Having a Swedish Personal Number – officially known as a personnummer – is necessary if you want to live in Sweden over the long term, and you should plan on getting this if you intend to live in Sweden more than one year. Once you have a personnummer you can do things like:
- Work legally
- Get into the Swedish healthcare system
- Get into the pension system
- Get a driver’s license
You can obtain a personnummer by registering with the Swedish Population Register through the government tax agency known as Skatteverket. Registrations cannot be made online. You must register in person at your local Skatteverket – there are over a hundred nationwide. For starters these are some basic items you will need to provide to register when you go to a Skatteverket office:
- A valid passport; a national ID card is also acceptable for EU/EEA citizens
- A Swedish residence permit (uppehållskort) if you are from a non-EU/EEA country outside of Europe; an exception for this is if you are the family member of an EU/EEA citizen who is registered in Sweden
- Although it is a requirement for a resident permit, you may be asked to provide proof that you have at least one year of coverage of health insurance with a limit of at least 246,500 SEK; an EU health card will fulfill this requirement
- A valid address in Sweden where you live
You will also need to provide the following specific information depending on your own circumstances, and qualify for a persunnumer through one of these routes:
- If you are from a non-EU or EEA citizen from outside of Europe and you:
- If you are an EU or EEA member citizen from a country in Europe
- If you are a student coming to Sweden
You can find detailed information about getting a personnummer from Skatteverket in several languages.
Non-EU and EEA citizens who are employees in Sweden
In this category you will need to bring an official certificate of employment from you employer that includes the following information:
- Your name and the terms of your employment
- Your employer’s name and Swedish corporate ID number
- The name of a contact person at your place of employment
To be eligible for the personnummer you must make at least 13,000 SEK per month (before taxes) or 7,300 SEK per month (net) as part of your employment. This is the amount the government considers to be the minimum required to support yourself.
Non-EU and EEA citizens who are self-employed or service providers in Sweden
If you are a service provider you will need to provide some kind of official document or certificate that details the terms, conditions, and length of the service you will be providing. You will need to show that you can support yourself throughout this time by earning at least 13,000 SEK per month before taxes or 7,300 net each month.
If you are self-employed and your business is not yet up-and-running, you will in the least need to provide proof that planning for your business venture has begun, such as by showing:
- VAT records
- Invoices
- Official Swedish business registration certificate
- Proof that you have skills and previous experience in your field
Skatteverket will determine whether or not you have adequate funding to support yourself – the same amount required for service providers – and make its decision to issue a personnummer accordingly.
Non-EU and EEA citizens who are moving to Sweden because of a family member
If you are moving to a family member who is already legally living in Sweden you will need to provide the following when you go to your local Skatteverket office:
- Proof that you are legally related to your family member in Sweden, such as a marriage certificate or birth certificate
- Proof that you (or your family member) are able to support yourself:
- 7,300 SEK per month for one person
- 10,800 SEK for two people who are married or common-law partners
- 2,100 SEK per month for each additional child
If you are an EU or EEA member citizen from a country in Europe
In theory as an EU/EEA citizen you automatically have the right of residence in Sweden. However it turns out this is not exactly the case. What you do have is the right to live in Sweden for three-six months while you look for work. If you want to stay longer you will need to fulfill one of the following requirements. Moreover, if you want to register with Skatteverket and obtain a personnummer you will need to meet one of these requirements for at least one year:
- Have employment where you earn at least 13,000 SEK each month before taxes (if you are single) and comprehensive health insurance
- Be a student at an approved institution with comprehensive health insurance
- Be looking for work with realistic prospects, have enough money to support yourself each month (at least 7,300 SEK), and have comprehensive health insurance
Note that to fulfill the health insurance requirement an EU health insurance card is acceptable.
While I was living in Sweden it was interesting to see that it actually took some effort for EU/EEA citizens to get their Swedish personnummer. Compared with other EU countries like Germany, from what I saw it seemed that it was downright tricky in some cases. I had one acquaintance who had UK citizenship and after a year of trying to get a personnummer and getting hung up on the employment income requirement (he was working at a coffee shop about 20 hours per week) he finally gave up. Don’t be discouraged though, because if you meet the requirements for a personnummer as an EU/EEA citizen you will eventually get it.
