Nordic citizen moving? Registering and getting a personnummer, fødselsnummer or CPR number

As a Nordic citizen moving between Sweden, Norway and Denmark, you can only be registered in one country at a time – and one notification usually does the job of two. Here is how each population register works, what your new number says and when BankID or MitID follows.

As a Nordic citizen moving between Sweden, Norway and Denmark, you need no permit, but you must register – and the new ID number unlocks almost everything else. Two recent changes: since 1 September 2026, Norway's national ID card for foreign citizens is open to people from outside the EU/EEA/EFTA too, at first only in Ski. And Grensetjänsten Norge–Sverige (the Norway–Sweden Border Service), in guidance updated on 1 July 2025, says you no longer report a move out of your Norwegian municipality when you move to Sweden.

How does registration work for a Nordic citizen moving within the region?

The Nordic population registers cooperate. You notify the move in the country you are moving to, and when you are registered there, the country you left is informed automatically. Info Norden, the Nordic Council of Ministers' information service, stresses that you can only be registered in one Nordic country at a time.

Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) registers you as emigrated on the day you are registered in the new country, and Norway does so automatically once the move is approved. Denmark adds a step: CPR-kontoret (the Danish civil registration office) says you must also report the move to your municipality before you leave – digitally, as required since 1 December 2013.

	Sweden	Norway	Denmark
Register if you will stay	At least a year	Six months or more	More than six months
Where	Skatteverket, then an identity check at a service office	Skatteetaten (the Norwegian Tax Administration): an ID check at one of 42 tax offices, by appointment	Borgerservice (Citizen Service) in your municipality, or an International Citizen Service centre
When	After you have moved – the number cannot be issued before	No later than eight days after you arrive, according to UDI	No later than five days after you have a home
How long	About four weeks before a case officer is assigned	2 to 25 weeks for a move to Norway	Health card two to four weeks after registration
Your number	Personnummer (personal identity number)	Fødselsnummer (national identity number)	CPR number (personal identification number)

Source: Skatteverket, Info Norden, Skatteetaten, UDI, Denmark's citizen portal, Life in Denmark and International House Copenhagen, read 23 September 2026.

Moving to Sweden: folkbokföring and the personnummer

If you plan to live in Sweden for at least a year, you should be folkbokförd (entered in the population register). Notify Skatteverket through its e-service Flytta till Sverige (Moving to Sweden), one notification per family member, then visit a service office in person for an identity check once you have moved.

Bring a passport or national ID card – a driving licence is normally not enough – your full address, including any four-digit apartment number, and documents showing your civil status and your children's parentage. Skatteverket also asks about the purpose of your stay. Expect about four weeks before a case officer even picks up your case.

The personnummer has six digits for your date of birth, a three-digit birth number whose last digit is odd for men and even for women, and a check digit. It stays yours for life and, according to Info Norden, does not replace your number from home. Skatteverket's ID card then costs 400 kronor, paid before your visit, and is valid for five years. With children under 16, contact Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency) once you are registered.

Moving to Norway: the fødselsnummer and the ID check

If you will stay six months or more, you book an appointment with Skatteetaten to report the move. You cannot apply for a fødselsnummer yourself: the National Population Register decides, after an ID check and documentation showing that you will live in Norway for at least six months.

Bring a passport or national ID card – or, moving from another Nordic country, a valid driving licence with a printout from the population register you are leaving, showing citizenship and gender and no older than three months. Skatteetaten puts processing at 2 to 25 weeks, depending on whether your documentation is complete.

The fødselsnummer has 11 digits: six for your date of birth, three individual digits – the third is even for women and odd for men – and two check digits. On a shorter working stay, you usually get a D-nummer (D number) with your tax deduction card instead: 4 is added to the first digit, so someone born on 1 January 1985 starts 410185, and it turns inactive after five years. A fødselsnummer also lets you apply for Norway's national ID card, valid as ID inside Norway but not for travel.

Moving to Denmark: the CPR number and the yellow card

Nordic citizens must register once they know the stay will last more than six months and they have a home in Denmark; Info Norden adds that you have the right to register if you stay more than three months. Report the move in person to Borgerservice within five days of getting a home – or at an International Citizen Service centre in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, Esbjerg or Sønderborg.

Bring your passport or ID, proof of your Danish address such as a rental contract, and marriage and birth certificates where relevant. As a Nordic citizen, also bring the ID number from the country you are moving from. You cannot get a CPR number before you actually live at your Danish address.

The CPR number has 10 digits: your date of birth, then four digits unique to you, the last one even for women and odd for men. The yellow sundhedskort (health insurance card), showing your CPR number and your GP, comes by post – after about two to three weeks according to Life in Denmark, or four according to International House Copenhagen. Public authorities then write to you through Digital Post.

BankID, MitID and your digital ID after the move

Country	Digital ID	What you need first
Sweden	BankID, ordered in your bank's app or internet bank; Freja+ as an alternative	A Swedish bank account for BankID. EU/EEA citizens with a confirmed samordningsnummer (coordination number) can get Freja+ with their home country's biometric passport
Norway	BankID from your bank, or MinID	A Norwegian ID number – a fødselsnummer or D number. The MinID activation letter comes by post after a few days
Denmark	MitID	A CPR number, age 15 and valid ID – or, before you have a CPR number, a passport scan in the MitID app with an eight-digit P code

Source: the Swedish Institute, Freja eID, IMDi, Skatteetaten and Life in Denmark, read 23 September 2026.

In Sweden, the Swedish Institute notes that a personnummer can make banks open an account faster than a samordningsnummer, and Freja+ users must register again with Swedish ID once they have a personnummer. A Norwegian bank account requires residence, valid ID and a Norwegian ID number. In Denmark, you can apply for MitID at your CPR appointment, and you need the CPR number for a NemKonto, the account that receives public payments.

What to do now

Step	What	When
1	Decide how long you will stay: a year for Sweden, six months for Norway and Denmark	Before you move
2	Gather passport or ID card, civil-status papers and your current ID number	Before you move
3	Report the move in the new country and book the ID check	Norway: within eight days; Denmark: within five days of getting a home; Sweden: after you arrive
4	Leaving Denmark: report the move to your municipality	Before you leave
5	Open a bank account and get BankID, MinID or MitID	Once you have the new number
6	Questions: Skatteupplysningen (Skatteverket) 0771-567 567, or +46 8 564 851 60 from abroad; Skatteetaten 800 80 000, or +47 22 07 70 00 from abroad	Weekdays

Source: Skatteverket, Skatteetaten, UDI and Denmark's citizen portal, 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.

• Skatteverket – Flytta inom Norden · skatteverket.se
• Skatteverket – Flytta till Sverige · skatteverket.se
• Skatteverket – Du är medborgare i ett annat nordiskt land än Sverige · skatteverket.se
• Skatteverket – Flytta från Sverige · skatteverket.se
• Skatteetaten – Moving from Norway · skatteetaten.no
• Grensetjänsten Norge-Sverige – Folkeregistrering-melde flytting · grensetjansten.com
• Borger.dk – Flytning til Danmark · borger.dk
• CPR-kontoret (Det Centrale Personregister) – Flytning · cpr.dk
• Lifeindenmark.dk – Change address · lifeindenmark.borger.dk
• Lifeindenmark.dk – MitID – Denmark's national eID · lifeindenmark.borger.dk
• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Guide: Moving to Sweden · norden.org
• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Civil registration in Denmark · norden.org
• Nordic cooperation (Info Norden) – Registration in the Swedish Population Register · norden.org
• Grensetjänsten Norge-Sverige – Skattekort i Sverige · grensetjansten.com

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.