An Alien in Sweden

A blog about my move from England and my new life in Sweden.
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Archive for the ‘Work’ Category

Working remotely via a UK employer – Anyone else in the same position?

Monday, November 15th, 2010

Well I am returning to the UK tomorrow and have just put my Swedish application form to become a resident but in all honesty I am SO confused. As I am still legally under contract by my UK employer I am a bit clueless as to what I need to do in order to stay in this country.

It seems that The UK and Sweden are great at giving out conflicting advice and I feel like a tennis ball being hit between two players. The UK says that if I return to the UK every three weeks then I can stay in Sweden without needing a residency permit and also I will not have to revert to paying Swedish taxes as I will be classed as being “In transit”
Sweden says that if I stay in the country longer than three months then I need to apply for a full time residency permit, pay taxes etc.

So where the hell does that leave me? If I am employed by a UK employer that wants to me to continue paying UK taxes and I return every three weeks then does that mean I am just a boomerang visitor that does not need to apply for a resident permit? Or as I am living here should I do as the Swedish authorities say?

It really is too confusing right now. If anyone is employed by a UK employer but is living in Sweden then PLEASE let me know how you are handling this. My mind is about to explode!

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19 Days to Go – I am really scared.

Monday, September 6th, 2010

Time is seriously going too fast.

I came to the sudden realisation today that it’s now less than three weeks until I move to Sweden. Whilst most of the blog to date has been a light hearted attempt at humour the sudden realisation of change is to me a serious one.

It’s not a sensation of fear as I am a person that thrives on the unknown, I love a challenge and I love a risk. No it’s more a fear of change. The realisation that every single aspect of my life will be different is something that will take a lot of adjusting. Language, law, society, social, food, economical and even the psychological structure of Sweden is far different from where I am used to.

I’m jumping head first into this one and it’s something I have never done before in mu life. But there is no going back now, I cannot change it and I don’t want to change it. Yet there is always the knowledge that if it all does go wrong then I can easily just return to the UK with a tail between my legs to start life again. But that is something that I do not want to do.

After spending a considerable amount of time reading this website from blogs to discussions it appears that the majority of people have struggled with moving to Sweden and that the main two reasons seem to fall into financial and social adjustments. I guess I am quite lucky in that I have a job that I will be carrying with me but that does not say that it will all be a bed of roses. In this day and age nobody can predict too far into the future.

Were still in an economic mess and it’s not going to end overnight but I do feel with enough planning, incorporating a sensible life strategy will really work in order to make the transition of moving to Sweden possible. Things will change and I need to ensure I do it all ahead rather than be surprised with anything that comes out of the blue.

So it’s just under three weeks now. Three more weekends, three more mundane Monday’s. No going back now.

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Ok shock over, let’s move forward!

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Well following yesterdays bombshell letter about the tax issue if you are still a UK resident living in Sweden I decided to get my jaw off the floor and start working.

My initial research shows that there is little information out there yet I am sure in this day and age that I am not the only person that is going to be working remotely in another EU country yet is still paid by A UK Company.

I’m not one for doing the whole self employed thing that is just lazy. I just want to do this the right and productive way. One good news is that I have three months to live in Sweden before I even begin to get this resolved so I am looking at around December/January time. Moving to Sweden is going to happen and nothing can de-rail my dream. Ok so I will probable have to pay around 15% more tax than I am paying right now. For the price of a dream that is a small price to pay, besides I will be saving much more than I am here.

Above all if you have a dream in life you are going to have to make sacrifices, no matter how little or big they are, it’s the price we have to pay. So I guess I had better sign off today and start ringing up these tax offices!

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Unemployment

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

So Ericsson have just announced that 1500 jobs are to go in Sweden. That is on top of the already estimated 30,000 worldwide.

This really interests me as Sweden is runs so differently to the UK when it comes to employment and of course finding a job over there is going to be essential to me moving, no job no move!

Today the UK officially came out of recession, the last of the 21 EU countries to do so. It’s an irony that Gordon Brown who championed that the UK was “Saving the worlds economy” actually refuses to admit that the UK economy was in crises. But with unemployment almost at 3% it is the worst jobless total this country has seen since the late 1980’s. Thousands of small businesses have gone bust and also many High Street shops have vanished.

Now whilst many would see that as a bad situation compare it with Sweden. With a population of just over ten million unemployment currently stands at a staggering 10%. Sweden has rapidly grown over the past 30-40 years as a nation, but before the technological boom most of the exports were primary sectors such as timber. As the current retirement generation comes to an end this will leave a rather large gap in the manual workforce in Sweden as more and more people are working in the IT industry.

Another thing I have learned is that the retired workers in Sweden get a benefit depending on how well or poor the country is performing. Compare this to the flat pension rate in the UK and you can see that it is a much more flexible option. Sweden has been hit hard by the global recession but it’s better off than the UK. The nationalisation of banks occurred in the 1990’s so this is nothing new to them, but they are not as productive as other EU countries.

Of course finding a job in the UK is just as hard as thought the unemployment total is 7% lower the population is six times the size. It’s going to be a very important point in the Swedish Election this September and the parties are already debating this live on TV.

Why can’t the UK be as productive?

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