If you are a Student
If you are a student you must do the following to obtain a personnummer from Skatteverket:
- Provide proof that you are a matriculated student such as a certificate of admission
- If you are studying abroad through a program in your home country, also bring official documents from your home school showing the duration of your studies in Sweden
- Prove that you have comprehensive health insurance while you are studying in Sweden; for EU students your European health insurance card will suffice
- A Swedish residence permit (uppehållskort) if you are a non-EU/EEA student, or if you are a Swiss student
- Prove that you have at least 7,300 SEK of disposable income per month for the entire duration of your studies in Sweden
Open Borders Immigration 
Hey hey me neame it Ionut Onila I me intresting for registred British company in Sweden ….with this company I Jan have personal number ….tank you
Hello Onila Ionut,
I believe if it is a company operating in Sweden then you can apply for a personnummer if you have a contract to work with that company. As I understand, any company working in Sweden must follow the Swedish laws.
Good luck
Hello, my name is Vojta, I am living in Czech republic and have my own company, which is providing services in construction. In last three years we were subcontractor on sweden construction sites and for this year we would like to establish new branch in Sweden. But there are some difficults with it – we tryed to do without sweden personal number – members on board will be me and my colleague. Bolagsverket haven’t any problem with it, but we need to have an bank account for Payment of equity. And in the bank is it a problem. Please, could someone tell me, what should we do? We don’t plan living in Sweden, we just want to have an company in Sweden and the next projects fix with our own employes.
Thank you!
IP I am Brazilian and I’ll be working in Sweden for one year, starting next week.
My wife is also Brazilian but she has a EU passport and citizenship.
I have a granted visa because of my contract with a Swedish company.
But in order to grant my wife’s a permission to stay longer than 6 months, what should we do?
She will study while in Sweden, but so far she hasn’t enrolled for any course yet.
Does she need a personnummer to stay longer than 6 months?
Hello Ramiro Alvea,
I can tell you that my wife (EU citizen) was a student in Sweden for about 9 months and she never needed a personnummer. All she needed to do was fill out a form at the Migrationsverket office that she was registering in Sweden as a student. That was about four years ago so maybe by now things have changed.
I think your wife should not have any problems. I would say ask your questions at the Migrationsverket office once she is registering her residence in Sweden. Even if she was not a student she can stay in Sweden easily because she is an EU citizen, as well as because you are married and you have a residence permit and stable job.
Good luck
she is a EU citizen. she has the right to work and getting a personal number is very easy for her
Kia Ora from New Zealand! I will be moving to Sweden for about a year, and supporting myself financially (not working in sweden). Anyway, i was wondering whether just travel insurance would be sufficient for getting a personnummer as opposed to medical insurance? I will have trouble getting insurance because of pre existing conditions. If those conditions are excluded in my policy, can i still get a personnummer and access health care at the same price as the swedes?
Kia ora Katierose,
Hopefully someone knowledgeable in this subject will read your comment and respond, because I don’t know the answer to your question.
If you aren’t going to be working or studying there, perhaps you don’t need a personnummer? Maybe you can just get a residence permit and have travel insurance for an emergency.
If you need the personnummer perhaps you can qualify with private insurance too? I’m not sure. Maybe this will be a helpful article:
https://www.justlanded.com/english/Sweden/Sweden-Guide/Health/Health-Insurance
Update – incase anyone else is wondering about health insurance. I ended up getting a very expensive comprehensive health insurance policy with CIGNA after scouring the internet for suitable policies to skatteverkets standards. It had no exclusions. But when i applied for my personnummer as a self sufficient person, they denied me because the health insurance was not good enough. So my advice to anyone is, don’t even try to get a personnummer with a private health insurance policy – they want one equivalent to what you would get in sweden where you are covered for things even if you do it to yourself (like drinking too much alcohol).
I ended up just getting a part time job JUST so i could get my personnummer. Much easier that way.
Hi, We are currently purchasing a house in Sweden. We are looking at moving in and then looking for work. We are EU and also will have approximately 500,000 SEK in the bank. We will need a person number as we have children and will need to get them into school. Could we qualify for a person number as we can self finance?
Thank you
Hej, I’m wondering if my brother and I who have gained Swedish personal numbers but left just a week before we received our letters with our numbers in the mail. We have been out of Sweden in our home country for six months and will return to Sweden later this month. Do we still have right to return to live and work in Sweden? We had no choice but to leave as we did not receive our personal numbers until a week after our six month of stay stay without said number was over. We have adequate funds to support ourselves until we began working in Sweden but we want to make sure that we our following all protocols. Can we go get our ID cards as soon as we arrive back in Sweden? Our are personal number already registered into the system? Thank you for your time.
Yeah they don’t take away personnummers so it’s yours for life. But if you are from a non-eu country you may need a visa to re-enter the country? Not sure
Hello, i am an EU citizen and my question is regarding my son who is 15 yrs and would like to move to Sweden for high school studies , he got admitted in a private french school that need absolutely a personal number . He will live in my uncle’s house . Is he eligible for the personnummer and how long does it take to have it? Thanks.
