How to Get a Swedish Personal Number

1. Introduction

2. What is a Personal Number

3. Requirements to Get a Personal Number

4. Process to Apply for a Personal Number

Introduction

Anytime you travel internationally there are certain things that you need to do. Like checking that your passport is valid and whether or not you will need a visa or residence permit, looking into any health and vaccination requirements, and packing the right gear for your trip. However, when you are planning to move to a new country, that list gets a little bit longer.

When moving to Sweden, one of the things that should be on your to-do list shortly after you arrive is applying for a personal number, or a Swedish personnummer. If you are wondering what this identity number is or how to get one, then you are in the right place.

What is a Personal Number

A personal number is the Swedish equivalent to a social security number in the US. Personal numbers are composed of your birthday followed by a 4-digit number. Sometimes the first two digits of the year are dropped off, but the full version is formatted as YYYYMMDD-XXXX. Before 1990 the first two digits after your birthday represented where you were born. The third digit indicates if you are male or female (even for women, odd for men). The final digit is a checksum. After 1990, the first digits stopped representing where you were born, and are instead just a serial number so to speak.

Getting a personal number is a very important step to integrating in Sweden. It is used for identifying yourself with the government, creating a bank account, and even registering for programs with private companies. One specific example of how your personal number will be used is to enter the Population Register, which is the official register that the Swedish government uses to track who is living in the country, where they live, and family relationships.

Essentially, the personal number is the key to getting services in Sweden, from memberships and subscriptions to accessing the healthcare system. With that being the case, it is important to apply for a personal number as soon as possible after you arrive.

Requirements to Get a Personal Number

In order to get a personal number, there are several key requirements that you will need to fulfill. First, you must prove in the application that you intend to stay in Sweden for more than 12 months. This is because it is a unique identifier that stays with you for life, even if you leave Sweden, and they do not want to be issuing these numbers

Second, you are also being added to the popultion register, so they will need to know what your address in Sweden is in order to process your application.

Third, if you are from outside the EU, you will need to show proof that you have obtained a residence permit that allows you to live in Sweden. In general, you will need a residence permit that is valid for longer than one year. However, there are some exceptions to this. In the summer of 2022 Migrationsverket, which is responsible for issuing residence permits, began issuing residence permits for the length of the new residents probationary period. For many people moving for work, employers include a 6-month probationary period, meaning you would not be eligible. However, Skatteverket takes this into account. In my case, I provided a letter from my employer that stated they do not intend to end my employment after the first 6 months in addition to my proof that I had a residence permit.

Process to Apply for a Personal Number

To begin the application process, the first step is to make sure you fulfill the requirements listed above. If you do meet the requirements you can fill out the required form on the Skatteverket website.

The form starts with. a background section, asking questions like, where you are moving from, your citizenship, your birthday, and your marital status. It then asks when you moved to Sweden and why. You will also need to provide the address you are living at in Sweden. You will also provide your contact information. You can also provide other contextual information, such as how I provided information from my employer stating I would be working longer than 6 months.

After you have this form filled out, you should print out the form and gather the remaining documents that they will want to see, including the following:

1. A valid passport, if you are an EU or EEA citizen, a national ID card will also work

2. If you are not an EU or EEA citizen, you will also need to being your residence permit.

   1. If you have a residence permit for less than 12 months, also bring proof you intend to stay longer, such as a letter of intent from your employer.

3. If you are not an EU or EEA citizen, you will want to bring a copy of your employment information, including the name of your employer, your employers Swedish corporate ID number, and a contact person at your employer.

4. Your Swedish address. You probably will not need the actual lease document, but it doesn't hurt to bring this if you have it readily available.

Next, you just head down to your local Skatteverket office and provide all of your information. The next step is easy, you just wait. Unfortunately, the processing times can be a little bit long. The official answer is that Skatteverket processes most cases within four weeks, but can take up to 18 weeks depending on the case. They will not give you a specific time for your case, but you will know it has been processed when you get the response via mail at the address in your application. You now have your Swedish personal number and can integrate into Swedish society more efficiently! It is now time to apply for a Swedish ID card!