As I mentioned in an earlier post, I finally got it. The swedish personal number. It took me longer than expected, because to me it was quite intransparent what documents exactly I would need. Constantly I felt like I had to hand in more than what was requested and the whole ordeal just kept getting more and more frustrating. So here is what happened:

Of course I informed myself in advance, so when I was still in Germany I called Skatteverket to ask what documents I would need to get the personnummer. I wanted to have everything ready and on hand, to speed up the process and get it as fast as possible after arriving to Sweden. On the phone I was told that if I don’t have a job, I would need a document from my health insurance, stating that they cover me for a year and proof that I have enough money on hand to provide for myself for a year as well.

I asked if it needed to be a certain document from my insurance and was told that any document would be fine. I also asked how much money it needed to be for a year, as I have no way of knowing the living costs in Sweden and they could only give me estimates but no clear number, because it would depend on my style of living, which they however need no information about (or so I was told).

So then in january, as soon as they were open after the holidays, I went there with a document from my health insurance, and proof of financial stability. Additionally I also had the buying contract from the house plus a document from German authorities stating my citizenship and marital status, as well as my official unsubscription from the registration office of my last residency in Germany. I was told, that it looked good, but I would have to wait 1-3 weeks until I got a letter with the number or the decision about it.

After a week I had found the job I currently have as a resurs in a förskolan and after 2 weeks I called skatteverket to hear if they have already made a decision and if my personnummer was maybe already on the way. However on the phone I was told, that there was a problem with some of my documents, but that I needed to wait for the letter to see which exact documents were missing or wrong and that via phone I couldn’t get those informations. Quite frustrating and unnerving, but I was reassured that the letter should arrive the next day or so. It arrived a week later.

It took 3 weeks in total for me to get the letter from Skatteverket, stating that they need another document from my health insurance and also asking me to hand in information about my current living costs.
This time, they specified, that the document from the insurance had to be one of a list of several EU-normed documents, so I needed to go back to my insurance to ask for one of those documents. Regarding the living costs I couldn’t give any specific information, as it is not possible to close any contracts without the personal number.

I wanted to go back to my insurance to request one of those documents, however my insurance in Germany had told me previously that they cover me however long I want, unless I find work in Sweden, from which moment on I would be covered through the Swedish healthcare system.

Of course I spoke with Skatteverket about this issue, since I was afraid that I couldn’t get those documents from my German health insurance and was told to hand in proof of my employment to Skatteverket, so that they can give me the personal number. My employer went out of their way to hand me a document stating my employment, because without the personnummer it is impossible to be registered in the system as working, so it took around anothr week to get that done. As soon as I got the document, I scanned it in and sent it to Skatteverket.

The next day I got a reply, that sadly the document I handed in was not sufficient to get a personnummer. In the mail however was no reason for why it isn’t sufficient and what criteria I need to meet. So I called, but my case officer was already out of work, and not available for another 2 days. As soon as she was in the office again I called to ask her for the criteria I need to meet and was told that she wasn’t sure about the exact criteria, but that I need proof that I work for at least 5,5 hours/month and therefore they need to wait 2-3 months to see if I really work that much. I said that I can ask my employer for some kind of document stating that I work this amount and if there are any more criteria that need to be met in order to get the personnummer through proof of employment, but she couldn’t give me any more information.

I explained the situation to my employer and she was really kind. A week later I had a whole new anställningsavtal in hand stating my hours and also that I will work until the end of April, jumping in for a woman who is currently on sick leave…
I immediately sent the document in to Skatteverket, only to be turned down again, because another criterium is to be working at least 6 months in Sweden, which I wouldn’t be doing. So now that it became apparent, that I couldn’t be registered as working without the personnummer, I went back to my German health insurance to ask them again about the EU normed documents.

There I was told that they first need to officially change my adress to Sweden, which they previously hadn’t done yet, so I needed to wait another 2 weeks until I finally got the letter with the EU documents.
Meanwhile, the neighbors who sold me the house were so kind as to give me old bills from electricity and insurance, so that I could hand them in to Skatteverket as well, for them to know approximately how high my expenses would be.

With the right document from my insurance handed in, I got the personal number on the same day. Luckily! I couldn’t believe it until I had the letter in my hands a few days later and it kept feeling unreal for quite some time.
As soon as I had the personal number, I started to do a lot of paperwork and now I have almost everything sorted out, except for a bank account.. But that will be another story for itself…

What frustrated me most in the whole ordeal of getting the personnummer, was generally that feeling of being not able to provide the requested documents, while never being fully informed which documents are really needed in that moment. It cost me a lot of time, energy and nerves, but I also learned to be persistent and always keep going. After all it took me „only“ 1,5 months to get the personnummer. I have heard from a lot of immigrants, that it took them much longer, some up to 6 months. So I was still really lucky to get it that fast!

If you are also considering moving to Sweden, you should check out the website from Skatteverket, that is constantly improved and has a lot of information about the required documents:

https://www.skatteverket.se/servicelankar/otherlanguages/inenglish/individualsandemployees/movingtosweden.4.7be5268414bea064694c40c.html