If Sweden was my boyfriend

Krakow was an experience. Mainly I was working, so there wasn't much of a chance to really explore, but being in a country that is completely alien to me made me realise that Sweden is becoming quite comfortable for me now. Every day I'm surrounded by a foreign language, but it's one that I understand, and it felt strange to see a foreign language everywhere that I couldn't even begin to understand. Obviously it's been a learning process to understand this country, and I'm quite sure I've only reached the tip of the iceberg, but this was the point that I realised how much things here have started to make sense to me, and become the "normal" way for me. But now onto an aspect of living here that I really cannot make sense of, and that really is making me question more and more why I'm here.

I don't actually have a bank account in Sweden. In January I was waiting to get a job and get established here, in February I was waiting for a personnummer, in March I had some personal matters to deal with that were more of a priority, and for much of this month I believed I would be leaving soon, thus making it a waste of time to go and open an account. Having decided that I will stay longer, today after work I finally made the effort to go to Handelsbanken. I chose Handelsbanken specifically because numerous sources, including the bank themselves, state that they offer a non-resident bank account. I'm not sure how that's different to any other bank account, but due to not being able to get a personnummer it's really the only option for getting an account in this country in my current circumstances.

So in I go, armed with ID, copies of payslips, my work contract etc, and immediately I'm shut down and told that they don't offer that service. I asked why their own website, plus numerous other sources, claims that they do if they don't. The gentleman at the bank didn't have an answer for that. He told me there have to be exceptional circumstances, or they have to have an existing agreement with my employer, which of course they don't. I suggested they get someone to have a look at the information they're giving out. He suggested I try ICA Banken. I walked outside and burst into tears.

You may ask why having a bank account in Sweden is such a big deal, let alone something to bring me to tears in the middle of the street, especially when my employer has been happily paying my wages into my UK account all this time. I'm losing money just by being here. Every financial transaction I make comes with a fee. My bank casually takes £6 from my wages every month for accepting foreign money, which is a tiny percentage of the wages, but obviously it adds up over time. Worst of all is that when I pay rent to my landlord, who obviously does have a Swedish bank account, my bank charges me an extra £30, which is a significant addition to the rent.

But this is just one part of a bigger problem. Sweden has no respect for me. Sweden is happy to take from me but gives me nothing back. Sweden makes me feel like I'm not a real person. Every time I think things are going well Sweden takes my hope away. Sweden isn't satisfied no matter what I do. I have a sneaking suspicion that Sweden probably doesn't want me around at all. If Sweden was my boyfriend everyone I knew would be telling me to leave.

I am not, and never have been, an idle person. Coming to this country, my intention was always to find a job, contribute, and basically do all the things that any normal, productive member of society does, the same things I have done throughout my adult life. I worked hard to find a job, and a month to the day since I arrived in this country I was starting a new job. I believe that some of this was down to being in the right place at the right time, but I worked hard to find a job, and other people have been uniformly impressed with the speed in which I started working here, and then found a stable place to live. I like my house and my job, and on the surface I probably appear to be very settled. 

Having a personnummer is the key to everything here. Having found a job, everything I knew suggested that I could then get a personnummer, and then get all the other things like a bank account set up. We know how that turned out, and it became clear in my dealings with Skatteverket that the information you get really depends on who you speak to and what the weather is like that day. Not wanting to recognise me as a resident of this country certainly doesn't mean the government is going to let me keep my money, of course not. I'm not entitled to even join a gym here, but I still get a third of my money taken away in taxes, to pay for the royal wedding amongst other things. I'm very much entitled to pay taxes to Sweden, but that's about the only thing I'm entitled to. Every time there seems to be some way to make my life easier, for example opening a non-resident bank account, the door gets slammed in my face once again, and I'm sick of it. 

