · norden.org
• Nordic cooperation – Nordic agreements and legislation · norden.org

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.

All eight guides, who they are for and who to ask: Moving within Scandinavia.