Hello, i am an EU citizen and my question is regarding my son who is 15 yrs and would like to move to Sweden for high school studies , he got admitted in a private french school that need absolutely a personal number . He will live in my uncle’s house . Is he eligible for the personnummer and how long does it take to have it? Thanks.
Stay blessed for being so resourceful and helpful in providing information regarding issues in acquiring residence permit
I would like to inquire about my case. I have applied a residence permit to stay with my sambo in Sweden dated October 10, 2016. Soon it will be one year or 12 months. The MIgration Board have no decision yet till this time i am writing September 4, 2017. The first time i was here in Sweden we went to Goteborg to personally asked about my situation. The person in authority to explain us told me/us that i can still visit Sweden while my application is being processed. This is my third visit now and i was granted 90 days to stay in Sweden, Just today the MV send a requirement to comply (tax information of my BF who is a Swedish). I am sharing my case because like anyone who is waiting for a residence card it cannot be denied that the applicant is preoccupied by too much worries. Like today when i read a post stating that an applicant whose application for residence card in Sweden is being processed is not allowed to come to Sweden. In other sense I would like to share to any one here that an applicant for a Swedish residence card can come to Sweden while the application is on process. Thanks everybody
Hi, I’m an EU citizen, and I want move to Sweden from Latvia, is it hard to get personnummer?
If you have a job in Sweden, it should be no problem!
Hi, so my situation will be a bit long however i think the more information I get, the better I understand my situation. I was an au pair in France and have a french temp residency for a year. Im not from the EU. I then found a family to work for here in sweden and they had assured me that we can fix the residence and work permit from here. On the MV website it does say that if i come to sweden to meet with an employer and subsequently get employed then i can apply for the permit whilst i am in the country, however when at the migration office, they said that this wasnt the case and would need to apply for the permit outside of sweden. now i am looking for possible solutions to obtain a permit, because i am currently not an au pair and have no monetary means, i am looking for employment and fully understand that a person number will be required. Any advice? I cant go back home because of my sexual orientation and im so confused as to what to do next.
Hello everyone,
My wife and I , are currently living in Malta , But we plan to move to Sweden in few months. My wife has a EU passport and citizenship , and I have a Maltese ID ( not yet permanent ) My question is : when we arrive in Sweden ( together ) , do we first apply for a “personnummer” or look for a job??? Thank you for your help
Hello, I applyed for a personal number, I am an EU citizen and I do work in sweden. I applyed with my husband who is not an EU citizen. However I am leaving sweden for now and we are getting a divorce, so I don’t wish to be registrated as married when I return. Can I just cancel it or what should I do ?
Hi me and my EU spouse applied in Skatteverket last week but this week they sent us a letter asking to provide more docs (Which we already attached in our application last week). We both have EU blue card and we have attached it, but apparently what they want is a one year comprehensive health insurance, and normally EU blue card is not sufficient enough except for students (it stated in the attachment of the letter). If EU blue card is not enough, does it mean I have to provide private insurance? I need to call them on Monday, but how to convince her that EU blue card is enough, as I know that many uses EU blue card to get personnummer and have no problem with it.
Thanks
Hi Dani,
Can you tell me how you solve this problem with the health insurance?
I’m in the same situations as you this month
Hello!
I am having Long term residence permit from Italy and planning to move to Sweden for work. what will be the procedure in my case to get the Personnummer and for how long the first residence permit will be.
Regards
Hej ,
I would like to speak with u , so can I get some telefonenumber for discussing my case
Best regards
a short comment after a successfull permanent residence decision. We are unemployed Swiss young couple, moved permanently to Sweden (bought a small house in Norrland), and we have the CIGNA health insurance! Even it is summer now they confirmed our 5 years residency now only after 2 month of waiting time, another 1-2 months now and we have the personnummer as well from Skatteverket. Just as feedback after we’ve been scared about so many negative comments (experiences) everywhere. It can work, and it can work fast. Good luck to all others
Can you please tell me exactly which package you bought from CIGNA and did you take any additional insurances?
Thank you 🙂
Hi,
please can you advise what CIGNA Insurance you got as I am really struggling with this and do not want to end up paying a Fortune and then get denied.
Thanks so much!
Gabriella
Hello
I am non eu spouse of eu citizen moving sweden and now waiting for my eu spouse pesonnumber. can I know the further procedure? when can i apply my card and when can i start work legally?
hello
i am here in Sweden for six month student visa.
can i get a personal number or not?
Dear Sir/Madam,
This is Amir Javidan from Iran. I have applied to study at Lund University and my course will take at least one year starting from Spring 2019. I have decided to stay in Sweden for more than a year as I want to continue my education there. Is it possible to get personal identity number now? If yes, what are the requirements?