I can't help but compare this experience to when I lived in Finland. It's now been about four months, and at this point when I was in Finland I had both a bank account and a social security number, and I gained those things through having a one month part time work contract. Now I've been working full time for three months, and I'm entitled to bugger all. When talking about these problems to Swedish people, I've mentioned how in Finland my employer could only pay into a Finnish account. There was a delay at Maistraati in providing me with a social security number, but they'd confirmed I was entitled to one and would receive one, so my friend took me to the bank and we explained the circumstances. It was no trouble at all, they opened an account for me with a generic number, and told me to come back and let them know my real social security number once I had it. I never actually remembered to go back and tell them. Swedish people laugh their heads off at the idea of such a thing happening in a Swedish bank. And to prove the point, the very first question I was asked today, even after specifying that I'd like a non-resident account, was "Can I see your personnummer?" 

I haven't been to Finland in a while, so I can't say for sure how the situation is these days, but from what I know immigration levels are much lower there than in Sweden. When I lived there everyone I knew, except for one person, was Finnish. I was the novelty act because I was foreign. Attitudes to immigrants, even white European ones like me, were not always tolerant. At the time I felt like the authorities might be deliberately making things difficult. Now the way Finland treated me seems like a dream. If I had had the job I have now in Finland I wouldn't have had a care in the world.

I'm sick of basic things being huge struggles. I'm sick of feeling like nobody cares, nobody wants to help, like whatever direction I go in it still leads to nothing. I'm sick of losing money through necessary transactions like getting paid and paying my rent. I've done everything right, and I've not asked for anything except to be treated like everyone else. And it just makes me think more and more, why am I actually bothering? I could move back to London and get treated like a real human being. There are issues in my personal life that make living in England again a good option, and the way I'm treated by the authorities here does nothing to discourage me. I spend more and more time feeling frustrated and unhappy, and I can't help but feel that I deserve better than this.

I don't give up easily. Anyone who knows me will say that when I decide I'm going to do something it will get done, one way or another. I put in so much work, and effort, and resources to come here. I really, really wanted to come here. But I'm starting to feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. I keep wondering what would be good enough for Sweden. I keep wondering what Sweden actually wants me to do. I hate to say it, but if Sweden wants me to leave then unfortunately Sweden is winning. It's wearing me down, and I don't know if I can keep putting up with this.

On the surface things are good. I have a decent job, a nice place to live, a social life, I can speak Swedish - you'd be forgiven for thinking I've really got my shit together here. In some ways I have. But then this kind of problem comes up yet again and reminds me that my life here is very superficial. I really wanted to come here, but I'm starting to get sick of jumping through every hoop and it still not being good enough. You only have to look online at pretty much any expat forum or website to see that I'm not the only one.

I can remember the exact moment in Finland, after being there for just under two months, when I knew I wanted it to be my home, and I knew that I would do whatever it took to stay. I loved it so much, and I did put up with a lot in order to stay. I love Stockholm, and I like my day to day life in Stockholm, but even after double the amount of time I don't feel that burning love that I had in Turku. I am not eager to leave, but there's only so much I'm willing to put up with in order to stay. And I'm not sure for how long I'm willing to be only half a person.

Fun with Skatteverket part 3

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.

The personnummer problem

I’ve heard so many stories about Skatteverket taking a really long time to respond to personnummer applications. Well, I can now say that they definitely don’t take their time if they want to reject you! I visited them on Monday evening, yesterday I received a letter from them to say no! I was pleased that I found work here more quickly than I did in Finland, but it seems it’ll take me much longer to get a personnummer here than it did in Finland, which was pretty easy once I had a work contract – incidentally, a short term, temporary work contract.

I was expecting this – I was concerned about the length of my work contract anyway, the man who helped me at their office mentioned that this might be a problem – but the reality of it actually happening is very frustrating. I’ll now have to make a second application for a temporary number, which will enable me to pay tax in Sweden, and basically nothing else. I won’t be able to open a bank account, or do any of the other things a personnummer enables you to do. It’s certainly fortunate for me that my employer is able to pay my wages into my UK bank account, otherwise I’d be in an extremely difficult position.

