Personnummer

Becoming folkbokförd (registered as living in Sweden) takes time. Meanwhile you can already do a lot: open a bank account, work, get healthcare and start learning Swedish at SFI. Choose what applies to you. You'll see how to follow your case, what works now and what has to wait. The authority concerned always decides what applies to you.

• You get a personnummer (personal identity number) the first time Skatteverket, the Swedish Tax Agency, registers you. You keep it for life.
• A samordningsnummer (coordination number) is for people who aren't and haven't been registered, for example if you're staying less than a year.

1. Follow your case at Skatteverket

   As of October 2026 it takes about five weeks before a notification of a move to Sweden is assigned to a case officer (handläggare), the person who handles it. Skatteverket takes cases in order and gives no priority. If something is missing from your notification, it can take longer.

   Save the receipt from the e-service. Haven't had your identity check yet? Book a time through the link in the receipt. Everyone in the family who's moving should go as soon as possible, with their original ID documents.

   • Call Skatteupplysningen, Skatteverket's information line, on 0771-567 567, weekdays 8–16. From abroad: +46 8 564 851 60.
   • Once your case has a case officer, you can call them with questions about it.
   • A service centre (servicekontor) can give you information about ongoing cases.
   • On Mina sidor (My Pages) you can see the status of ongoing cases. Without a Swedish e-ID you can log in with Freja or with an e-ID from another EU country.

   Haven't notified your move yet?

   • If you plan to live in Sweden for at least a year, you should in most cases be registered. Notify your move in the e-service Flytta till Sverige (Moving to Sweden), in English, Arabic, Ukrainian or Swedish.
   • Without an e-ID, Skatteverket points you to the Freja app. You can also get help at a service centre.
   • Every person makes their own notification, each child too.
   • If you're a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA, you need a valid residence permit card.

   Skatteverket: moving to Sweden Skatteverket: contact us Book a service centre
2. Make sure Skatteverket can reach you

   Skatteverket contacts you by letter, email or phone, and the decision comes by letter. If Skatteverket can't reach you, your notification can't be processed. Then you may not be registered or get a personnummer.

   • Put your name on your door or on the postbox in the entrance, however you live. A c/o (care of) address isn't registered.
   • If you have an apartment number, it should be in your notification. It has four digits and is usually in your lease or in the stairwell.
   • Staying somewhere temporary, such as a hotel or hostel? Then that address should be in your notification.

   Moving before you're registered and have your personnummer? Report your new address and the date you moved there. Call Skatteupplysningen or go to a service centre.

   Skatteverket: address and name on the door
3. Open a bank account

   If you live in Sweden or elsewhere in the EEA, you have the right to a payment account with basic functions. With it you can get paid and pay bills. Not having a personnummer is not in itself a reason for a bank to say no.

   The bank must answer within 10 banking days of a complete application. It asks questions about you and your money. Answer in time: if the bank doesn't know you well enough, the law doesn't allow it to give you an account.

   A bank may still say no, for example if it can't confirm who you are. Then you must get the decision in writing, free of charge. Complain first to the bank's complaints officer (klagomålsansvarig), then to the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN).

   Konsumenternas: the right to an account (in Swedish) Finansinspektionen: if you're refused (in Swedish)
4. Start work and sort out your tax If you're going to work

   As an EU/EEA citizen you don't need a work permit, nor a personnummer or samordningsnummer to start working. As a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, you need a permit to work, and you must be able to show it to your employer.

   Got a job before you're registered? Notify Skatteverket of preliminary A-tax (preliminär A-skatt), unless you already have a decision on how your tax should be deducted. Your employer needs the decision to deduct the right tax. The e-service needs no e-ID, just an email address.

   • You may start working before the decision arrives, if you have the right to work here.
   • Show the decision to your employer as soon as you get it.
   • Once you're registered, you don't need to notify A-tax.

   If you work in Sweden without being registered, you must also notify Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency), in its e-service or on form 5456.

   Skatteverket: new in Sweden and employed here Försäkringskassan: work in Sweden The Work tool
5. Find out what healthcare costs

   Call 1177 if you're ill and unsure where to get care. A nurse answers day and night, assesses your symptoms and tells you where to go.

   If you come from a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, you nearly always pay the whole cost of care yourself until you're registered, even with a residence permit. That goes for both emergency and planned care.

   Insured in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland? Show your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC, in Swedish EU-kort). With it you get emergency, necessary care for the standard patient fee. Without it you may pay the whole cost.

   Ask the region or Försäkringskassan what applies to you before you seek care that can wait. Once you're registered, you pay the same patient fee as everyone else living in Sweden.

   You can get an interpreter if you find it hard to understand or speak Swedish. Tell the clinic in advance.

