The first month is about getting into Skatteverket's machinery fast — everything else in Sweden waits for the personnummer.
Overview
The first month in Sweden is a race to get into the population register, because almost nothing else works until the personal identity number (personnummer) exists. Week one belongs to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket): file the 'Moving to Sweden' notification online and book the mandatory in-person identity check at a state service centre (Statens servicecenter) — every family member must attend with passports, residence permit cards and civil-status documents. The weeks that follow are mostly waiting, so use them to handle what does not need a personnummer: registering with Försäkringskassan can be prepared, children's school applications filed with the municipality, and accommodation and transport sorted. Once the personnummer arrives, move immediately on the Skatteverket identity card (SEK 400, paid in advance to bankgiro 389-0100), a bank account and BankID, Försäkringskassan registration, listing with a health centre (vårdcentral), and enrolment in free SFI Swedish classes — which since 1 January 2026 carry a three-year completion window. Verified against skatteverket.se, forsakringskassan.se and migrationsverket.se as of June 2026.
Week 1 — Get Into the Queue
- File the Moving to Sweden notification: Use Skatteverket's e-service as soon as you arrive (a foreign eID or the Freja app lets you log in; filing without login is also possible). The processing clock starts when your notification and identity check are complete, so do not wait until you are 'settled'.
- Book the identity check: Registration requires a personal visit to a state service centre — book the earliest slot, and remember every family member must attend in person, including children.
- Assemble documents: Passports, residence permit cards, and originals of marriage and birth certificates (with apostille/legalisation where the issuing country requires it). Incomplete civil-status documentation is the most common cause of delayed family registrations.
- Employer admin: Give your employer your contact details and discuss payroll for the personnummer gap — tax registration can run on a coordination number (samordningsnummer) if needed, which the employer or Skatteverket can initiate.
- EU/EEA citizens: No Migrationsverket step exists anymore — go straight to Skatteverket, bringing proof of your right of residence (employment contract, studies or means).
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See Paid Plans →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single most important thing to do in my first week in Sweden?
File Skatteverket's 'Moving to Sweden' notification and book the in-person identity check at a state service centre. The personnummer is the gateway to the ID card, bank account, BankID, social insurance and free Swedish classes, and Skatteverket cannot start assessing your case until the notification is filed and your identity checked. Everything else in the first month — phone contracts, furniture, even most gym memberships — is secondary and mostly impossible anyway until the number exists. Book the earliest appointment available and bring every family member and every document.
How do I survive the weeks before my personnummer arrives?
Plan for cash-flow and access friction. Use an internationally usable card for payments (Sweden is near-cashless, so a working card matters more than cash), a prepaid Swedish SIM rather than a contract, and your passport as ID. Healthcare is available but at higher uninsured rates — work permit holders staying up to a year must hold comprehensive health insurance since 1 June 2026, and EU arrivals can use the EHIC. Ask your employer about paying the first salary to a foreign account, or about a samordningsnummer for payroll tax purposes. Use the waiting weeks for school applications and housing.
In what order should I do things once the personnummer arrives?
Pay the SEK 400 ID-card fee to Skatteverket's bankgiro 389-0100, then apply for the identity card at a service centre that issues them. With the ID card, open a bank account — bring your employment contract and residence permit, and expect some banks to be slow with newcomers. The bank then issues BankID, which unlocks practically every e-service in the country. Then register with Försäkringskassan to establish benefit entitlements, list yourself with a vårdcentral on 1177.se, and enrol in SFI through your municipality. That order matters: each step depends on the previous one.
When can I start free Swedish classes, and is there a deadline?
SFI (Swedish for Immigrants) is free and open to you once you are registered in a municipality with a personnummer — apply through the municipality's adult education (komvux). Since 1 January 2026 there is a real deadline: participants have three years in which to study SFI, so the old habit of postponing Swedish 'until things settle' now has a cost. Enrol in your first month. If you are heading for citizenship, note the June 2026 reform makes Swedish language knowledge mandatory (ages 16–66), with language testing being phased in from late 2027 — SFI is the obvious preparation route.
Do my children get school places straight away, and what about preschool?
School-age children have a right to schooling, and you apply through your municipality — start immediately, because placement takes time and does not need to wait for the children's personnummer to begin. Preschool (förskola) is the bigger bottleneck: municipalities must offer a place within a few months of application, but in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö queues for specific preschools are long, so apply in week one or two with several alternatives listed. Once the family is registered and personnummer are issued, also register with Försäkringskassan — child allowance (barnbidrag) follows registration, not arrival.
I'm an EU citizen — does any of this apply to me?
Almost all of it. You skip Migrationsverket entirely (no permit, and no registration of the right of residence is required anymore), but Skatteverket treats you like every other arrival: to get a personnummer you must show your stay will last at least a year and that you have a right of residence — an employment contract is the cleanest evidence; self-sufficient movers and students show means and insurance. The identity check, ID card, bank/BankID chain, Försäkringskassan assessment (which for EU arrivals can involve coordination with your previous country) and SFI entitlement all work the same way.