The thing that really irritates me about this situation is that whilst Sweden is more than happy to take my money away from me in the form of taxes, I will not be allowed to benefit from this at all. One particular thing going round in my mind is what would happen in a few months if I needed medical attention – I have an EHIC card issued by the UK, and in September was told at Skatteverket that I’m only entitled to use this for 6 months if I’m living permanently in Sweden. After that the card is basically invalid as I no longer live in the issuing country, but I’m quite sure there’s no way I could apply for another card issued by Sweden when I’m not officially recognised as a person who lives in Sweden!

In this country you can apply for a personnummer if your partner qualifies for one, hence why I applied for both of us on Monday. This surely means that there are a lot of foreign people here with Swedish partners, or partners who have other grounds for being given a personnummer here, who have their own personnummers but don’t work or bring anything to the table in this country - and I’m sure in some cases have no intention of working or contributing in this country – who are treated equally to Swedish people and can fully live their lives here, whereas I work for a living, pay taxes, and contribute to this country but see no benefit whatsoever. That seems rather unjust, and quite frankly, really, really pisses me off. I briefly considered not even applying for the temporary number, but I believe this is used to work out the “correct” amount of tax I should be paying, so not doing it could hinder me financially. I say “correct” because I think the correct amount should actually be zero – if I contribute my money to the system I think it’s only fair that the system gives me something back. But obviously that would be far too easy.

The thing that makes it more complicated for me is that in general my workplace just offers short term contracts. I met someone yesterday who has worked here for 5 years, and has had 7 different short term contracts in that time. I believe she studied in Sweden before starting work, so her situation is probably a bit different, but in theory could they take taxes for that long and still claim you’re not entitled to a permanent number? Someone else told me that they’d taken short term contracts adding up to a year to Skatteverket and they still weren’t happy! The letter I received yesterday seemed to imply that they needed to know you would still be here a year into the future, which suggests to me that if you only had a contract for a few months into the future they could still say no, regardless of how long you’d lived and worked in Sweden up until that point. But then, in September they also told me that it’s necessary to have a personnummer if you’re here for at least one year. When I apply for the temporary number I need to find out at what point they will accept that I’m here for the long term, regardless of the length of my contract, because clearly there is the potential for me to work here for several years on short term contracts. Unless I get a new job with a long term contract, or Kai gets one, allowing me to apply as his partner, it seems like the earliest point this could be resolved is a year from now, which is ridiculous!

It makes me so angry that it’s really easy for someone from another EU country to move to England, when it’s so difficult for me to go the other way. If a Swedish person decided to move to England all they would need to do is make an appointment to get a National Insurance number – which basically involves showing their passport to prove that they’re from an EU country – and then they’re good to go. Plus seeing as National Insurance relates to paying tax, proving you’re allowed to work in the country, and literally nothing else, if you are unemployed or not intending to work it really makes no difference to your day to day life whether or not you have this number. Whereas here I am, working in Sweden, paying taxes in Sweden, but not recognised as a resident of Sweden, not entitled to open a bank account, or even join a gym! I’m wondering if this will be an issue with trying to rent a house in a few months, unless it’s a private contract with a landlord who is just satisfied that I am employed. Thankfully we are moving somewhere new today so we have a while before we need to worry about that, and hopefully our circumstances will have moved along a bit by then.

In a way, I don’t even know why I’m shocked by this situation. I remember in Finland being expected to pay €50 to register as a foreign resident of Finland. €50 for “the right” to live in a country I allegedly already have the right to live in as an EU citizen. Freedom of movement within Europe means absolutely nothing, it just means I can go on holiday to another European country without needing to apply for a visa, and here it just meant I didn’t have to bother getting a residence permit from Migrationsverket.

