Parliament votes on stricter citizenship law
On April 29th, parliament is set to debate and vote on a bill increasing the residency requirement for Swedish citizenship from five to eight years, in most cases. The bill will also bring in new requirements for language skills, civic knowledge, and self-sufficiency.
As it currently stands, the new stricter requirements will apply to all citizenship applications decided from June 6th, the day the law comes into force, regardless of when the application was submitted.
Opposition MPs and campaigners such as the Fair Transition group are trying to force the government to add transitional rules so that the new rules only apply to applications made from June 6th onwards.
As the government and the Sweden Democrats have a majority, the opposition will need two government members of parliament to abandon their party's line and vote with the opposition (unlikely, since in Sweden, MPs very rarely rebel), or to convince the Liberal Party to break with the rest of the government on the issue.
VAT on food to be halved
VAT on food will be halved from April 1st, dropping from 12 percent to just 6 percent, as part of the government’s expansionary pre-election budget which was approved last year.
Swedbank calculated that the reduction was likely to lower the monthly costs by approximately 600 kronor a month for the average two-parent family with two children, 400 kronor a month for a single parent family with two children, and 200 kronor a month for someone living alone.
Better conditions for foreign researchers and doctoral students
On April 29th, parliament is set to vote through new rules which will make it easier for researchers and PhD students to get residency in Sweden.
The new rules will allow doctoral students to apply for and obtain a permanent residence permit after three years in Sweden and be able to, among other things:
- apply at the same time as they have another residence permit
- spend up to 18 months searching for a job after completing their studies (up from 12 months currently)
- apply for D-visas from within Sweden so that they can leave Sweden while waiting for permit decisions in order to attend conferences and then return (this does not require a vote in parliament so is not part of the bill).
New mortgage rules
New mortgage rules come into force on April 1st designed to make it easier for people to buy flats and houses. The deposit needed to buy a home will be reduced from 15 percent of the value of the property to 10 percent.
Amortisation rules will also be loosened. Under the current rules, someone with a mortgage more than 4.5 times their annual income, who had also borrowed more than 70 percent of the value of their property, would have to amortise 3 percent of their mortgage each year.
If they take out the same mortgage after the proposed changes to mortgage rules come into force, the same person will only have to amortise 2 percent of the value of their mortgage each year.
The new rules are likely to increase demand on the property market, pushing up the prices of houses and flats.
Easter (and Easter holidays)
Easter is coming early this year, which in much of Sweden means a much reduced chance of outdoor celebrations, given colder temperatures in early spring. Swedes hold their main celebration on Påskafton, or Easter Saturday, which is April 4th this year.
Swedish children start the festivities on Maundy Thursday (April 2nd) by dressing up as witches and collecting goodies to put in the decorated plastic Easter eggs Swedes use as sweets containers at this time of year. Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are all public holidays in Sweden.
Swedish schools close for a week for the Easter holiday, or Påsklov, which takes place either the week before Easter or the week after, depending on your municipality. This year, Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Umeå are off week 15 (April 3rd to April 10th) and Malmö is off week 14 (March 30th to April 2nd).
Tax rebates due
If you’re able to declare your tax for last year by March 31st with no changes, then you should get your tax rebate back by April 9th.
If you pay a mortgage then there’s a good chance you’ll get money back after your declaration – most people can reclaim 30 percent of their interest costs back on the first 100,000 kronor they pay in interest over a year, and 21 percent on anything over 100,000 kronor. This is called ränteavdrag and is applied automatically to your tax declaration.
Spring amendment budget announced
The spring amendment budget (vårändringsbudgeten) is, in general, primarily used to tweak or add bits and pieces to Sweden’s main annual budget, which was presented last autumn. This year's spring amendment budget will be submitted to parliament on April 13th.
The government and the supporting Sweden Democrats have proposed temporarily lowering the tax on petrol and diesel in the budget, with the change coming into force on May 1st and lasting through the end of September. The tax reduction will cost 1.5 billion kronor.
They are also proposing a new electricity and gas subsidy, which will cost 2.4 billion kronor, and will reimburse households for high costs incurred in January and February this year.
Deadline to change car to summer tyres
April 15th is also the deadline for changing to summer tyres in Sweden, although winter tyres are no longer required from March 31st, so long as weather conditions are suitable.
University hopefuls take Sweden's version of SATs
Students across Sweden will take the Högskoleprovet, the country's version of SATs, on April 18th. While the test is not mandatory, a high grade gives additional support when applying for university courses.
Sign-up for the April test closed on January 14th. If you want to take the test but missed out this time, you can sign up for the next test, which is on October 18th, between August 11th and18th.
Walpurgis Night
Students, particularly in Lund and Uppsala, will indulge in all-day drinking and general revelry and fires will be lit across Sweden, as the country celebrates Valborg, or Walpurgis Night, on April 30th.
READ ALSO: What exactly is Swedish Valborg, and where are the best places to celebrate it?
King Carl XVI Gustaf celebrates his 80th birthday
Sweden's king, Carl XVI Gustaf, turns 80 on April 30th. His birthday is usually celebrated by Sweden's armed forces, who entertain the public with a parade outside the Royal Palace in Stockholm.
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