I should really just accept that visits to Skatteverket will probably be a fairly regular occurence for the foreseeable future. Yesterday I went back to apply for a samordningsnummer, which I understand allows me to pay tax and not much else. I already had the paperwork for this, as I was given it when I applied for the personnummer, but was still expecting to wait for a long time.
On this occasion I was actually in and out in about five minutes. My form was already complete, so they took photocopies of my work contract and passport, and as this is basically guaranteed because I'm working in Sweden I was told I'll get the details in the post shortly.
What alarmed me a bit is that the lady who helped me told me that I'll need to reapply for this number every year! Which basically says they are happy to let people live here for a lengthy period without being given full rights. That's certainly a bit of a worry. There's a space on the
I asked the lady what would happen if I eventually had short term contracts at one workplace adding up to a year or more, bearing in mind that during my first ever trip to Skatteverket I was told, possibly by the same lady as last night, as the two looked very similar, that you must have a personnummer if you live in Sweden for more than a year. She told me what I had suspected, that even if you've lived here for 10 years with short term contracts it doesn't prove that you can support yourself for at least a year into the future. As my workplace usually offers short term contracts this is a big concern for me at the moment. She seemed to find it very difficult to tell me that, as though she knew it was a bit stupid.
She told me that to qualify for a personnummer I would usually need a work contract of at least 6 months. When I went to the exact same office three weeks ago, the man who helped me told me that you usually need a work contract of at least 12 months. Those are two very different periods of time! When I got home last night I looked online for more information about the samordningsnummer, and at what point this can change to a personnummer, and it seems that everyone who moves to Sweden is equally confused, which at least is some consolation. There doesn't seem to be a definitive set of rules, and whether or not your qualify seems to be depend on who you speak to, what day it is, and what mood they're in. I've now been given three sets of different information, all from the same office, an office in central Stockholm that I would imagine has a lot of visitors in similar situations to mine.
Kai is currently having interviews for a job, and I really think he's going to be successful. Initially he'll get a six month contract - three weeks ago I would have told him not to waste time applying for a personnummer, and to just apply for a samordningsnummer in the first place. Now I've told him to just apply for a personnummer anyway if he gets the job, because it seems that some people at Skatteverket will accept a 6 month contract, and that'll mean we both get personnummers.
I suppose it's a step in the right direction, but it's still frustrating, and I really am surprised that the system is so disorganised. When I first researched what I needed to do when I got to Sweden it seemed very straightforward, far easier than when I went to Finland, but I'm now finding that's not really the case. Everyone, whether they have moved here or actually work at Skatteverket, seems equally confused.
One positive is that I've discovered I can open a non-resident bank account here. My employer can pay into my English account, but the bank in England takes some commission for accepting the payment, so it would be much better to have an account in Sweden. My housemate sent me a link to information about non-resident accounts from the Handelsbanken website, so the plan is to go to Handelsbanken to set up an account, with this information in hand in case they try to argue about it. Conveniently, a branch near to where I live is open until 7pm on Wednesdays, so I think I'll go there tomorrow. It's all baby steps, and it feels like things are still very up in the air, but everything is a small step in the right direction. Let's just keep hoping for long term work contracts.
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