Public services and online portals

Key authorities

• Skatteverket: population register, personnummer and samordningsnummer (see SE-NIF-TOUS-001 and SE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001), taxes (SE-IMPOTS-TOUS-001), VAT and F-skatt for businesses (SE-ENTREPRISE-TOUS-001), ID card until the end of November 2026 (then the police, see below), birth certificates, protection of personal data. It passes register data on to the other authorities and to the banks.
• Försäkringskassan (social insurance agency): decides whether you are insured in Sweden and pays out benefits (child allowances, housing support, parental benefit…). You tell it about your arrival through its online service or with form 5456; if you arrive with children under 16, it contacts you after you are registered.
• Arbetsförmedlingen (public employment service): job vacancies (Platsbanken), registration as a jobseeker, the European EURES network for citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland.
• Migrationsverket (migration agency): nothing for you to do there if you are an EU or EEA citizen; it is responsible for your non-European family members and for British citizens (Scots included).
• Transportstyrelsen (transport agency): driving licences and vehicles. Your EEA licence stays valid in Sweden for as long as it is valid in your country; you can exchange it if you live in Sweden permanently (at least 185 days a year).
• The municipality (kommun, 290 in all): school, nursery (förskola), after-school care, care for older people, social services, Swedish courses.
• The region (region, 21 in all): healthcare (see SE-SANTE-TOUS-001) and public transport.
• The state service centres (statliga servicecenter): shared counters of the Skatteverket, the Försäkringskassan, the Arbetsförmedlingen and the Pensionsmyndigheten (pensions agency). The staff speak Swedish and English, help with online services and can arrange an interpreter. This is where identity checks take place, by appointment.

Online services

• BankID: on your phone (the Mobilt BankID app), on a card or on a computer. You get it from a participating bank, and you need a personnummer. It counts as a legally binding electronic signature. Can you get it with just a samordningsnummer? Each bank decides: ask yours.
• Freja+ (Freja eID Plus): an app activated by scanning your passport or at an approved agent; it accepts a personnummer or a samordningsnummer, provided you are registered and can prove your identity. The Skatteverket offers it to newcomers who do not yet have an e-legitimation.
• Skatteverket ID card with a chip (AB Svenska Pass): an e-legitimation on a card (a card reader is needed).
• Sverige-id: the state e-legitimation prepared by the police (Polismyndigheten), at the highest security level. It opens on 1 December 2026: a foreigner entered in the population register (folkbokförd) can get it, linked to an ID card without a travel function, from the age of 9 (the year they turn 9); appointments are made by telephone only, on 114 14 (from 1 November) and only some police stations handle these applications (for example Stockholm-Farsta and Södertälje, Göteborg, Malmö, Örebro, Karlstad, Gävle, Umeå); you accept the terms of use on site and the mobile app is the only medium (Polisen).
• Without an e-legitimation: paper forms (for example SKV 4620 to set up a business), telephone, or help at a state service centre.

Steps

1. Before you leave: prepare your employment contract or your proof of resources (right of residence, see SE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
2. As soon as you arrive: declare your move to the Skatteverket (the "Flytta till Sverige" service, possible up to 14 days before the move), then book your identity check at a state service centre.
3. If you have to work before you have your personnummer: apply for a samordningsnummer (see SE-NIF-TOUS-001).
4. As soon as you have your personnummer: open a Swedish bank account and apply for BankID; apply for an ID card if you need one.
5. Then: register with the Försäkringskassan, enrol your children at school or nursery through the municipality (see SE-ECOLE-TOUS-001 and SE-ECOLE-TOUS-002), choose your health centre in your region.

Documents

• Passport or national ID card in the original for all identity checks.
• For the Skatteverket ID card: registration in the population register, personnummer, at least 13 years old (parental consent before 18), proof of identity: a passport from an EU, EEA or Swiss country issued on 1 September 2006 or later, or a guarantor (intygsgivare) who knows you and comes with you.

Costs and timelines

• Skatteverket ID card: 400 SEK (2026), to be paid before the appointment (no payment at the counter). Timeline of about two weeks; collection in person within two months.
• From 1 December 2026: the Skatteverket asks that every new ID card application go to the police (Polismyndigheten), which will issue cards to Swedish citizens and to people entered in the register who do not have Swedish nationality. If you are not Swedish, the Skatteverket advises you to go to the police first: appointments can be booked from 1 November. Eight service centres (Stockholm Globen, Stockholm Kista, Malmö Värnhem, Göteborg Järntorget, Eskilstuna, Helsingborg, Norrköping, Trollhättan) no longer take Skatteverket card applications from that date, and from 1 November cards are no longer collected there. A card applied for before 1 November is collected at the chosen centre by 30 November at the latest; after 1 December, it is sent to Sundbyberg until you name another centre. For Swedish citizens, the national ID card costs 400 kr until 30 November 2026 and then 500 kr from 1 December 2026 (ordinance 2005:661); the pages read give no police fee for non-citizens. The fee for the police card is paid on site when you apply; if you had booked with the Skatteverket, cancel and do not pay its 400 SEK.
• Registration in the population register: about 5 weeks before an officer takes up your file.

Common pitfalls

• The bank-BankID-personnummer vicious circle. Without a personnummer, opening an account and getting BankID is difficult: use Freja+ and the counters in the meantime.
• Sharing your BankID. Never give out your code and never approve a BankID request that you did not start yourself: the authorities warn against this fraud.
• Turning up without an appointment. Identity checks and ID cards are handled by appointment, and not every centre issues cards.
• Paying for the Skatteverket card on site. It is not possible: pay beforehand and bring proof of payment (at the police it is the other way round: payment is made on site, at the time of the application).
• Forgetting the interpreter. You are often entitled to an interpreter with the authorities, municipalities and healthcare: ask for one when you book your appointment.

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: no residence permit; your passport (issued since 1 September 2006) serves as proof of identity for the Swedish ID card.
• Nordic citizens: same logic, without proof of right of residence for registration.
• British citizens (Scots included): third country; a residence card from the Migrationsverket is needed before registration, then the same online services.