The past couple of weeks have been full of highs and lows – I think when you’re in a strange environment with little support you feel things more strongly. A small success can make everything feel better, a small setback can make everything seem worse. I’ll try not to worry about this too much until I can get some more information from Skatteverket about what I can expect in the future if I have to continue with short term contracts. I’m a bit concerned, but more angry at how unfair this system is. I feel like I’m contributing and integrating, but at the same time I’m on the fringes with fewer options than others. I hope that this is not the start of a problem that will go on for years.

Skatteverket attempt 2

People who have read this blog previously may remember my last attempt in September to get a personnummer - you can read about it here. Essentially, it was a complete failure.

However, this time round I have a work contract, and my only doubt was what they would make of me having a short term contract with the possibility of extension. Either way, I left work early this afternoon and went off to the same office I visited last time.

I told the man at the front desk what I wanted, in Swedish. He immediately said "Oh ok, English" when I said I was from England, I then told him I could speak Swedish, I then misunderstood the next thing he said to me in Swedish. My spoken language skills definitely need some perfecting. Anyway, we got there in the end, he gave me the paperwork and a ticket - they love giving tickets for when you're waiting here, just like in Finland - and sent over to fill in the form and wait to see someone. This alone is further than I got last time!

It took a while but eventually I was called up by a very nice man, who was very encouraging. He did say there might be a problem with the length of my contract, but unfortunately there's not very much I can do about that. Although the Skatteverket website doesn't state this, he told me that for a permanent personnummer you usually need a work contract of at least one year. I know I wouldn't choose to leave this job without something else lined up, and if the contract was not extended then finding something new would obviously be my main priority, but they can't rely on that.

However, he took the application anyway, and told me that if this application is declined I can apply for a temporary number which will definitely be accepted. Presumably having this means I'd have to renew it each time my work contract changed, which would be quite annoying, but if I got a longer term contract I could apply for a permanent personnummer straight away. Seeing as Skatteverket says that if you are staying here longer than 6 months you need a personnummer, surely there would be a point where they would have to accept that I'm here long term and give me a personnummer? A short term number is better than none at all - I had a temporary number in Finland, but I think that's because I knew all along that I was going to leave. That's not the plan here.

Anyway, the man who saw me was very nice, and gave me the paperwork for a temporary number already, so that if there is a problem I can apply for it really quickly. He actually checked to see if I could apply for both numbers at once but that's not possible.

One helpful thing is that whilst I'm applying as an employed person in Sweden, I can also apply for Kai even though he's not working. However, if it comes to the temporary number I can only apply for myself. If he finds a job in the meantime with a long term contract we can both apply for personnummer's through that. That option would make him finding a job even sweeter for us.

I'm realistic, and I'm going to get the temporary application ready, as it seems likely there will be a problem with the length of my work contract, even though I explained why it's short term, and this can be verified with my employer. I've still got further in this process than I did last time, and it's been much less confusing and difficult so far. Having to renew a temporary number every so often would be frustrating, but better than nothing. It's still a step closer to getting settled here. I'm expecting to have to go down that route, but in an ideal world I might get a nice surprise from Skatteverket this time!

Busy, brilliant week

I've been busy this week, mainly settling into my new job. I'm still adapting, but I'm enjoying it. As I work for an EU agency, and it's such an international environment, I don't know how much the workplace culture is influenced by Sweden, and how much by other places, but either way, there are some aspects that are brand new for me.

1.) Flexible hoursThere are certain hours of the day when I have to be in the office, but outside of these hours it's flexible, as long as I work enough hours in total. This is great, in particular because the Skatteverket opening hours are not very compatible with people who work usual business hours.

2.) Meetings
I've heard that meetings are very regular occurrences in Swedish workplaces; having meetings about meetings is not unusual. I've definitely experienced this during the last few days, and it looks set to continue.

