How to get BankID as a newcomer in Sweden: requirements, steps and waiting times

BankID is the most common e-ID in Sweden. An e-ID (e-legitimation) is an ID document for the internet: with it you show who you are, log in to e-services and sign agreements. The vast majority of companies and organisations, private and public, that have e-services with a login use BankID. But as a newcomer you cannot get it straight away. First you need a personnummer (personal identity number), a bank and an ID document the bank accepts. Here is what is required, the order the steps usually come in, why it takes time, what you can use in the meantime and how to protect your BankID.

The bank decides whether you get BankID, and Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) decides on population registration, personnummer and ID cards. We checked the details on the pages of BankID, Skatteverket, Finansinspektionen (the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority), Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå (the Swedish Consumers’ Banking and Finance Bureau), Freja and the police on 11 October 2026.

What BankID requires

To get BankID you must

• have a Swedish personnummer,
• be a customer of a bank that issues BankID, and
• have identified yourself with an ID document the bank accepts.

The bank sets the age limit. Usually it is 13 or 18, and if you are under 18 you always need your guardian’s consent.

No law gives you a right to BankID. The banks decide for themselves who they give BankID to, and a bank can say no even if you have a valid foreign passport. The banks have built BankID around the personnummer, and today it is not possible to get BankID without one. A samordningsnummer (coordination number), a number for people who are not registered in the population register, is therefore not enough.

The steps in the right order

Skatteverket’s times are approximate and can be longer if something needs to be investigated or completed.

1. Get registered and receive a personnummer

If you plan to live in Sweden for at least one year, in most cases you should be folkbokförd, which means registered by Skatteverket as living in Sweden. When you are registered for the first time, you get a personnummer.

• Notify your move in Skatteverket’s e-service Flytta till Sverige (Moving to Sweden). It is available in Swedish, English, Arabic and Ukrainian. Send the notification at the earliest 14 days before you move, and make a separate notification for each person in the family.
• Log in with an e-ID. If you do not have one, you can download the Freja app and log in with it. If you need help, you can get it at a servicekontor (service office).
• Upload your passport, all pages with information, and your residence permit card if you have one.
• Book a time for an identity check at a service office through the link in your receipt. Bring all your original ID documents.
• The decision comes by letter, so make sure your name is on your mailbox.

In October 2026 it takes about 5 weeks before a notification of a move to Sweden gets a case officer. Skatteverket handles cases in the order they arrive and gives no priority. More about the wait and what you can do in the meantime is in How long does it take to get a personnummer in 2026?

If you are staying for less than one year, you should not be registered. Then you can apply for a samordningsnummer if you need one and have a connection to Sweden, but you cannot get BankID with it.

2. Skatteverket’s ID card: why it often comes before the bank

The bank must check who you are. If you have a Swedish ID document, the bank can do that with, for example, a Swedish driving licence, a Swedish passport or an ID card from a Swedish authority. If you have no Swedish ID document, the bank checks a foreign passport or another ID document with a photo instead. But a bank can refuse BankID despite a valid foreign passport, and according to Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå some people have been refused an account when they had no Swedish ID documents.

Skatteverket’s ID card is a Swedish ID document. That is why it often comes before the bank and BankID. Still, ask your bank which ID documents it accepts.

You can apply for the ID card if all of this applies:

• you have paid the SEK 400 fee before your visit,
• you are registered in Sweden and have a Swedish personnummer,
• you are at least 13, and have your guardians’ consent if you are under 18,
• you can prove who you are.

If you are a Swedish citizen, you go to the police for a national ID card instead.

This is how it works:

1. Pay the fee. It cannot be paid at the service office. Bring a receipt or bank statement that shows the payment.
2. Book a time at a service office that makes ID cards. Not all service offices do.
3. Prove who you are with an approved ID document, an approved attestor or your residence permit card, which Skatteverket checks with Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency). A passport from a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland is not among the approved ID documents. If you have such a passport, bring your residence permit card or an attestor. You are photographed at the service office, so you do not need a photo.
4. Collect the card. It is ready after about two weeks. You get a text message or a letter and collect the card in person within two months, with the receipt from your application.

An attestor (intygsgivare) is someone who knows you well, comes with you to the service office and can identify themselves. It can be, for example, your spouse or registered partner, your partner if you have lived together for at least six months, or an employer you have had for at least one year, with a certificate showing it.