   1177: care if you come from another country (in Swedish) 1177: patient fees (in Swedish) The Healthcare tool
6. Ask your municipality about SFI

   SFI (svenska för invandrare, Swedish for immigrants) is the municipality's Swedish course. It's free. The right to SFI is for people who are resident in Sweden, which usually means registered. If you have a right to education here under the EU's free movement rules, you may be entitled to SFI before that.

   You don't need a personnummer: the municipality may not require one before you start. Contact the municipality where you live and ask when you can start. You're entitled to at least 15 hours a week and can combine SFI with work.

   Since 1 January 2026 your right to SFI lasts three years from the day the municipality admits you, even if you take breaks. For special reasons, such as illness or parental leave, it can be extended to six years at most. If you're away more than three weeks in a row without being ill or on approved leave, you count as having dropped out.

   Skolverket: the right to SFI (in Swedish) Utbildningsguiden: about SFI (in Swedish)
7. Contact Försäkringskassan and Arbetsförmedlingen

   Försäkringskassan: you don't need a personnummer. If you have a samordningsnummer, you use that. If you have no number at all, Försäkringskassan can ask Skatteverket for a samordningsnummer for you when you apply for a benefit, but it may then take longer. While you're waiting for a residence permit, you usually can't get benefits yet.

   Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish Public Employment Service) helps everyone with the right to work in Sweden, for example with job vacancies and Swedish lessons. Without an e-ID, you register as a jobseeker at a service centre, using a one-time code. Bring ID.

   Got a residence permit as a refugee, a person in need of protection or a family member? Go to Arbetsförmedlingen as soon as possible after the decision, and bring the decision from Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency). They decide whether you can join the introduction programme (etableringsprogrammet). According to Arbetsförmedlingen, you need a personnummer to take part in the programme's activities and to get the introduction benefit (etableringsersättning).

   Försäkringskassan: insured in Sweden (in Swedish) Arbetsförmedlingen: register as a jobseeker Arbetsförmedlingen: after your residence permit The Försäkringskassan tool
8. Hold off on BankID and the ID card

   These need a personnummer:

   • BankID: you need a Swedish personnummer. Today you can't get BankID without one.
   • Skatteverket's ID card: you must be registered and have a Swedish personnummer. It costs SEK 400.
   • Logging in to 1177: it needs a Swedish personnummer and BankID or Freja+. You can already call 1177, though.
   • Most of Skatteverket's e-services: they need a Swedish personnummer and a Swedish e-ID.

   The decision on your registration comes by letter. You then keep your personnummer for life, even if you move abroad. Driving on a foreign licence? See what applies in the Driving licence tool.

   Once you're registered, if you move within Sweden, notify Skatteverket at the latest one week after you move.

   Your route to BankID Skatteverket: ID card The Driving licence tool

1. Keep your number active and your address up to date

   A samordningsnummer is active for five years. Then it automatically becomes inactive (vilande). If you still need it, Skatteverket can renew it. Apply in the e-service Samordningsnummer (Coordination number), say why you need the number and what your connection to Sweden is, and book an identity check at a service centre. It can take up to six weeks before your application is assigned to a case officer.

   If your contact address changes, report it in the e-service Samordningsnummer or on form SKV 7542. You don't need an identity check for that. The address can be in Sweden or in another country, but you must be able to receive post there.

   Still waiting for your samordningsnummer?

   • If you applied yourself, it can take up to six weeks before your application is assigned to a case officer (October 2026).
   • If an authority requested the number for you, it takes about three weeks before a case officer is assigned, and then up to six more weeks before you hear. You get a notice to attend an identity check, with the last date for your visit to a service centre.

   Skatteverket: coordination numbers Book a service centre
2. Work and pay the right tax If you work here

   For your employer to deduct the right tax, you need a decision from Skatteverket: preliminary A-tax, or SINK (special income tax for non-residents). If you stay six months or more in a row, it's usually A-tax. With SINK the tax is 22.5 percent of your salary in 2026, down from 25 percent on 1 January 2026.

   • You notify A-tax or apply for SINK in Skatteverket's e-services. Your employer can also apply for SINK for you. The e-services need no e-ID, just an email address.
   • You may start working before the decision arrives, if you have the right to work in Sweden. Show the decision to your employer as soon as you get it.
   • Is your samordningsnummer inactive? Renew it at a service centre. You can hand in your A-tax notification or SINK application at the same visit.

   If you're not registered, notify A-tax again every calendar year. You apply for SINK again for each year, each employer and each period of employment.

   If you work in Sweden without being registered, you must also notify Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency), in its e-service or on form 5456.

