Registration in the Swedish Population Register
You can register in the Swedish Population Register at the Swedish Tax Agency when you move to Sweden from another country. The regulations about registering in Sweden vary according to whether you are a Nordic citizen, an EU citizen, or a citizen of a country outside the EU.
If you move to Sweden from another Nordic country and are planning to live in Sweden for longer than a year, you must be listed in the Swedish Population Register and have a Swedish personal identity number. If you planning to live in Sweden for less than a year, you do not register in the Swedish Population Register, and you will not have a Swedish personal identity number. If you are to pay tax in Sweden, you will be assigned a Swedish coordination number.
Regulations on registration in the Swedish Population Register
If you are a Nordic citizen, you can stay in Sweden for up to one year without registering in the country.
If you are planning to live in Sweden for more than 12 months, you must be listed in the Swedish Population Register. You cannot notify your move to Sweden and get a Swedish personal identification number until after you have moved to Sweden.
If you are under 18 and move to Sweden with your parents, the same regulations on registration apply for both children and adults.
You can only be registered in one country at a time. If you are in doubt about whether you must be listed in the Swedish Population Register, it is the regulations of the country to which you move that apply. It is the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) that administers the Swedish Population Register, so contact this agency if you want to find out whether you must register.
Notify that you have moved to Sweden from abroad
When you move to Sweden from another country, you must notify your move to Sweden within the first week by visiting an office of the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) in person.
The Swedish Tax Agency decides whether or not you meet the registration requirements. If you meet the requirements for registration as a resident, you are registered from the date you notify as your immigration date to Sweden, on condition that you notify your move to Sweden within a week from the date you state that you moved to Sweden.
If your application for registration as a resident is submitted later than one week after the date you stated you moved to Sweden, registration applies from the date on which the Swedish Tax Agency received your notification of the move to Sweden.
The Swedish Tax Agency informs the country from which you moved that you have moved to Sweden.
Moving to Sweden without parents
If you are under 18, and are moving to Sweden without your parents, you must visit the nearest Swedish Tax Agency office to register in the Population Register. If you are moving to stay with a person in Sweden, that person must accompany you to the tax office.
In order to register in the Swedish Population Register, you must intend to live in Sweden for at least one year. It is important that you take a valid passport or a national ID card as original documents. If you are under 16, your parent/guardian must accompany you when you notify immigration to Sweden, otherwise you must bring a personal letter from your parents/guardians. The letter must include their contact information, and they must write that they recognise that you are moving from another Nordic country to Sweden.
If you have more than one parent/guardian, both must sign the letter.
Notify the country you move from about the move to Sweden
Denmark – When moving from Denmark to Sweden, you most notify both the population register in your municipality in Denmark and the Swedish Population Register. If your notification in Sweden is approved, you will be automatically registered as an emigrant from Denmark. The same regulations apply for children.
Finland – When moving from Finland to Sweden, you must notify both the emigration to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (Myndigheten för digitalisering och befolkningsdata) in Finland and immigration to the Swedish Population Register. If your notification in Sweden is approved, you will be automatically registered as an emigrant from Finland. The same regulations apply for children.
Iceland – When moving from Iceland to Sweden, the move only needs to be notified in Sweden. If your notification in Sweden is approved, you will be automatically registered as an emigrant from Iceland. The same regulations apply for children.
Norway – When moving from Norway to Sweden, the move only needs to be notified in Sweden. If your notification in Sweden is approved, you will be automatically registered as an emigrant from Norway. The same regulations apply for children.
Documents needed when you register in Sweden
You must take the originals of your passport or a national ID card when you notify your move at a Swedish Tax Agency office.
You must also take original documents or verified copies that prove your civil status (vigselbevis) and birth certificates (födelseattester) of any children.
If you have previously been registered in Sweden, and there has been no change in your civil status, and you have not had more children while you were abroad, you do not need to take documentation about civil status or birth certificates for your children.
If you need an interpreter, you should notify this in good time.
Social insurance when you are registered in Sweden
When you register in the Swedish Population Register, your social insurance in the country from which you move - your home country - generally stops.
Contact Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency) when you move to Sweden. You can then receive an EU-card or benefits you may be entitled to.
Försäkringskassan will decide whether you will be covered by social insurance in Sweden. If the decision is that you will be covered by social insurance in Sweden, you may be entitled to benefits from Försäkringskassan, such as child benefit or housing allowance.
If you are listed in the Swedish Population Register, this generally means you are covered by social insurance in Sweden. However, there are exceptions to this, for example if you are studying or were not covered by social insurance in the country from which you moved. If you are uncertain about whether you are covered by social insurance in Sweden, you should contact Försäkringskassan.
Swedish personal identity number
Everyone who is listed in the Swedish Population Register is assigned a personal identity number by the Swedish Tax Agency.
If you have once been assigned a personal identity number, you retain this for the rest of your life. This means that the personal identity number does not change even if you move from Sweden.
In Sweden, you use your personal identity number when you interact with public agencies and private businesses.
Swedish coordination number
In Sweden you can be assigned a coordination number if you are going to stay in Sweden for less than one year, and thereby do not meet the requirements to be listed in the Swedish Population Register. The coordination number makes it easier for you to interact with Swedish public agencies and other parts of Swedish society, such as employers, banks, schools, landlords, mobile telephone operators, electricity providers, etc.
It is the Swedish Tax Agency that decides if you can be issued with a coordination number. For your identity to be established, you must be able to prove your name, date of birth and citizenship. You must also state your contact address, place of birth and gender in your application.
There are different ways to apply for a Swedish coordination number, depending on whether you, for example, are to be employed, run a business, or study, or if you own a property in Sweden but live in another country. You may apply for a coordination number yourself, or a Swedish public agency may decide that you will be issued with a coordination number.
If you later become listed in the Swedish Population Register, the coordination number is replaced with a personal identity number.
On the Swedish Tax Agency website, you can read how to apply for a Swedish coordination number.
Swedish ID cards
Once you are listed in the Swedish Population Register and have been assigned a personal identity number, you can apply for a Swedish ID card.
This card confirms your age and identity in various situations, such as when you collect a prescription from the pharmacy, purchase alcohol, pay with a card in a shop, or conduct bank business.
If you are a citizen of an EU/EEA country that is not a Nordic country, you can either have your own right to residence or a right to residence as a family member.
On the Swedish Tax Agency website, you can read what you must do when you come from an EU/EEA country and intend to live in Sweden because of studies, work, or other reasons.
If you are a citizen of a country outside the EU or EEA, you must apply for a residence permit to live in Sweden. You can apply for a residence permit at the Swedish Embassy or the Swedish Consulate in the country from which you are planning to move. Alternatively, you can apply for a residence permit through the Swedish Migration Agency when you have arrived in Sweden.
If you are a citizen of a country outside the EU or EEA, but belong to the same family as a person who is a citizen of an EU or EEA country, you can notify the move within one week by visiting the Swedish Tax Agency in person. The agency can then decide whether you meet the conditions to be registered as a resident in Sweden.
If you belong to the same family as a person who is a citizen of an EU or EEA country, you must show documentation that proves you are entitled to stay in Sweden via this person. You must take a valid passport to prove your identity and originals or verified copies of documents that show your family link to the EU or EEA citizen from whom the right of residence stems.
If you have the right of residence in Sweden and you are not a citizen of an EU or EEA country, you must, within three months of moving to Sweden, apply for a residence permit card (uppehållskort) at the Swedish Migration Agency.
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NB! If you have questions regarding the processing of a specific case or application, or other personal matters, please contact the relevant authority directly.