3.) LunchLunch seems to be a much bigger deal here. My workplace has a canteen, as do numerous places nearby, and it seems more usual to have a proper hot meal at lunch time. Swedish law, I now understand, requires employees to take a lunch break, so there's no sandwiches at your desk here!

Obviously it's early days, but I'm enjoying it, and it is a bit surreal to think that 5 weeks ago tomorrow I arrived here with no job, and now things are totally different. Another big change is that yesterday I found somewhere for us to live for a few months! I'm so excited, especially as the house we've been living in since we got here last month has not been great. That's a story for another day. We were looking for another airbnb property, as we knew we wouldn't find somewhere to live by the end of next week. We found something suitable in Högdalen, only two stops from here on the t-bana, and when I explained our situation to the owner he told us he's going away for a few months until May, and offered to let us rent from him until then! This gives us a chance to relax for a bit, not immediately look for housing again. I'm genuinely amazed that I found both a house and a job within a week! I'm looking forward to moving next Friday, it'll be nice to settle in somewhere for a while, even if it's not really our own home. It really feels like everything is starting to come together here, and a bit more quickly than I expected. I'm starting to feel much more comfortable. I'm even more sure now that September wasn't the right time; this is the right time. I hope that our luck continues into the future, I feel so happy.

Smells like red tape

Foolishly, I assumed getting a personnummer would be a straightforward process. I am an EU citizen, I am looking for a job, and in the meantime I have the funds to support myself, which I have proof of. So off I go to Skatteverket, feeling quite confident that I can sort this out early on in my time here with minimal fuss. Wrong!

I got to the office, and the lady who I spoke to was pleasant and helpful. She told me that whilst I was living on my own funds I needed proof of medical insurance. I have an EHIC card, which I used whilst I was living in Finland without any problems, and I thought this would also be sufficient here. She told me this wasn't enough to get a personnummer, and that I needed an S1 form from the health service in England. She recommended I arrange this and then come back. This was a slightly frustrating turn of events, but didn't seem so difficult to resolve.

Finding out how to acquire this form was a struggle in itself. It is not available online, and when I googled the form I found countless forums and discussions from English people living in various European countries who couldn't work out how to acquire the form or were having problems with it. I also found a discussion between English people in Sweden that did not fill me with optimism, as it outlined many people's problems with either getting the form or being accepted by the Swedish authorities whilst they were in the same financial position as I am. The NHS website was useless quite frankly, and I eventually found a UK contact number on a forum.

I called and explained my situation, and was promptly informed that I'm not entitled to the S1 form! Since June the form is only issued to pensioners or people working for UK companies overseas. Prior to June they would have taken my National Insurance number to find out how much I had contributed, and then worked out how long my form should be valid for based on that. As Sweden requires coverage for at least one year that might not even have been successful. I actually said to the woman on the phone "So they're telling me I can't register without this form and there's no alternative, and you're telling me I'm not entitled to it and there's no alternative, so basically I'm stuck." Her response was "Yes."

The only other option if I really want to register at this point is to pay for private medical insurance, and I'm not going to do that. Before looking into the process I assumed I'd need a job before anything else, the same as in Finland, and this seemed like a faster way to get things done. Clearly not, so I just need to concentrate on finding work, which is obviously one of the main priorities right now. 

This has dragged me down a bit and I'm not brimming with confidence right now. I know I can't fall at the first hurdle, and I know I can only make so much progress in a couple of days, but I'm not used to being in such an unstable position. This was my choice so maybe I shouldn't feel sorry for myself about it. I know that living in Finland was far from straightforward at times, and it seems I'd conveniently forgotten about the problems I had. At least I can rest assured that I'm far from the only one who has experienced this problem, even before the policy with the S1 form changed. As the personnummer isn't even necessary unless I'm definitely staying at least a year I think I should stop worrying so much, stop expecting so much of myself, and just get back to working on a house and job. In a couple of weeks if I'm still struggling I'll have to think about what to do. I hope it works out.