   Skatteverket: new in Sweden and employed here Försäkringskassan: work in Sweden The Tax tool
3. Open a bank account

   If you live in Sweden or elsewhere in the EEA, you have the right to a payment account with basic functions. With it you can get paid and pay bills. Not having a personnummer is not in itself a reason for a bank to say no.

   The bank must answer within 10 banking days of a complete application. It asks questions about you and your money. Answer in time: if the bank doesn't know you well enough, the law doesn't allow it to give you an account.

   A bank may still say no, for example if it can't confirm who you are. Then you must get the decision in writing, free of charge. Complain first to the bank's complaints officer (klagomålsansvarig), then to the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN).

   Konsumenternas: the right to an account (in Swedish) Finansinspektionen: if you're refused (in Swedish)
4. Find out what healthcare costs

   With a samordningsnummer you're not registered. What care costs then depends on which country you're insured in. Call 1177 if you're unsure where to get care. A nurse answers day and night.

   • From a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland: you nearly always pay the whole cost yourself, for both emergency and planned care.
   • Insured in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland: show your EHIC (EU-kort) and you get emergency, necessary care for the standard patient fee.
   • From an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, with a temporary job here of less than twelve months: register with Försäkringskassan. Then you get care for the same fees as people insured in Sweden.

   Have temporary protection from Ukraine? Then you get the same care as asylum seekers. Register with Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency) and show your residence permit card when you seek care. A doctor's visit at a health centre (vårdcentral) costs at most SEK 50 for adults, and children should get care on the same terms as other children in the region.

   Ask the region or Försäkringskassan what applies to you. You can get an interpreter if you find it hard to understand or speak Swedish: tell the clinic in advance.

   1177: care if you come from another country (in Swedish) 1177: if you come from Ukraine (in Swedish) The Healthcare tool
5. Ask your municipality about SFI

   SFI (Swedish for immigrants) is the municipality's free Swedish course. The right to SFI is for people who are resident in Sweden, which usually means registered. If you have a right to education here under the EU's free movement rules, you may be entitled to SFI without being registered. The right doesn't depend on whether you have a personnummer or a samordningsnummer.

   Ask the municipality where you live. Since 1 January 2026 your right to SFI lasts three years from the day the municipality admits you, even if you take breaks.

   Have temporary protection and won't be registered? Then you have no right to SFI. But the municipality may let you take part, from the second half of the year you turn 18.

   Skolverket: the right to SFI (in Swedish) Utbildningsguiden: about SFI (in Swedish)
6. Contact Försäkringskassan and Arbetsförmedlingen

   Försäkringskassan: you don't need a personnummer. Give your samordningsnummer when you apply for a benefit. Försäkringskassan then assesses whether you're insured in Sweden.

   Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish Public Employment Service) helps everyone with the right to work in Sweden. Without a Swedish e-ID, you register as a jobseeker at a service centre, using a one-time code. Bring ID.

   From Ukraine with temporary protection?

   • Register at a service centre. Bring your passport or other valid ID, your residence permit card or the confirmation that you've applied for an extension, and your samordningsnummer. If you don't have one, you can apply for it there.
   • With a samordningsnummer you can get some support, such as a subsidised job. If you can't be registered, you can't join the introduction programme.
   • You have the right to an interpreter in your contact with Arbetsförmedlingen.

   Försäkringskassan: insured in Sweden (in Swedish) Arbetsförmedlingen: register as a jobseeker Arbetsförmedlingen: from Ukraine The Försäkringskassan tool
7. Notify your move to Sweden If you're staying at least a year

   If you plan to live in Sweden for at least a year, you should in most cases be registered. Notify your move to Sweden in Skatteverket's e-service and go to the identity check. When you're registered, your samordningsnummer is replaced by a personnummer.

   As of October 2026 it takes about five weeks before a move to Sweden is assigned to a case officer. Choose “Waiting for a personnummer” above for the steps while you wait.

   Have temporary protection from Ukraine? You can be registered once you've had your permit for at least a year, if you're likely to stay at least 18 months from the day you got it. Notify within four weeks of meeting the conditions. If your first permit was granted on or after 5 September 2026, you normally can't be registered, because the EU has decided the protection lasts until 4 March 2028.

   Skatteverket: moving to Sweden Skatteverket: coming from Ukraine
8. Hold off on BankID and the ID card

   A samordningsnummer isn't enough for everything. These need a personnummer:

   • BankID: you need a Swedish personnummer. Today you can't get BankID without one.
   • Skatteverket's ID card: you must be registered and have a Swedish personnummer.
   • Logging in to 1177: it needs a Swedish personnummer and BankID or Freja+.
   • Most of Skatteverket's e-services. You can still reach Mina sidor with Freja or with an e-ID from another EU country.

   Your route to BankID Skatteverket: about e-ID (in Swedish)