The card is valid for five years. Skatteverket sends no reminder before it expires.

3. Open a bank account, even without a personnummer

Everyone who can show that they live in the EEA (the EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) has a legal right to open a payment account with basic features (betalkonto med grundläggande funktioner) at Swedish banks. It is an account where you can deposit money, withdraw cash, pay with a bank card and make payments such as direct debits (autogiro). Not having a personnummer is not in itself a reason to refuse you.

• The bank must decide on your application within 10 banking days of receiving a complete application.
• The bank must check who you are and ask questions about what the account will be used for. Expect questions about what you earn and where your money comes from, and bring documents if you can.
• The bank may refuse, for example if it cannot check who you are or does not consider that it can manage the risk of money laundering.
• If you are refused, you must get the decision in writing and free of charge, with information on where you can complain and, if possible, why. Complain first to the bank’s complaints officer (klagomålsansvarig). You can also have the decision reviewed by Allmänna reklamationsnämnden (ARN, the National Board for Consumer Disputes).

The right covers the payment account, not BankID. The bank decides on BankID.

4. Order BankID from the bank

Once you are a customer, you order BankID from your bank. How it works differs between banks, but usually you log in to the online bank or visit a branch. For Mobile BankID (Mobilt BankID), meaning BankID on your phone, do this:

1. Download the app BankID Säkerhetsapp (the BankID security app) from the App Store or Google Play.
2. Get a BankID through your bank.
3. Activate your BankID in the app.

Digitally with a passport: only if you have had BankID before

You may have read that you can get BankID digitally with your passport. According to BankID, that is for people who have had BankID at their bank before and need a new one. It requires that the bank offers a digital check of ID documents, that you have a phone with NFC, and a valid passport or national ID card from the Swedish police.

In October 2026, four banks also accept passports and national ID cards from countries in the EU, the EEA and the UK. BankID’s support page (in Swedish) shows which. BankID hopes to accept ID documents from more countries in the future. If you do not have an ID document that is accepted, the bank can still help you get BankID, for example in the online bank or at a branch.

Why it can take time

• Each step builds on the one before. The ID card requires a personnummer, and BankID requires a personnummer, a bank and an approved ID document.
• Skatteverket gives no priority. Cases are handled in order, and it takes longer if you need to send more information. Send in everything from the start: then it usually goes faster.
• The ID card requires a visit. You pay in advance and book a time at a service office that makes ID cards. The card takes about two weeks, longer if something has to be investigated.
• The bank must know its customers. It checks who you are and what the account will be used for before it opens it.
• The bank decides on BankID. There is no legal right to it, so do not count on a particular date.

What you can use in the meantime

The service you log in to decides which e-IDs it accepts. Before you have BankID, there is this:

• Freja. A free e-ID in an app. Like BankID, it has the quality mark Svensk e-legitimation (Swedish e-ID). If you have no e-ID, Skatteverket points you to Freja for the e-service Flytta till Sverige. According to Freja, an account you register with your email address is then enough, without a passport. With such an account you only reach some e-services.
• Freja+. Freja’s highest level. Each e-service still decides for itself whether it accepts you. This is what Freja requires as of 11 October 2026:
  • With a personnummer: you register with a Swedish ID document. For foreign citizens, Freja recommends Skatteverket’s ID card. With the ID card you can get Freja+ after a short check at one of Freja’s agents.
  • With a samordningsnummer: you must be a citizen of an EU/EEA country and have a biometric passport, meaning a passport with a chip. Skatteverket must have assessed your identity as established (styrkt), and you must have an address in SPAR (Statens personadressregister, the state register of personal addresses). Freja then sends you a security code by letter. This route does not change in December.
  • From 21 December 2026: Freja stops accepting Skatteverket’s ID card and Swedish driving licences. After that, it is possible to register with a Swedish passport, a Swedish national ID card, a national ID card from an EU/EEA country or a foreign biometric passport. If you are registered with the ID card but do not have Freja+, you must do the check at an agent by 20 December 2026. Read on Freja’s pages what applies to you before you register.
• The e-ID on the ID card. Skatteverket’s ID card has its own e-ID, from AB Svenska Pass, which you can use in Skatteverket’s e-services. It needs a computer, a card reader and a browser add-on.
• The service office. There you can get help logging in to Flytta till Sverige and downloading Freja.