Best wishes,
Amir
To whom it may concern,
My visa is valid for 11 months.
I have asked for a personal number?
Is it issued?
For your more information i had entered Sweden as a university student for a Swedish language course.
The university did not allow me to attend the class because i could not arrive on time.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Best
Hello. How long time does it take to be ready personal number as usually? thank you
Hello,whant to now how long I must waiting Personal number when I get Job and sing up to skkateverket?
Thanks for answer.
Have nice day.
If i come sweden for one year masters program,will i get the personnumber??
no you cant if you are from non-EU countries. you can get a personummer if your course is at least two years.
I am married with my husband,
I like to register my husband
His name is Shamsad Ahmed
Indian citizens
I am Swedish citizen since 1978
We both are living in UK
Hi
I just want to check with you that my husband who is non EU person got a SI scholarship for his masters in Gavle university and he has granted resident permit from August 2019 to Jun 2020.For each month he is getting 10000 krona for living expenses. Can he apply for a personal number?
Hello! I’m a EU citizen and I’ve been living with my boyfriend in Sweden (for more than 6 months) which is a non-EU citizen and already has a residence permit and a personal number. I’m pregnant and we have applied for getting married here in Sweden. We have not got any response yet from the skatteverket even though there have passed 3 months. I need the personal number because it’s coming the due date. Can I use “the sambo relationship” to apply for “personnummer”? Give me any advice!!
Hello! I applied for a swedish personnummer for about a month ago and haven’t heard anything yet.Are they gonna call me if it’s done or are they gonna send it to my address? Thankyou!
I have been living in Sweden almost 3 months now and been declined twice for a personummer. First time I was told my 3 month contract was not long enough. So I had contract extended to be a year. Then they turn round and say casual contract is not good enough. This is despite also highlighting that my partner of 15 years has his personummer and is the main wage earner. The country is a bureaucratic nightmare. Without personummer cannot get personal ID card, bank ID, access to affordable doctors, contact tax office to get hideously high tax rate reduced……It’s a nightmare and starting to regret my decision to move here
Hi there, What do they mean with casual contract?
A casual contract being paid by the hour and with no guarantee of hours week to week.They send me a 3 page letter and because I am still learning Swedish I had to use Google Translate app, which doesn’t work too well on such large bodies of text- so only made out the basic reason given, not the fine detail. What I am most annoyed about is that they could have told me all the details after first decline and saved me time on this second wasted application.
.
.diu
Hi..I am an MBBS graduate from Pakistan..I have two kids..if I apply on study visa for Sweden,can I study and work simultaneously???and how long will it take to get personal I’d number?
Hi
Would like to ask i have 9 month residence visa for sweden , will i be able to get person number and when?
actualy i have same issue….pleas tell me what was the final result in your case…can i get my personal number if yes …how it possible
Hello
My name is Alex and i am new in town, From Greece.
I wonder if i can work in Sweden with personal number and bank account from Norway.
Until i get a job here, and apply for personal number and Bank id
As a student, do I go for the personal number first on arrival even when I have not gotten a job? Or do I get a job first before going for the personal number.
What if I am coming with my wife and kids. What are the specific requirements.
I came to join my wife here in sweden in ROTEBRO almost (2 Two) months back and applied for a personal number but I’m not still issued. My wife is legally staying here with me and a swedish National. I want to know how long does it take for one to acquire a personal number. I did this application at the registry or tax office since the 11th of November 2021.
Hello
Am having an Italian long period permit and I want to move to Sweden. What will I do to get the personnumber?
Thank you
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I have a long-term residence permit in Italy and I want to work in Sweden, first what should I do in Sweden and how should I get a persunnumber.
WRONG.
RESIDENCE PERMIT IS NOT THE SAME AS RESIDENCE CARD.
Use the right terms.
Could a person get a personummer on the basis of investment income? Ie if I passively made 20,000 sek / month from investments, would that qualify me?
actualy i have same issue….pleas tell me what was the final result in your case…can i get my personal number if yes …how it possible
Hello I’m thankful for every suggestion and help i can get.
I want to start a new life in Sweden! I am a Eu citizen and want to get registered to an Residency / address here in Sweden to be able to look for work how do i proceed what papers are needed and what are my options.
Every form of help is appreciated.
Hi. I’m EU long-term residence in Italy but not EU citizen. So I want to move to Sweden for searching job.i studied my master in Italy but I want to start living and working in sweden woth any kind of job .can I take personal number of sweden and start looking for job ?
In addition in form 137011 the there is no option to choose as job seeker. I must have been already hired.who it can be resolve this problem?