Protect your BankID

BankID is a personal e-ID, comparable to your passport. If someone tricks you into identifying yourself, the fraudster can log in to your bank, try to steal money or get a new BankID in your name.

• Never use your BankID because someone who contacts you asks you to. Agencies, banks, the police and companies that offer BankID never contact you by phone, email or similar to ask you to log in or download a new BankID. Hang up, even if the person seems credible and knows things about you. The number shown can be fake. If you want to check, call the bank on a number you have looked up yourself, for example on the bank’s website.
• Read the text in the BankID app. Check where you are identifying yourself and what you are signing. If you are unsure, choose cancel.
• Keep your security code secret. Only use it in the BankID app and never give it to anyone.
• Never lend out your BankID. Do not give anyone else access to it, and never activate your BankID on someone else’s computer or phone. A bank can block your personnummer from BankID for 12 months if it judges that you have broken the terms, and meanwhile no other bank can give you a new one.
• Turn on notifications in the BankID app. They are sent when someone orders a new BankID in your name. If you get a notification without having ordered anything, contact the bank straight away and block your BankID.
• Changing phones? Do not delete BankID on the old one until you have activated the new one. You can use the old BankID to activate the new one.
• The police never contact you with an automated voice in English, for example to say that you are wanted by the police. Hang up.
• Scam text messages can be forwarded to 7726.

If something has happened

1. Block your BankID in the online bank, in the bank’s app or by calling the bank. All banks have a number you can call around the clock.
2. Contact your bank, so that it can try to stop further payments.
3. Report it to the police on 114 14 or at a police station. Call 112 if the crime is happening right now.

A blocked BankID cannot be unlocked again. You get a new one through your bank.

Tick off the steps in the tool

Our BankID tool takes you through the steps in the right order, whether you already have a personnummer or are waiting for one. What you tick off is only saved in your browser. The whole route, from residence permit to SFI, is in New in Sweden: your first steps, from personnummer to BankID.

Summary

• BankID requires a Swedish personnummer, that you are a customer of a bank that issues BankID and an ID document the bank accepts. The bank decides, and there is no legal right to BankID.
• The order is usually personnummer, Skatteverket’s ID card, bank account and finally BankID. The ID card gives you a Swedish ID document to show at the bank.
• You have a right to a payment account with basic features even without a personnummer, but the bank can refuse in some cases. It must answer within 10 banking days.
• In the meantime there is Freja, but Freja stops accepting Skatteverket’s ID card on 21 December 2026.
• Never use your BankID because someone asks you to. If something has happened: block it, contact the bank and report it to the police.

Sources

• BankID: Skaffa BankID (in Swedish)
• BankID: Tänk på säkerheten (in Swedish)
• BankID: Vanliga bedrägerier (in Swedish)
• BankID: Skaffa Mobilt BankID (in Swedish)
• BankID: Skaffa nytt BankID digitalt (in Swedish)
• BankID: Säkerhetstips (in Swedish)
• BankID: Spärra BankID (in Swedish)
• BankID: BankID får inte aktiveras (in Swedish)
• Skatteverket: Flytta till Sverige (in Swedish)
• Skatteverket: Handläggningstid: hur lång tid tar det? (in Swedish)
• Skatteverket: Samordningsnummer (in Swedish)
• Skatteverket: Skatteverkets id-kort (in Swedish)
• Skatteverket: Så här ansöker du om och förnyar id-kort (in Swedish)
• Skatteverket: E-legitimation på id-kortet (in Swedish)
• Finansinspektionen: Rätten till bankkonto (in Swedish)
• Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå: Bank-id (in Swedish)
• Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå: Rätt till betalkonto med grundläggande funktioner (in Swedish)
• Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå: Identifiera sig hos banken (in Swedish)
• Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå: Banker och finansiella institut måste uppnå kundkännedom (in Swedish)
• Freja: Skaffa Freja (in Swedish)
• Freja: Vem kan ha Freja? (in Swedish)
• Freja: Freja registrerad med e-post för Skatteverket (in Swedish)
• Freja: Registrering (in Swedish)
• Freja: Viktig uppdatering om ID-handlingar som stöds i Freja (in Swedish)
• Polisen: Telefonbedrägeri, vishing (in Swedish)