(edit title) My experience "trying" to move to Sweden Please god, just end me now Options

[SmokerT69]

Well, I'm curious to hear if anyone else has enjoyed Swedish bureaucracy?

I've been visiting Sweden for the past 5 years or so. I met a Swedish girl and dated for a while, a lot of back and forth between countries. 2 months in Sweden, 2 months in Bermuda,etc. We got married and were expecting a baby so we decided to move to Sweden. I finished up my military service and officially moved in July.

V?lkommen till hellvete...er... I mean Sverige.

Well, it seemed easy enough. I'm British and hold a EU passport. According to the government website, I just had to go and register with the tax agency. Cool, went in July. Waited in line for 3 hours. They had 4 desks available to help people, but no one in front of me spoke english or Swedish. So every line had to wait on the one translator they had available. They took a copy of my passport, marriage certificate, etc. They told me a letter would come in the mail with my personal number. Alright, that wasn't too bad...

Wrong... late August, as in the last week. I received a letter. Well, considering my name was spelled completely wrong, I didn't expect much. How do you mess up copying a 5 letter name from a passport? Not actually spelt wrong, as in a typo, they added completely new characters to it. Well, turns out I have to go back to the tax agency. Because my wife lived with me in my country, we had to prove we actually lived together and that I wasn't forcing her to stay against her will. Fair enough, that seems like a bad thing. So, off I go again... wait in line for 2 hours. They take my passport and birth cirtificate, marriage certificate etc again. Show them papers of our apartment lease, joint bank accounts etc. Told to wait again on mail...

Fast forward to late September now. Boom, here comes my letter. Hmmm, turns out they can't give me a personal number because I need to apply to the migration board first. OK, maybe I did something wrong. I follow the directions and off to G?vle I go. I arrive at the migration agency and something doesn't seem right. It's all Syrians and North Africans here... none the less, I wait in line, these guys were actually fast. Only took an hour. Damn, turns out the tax agency sent me to the refugee center. Those crafty buggers... so, I'm directed to the migration agency in Uppsala. Damn, that's far away. Ah well, on the train I go. Imagine my suprise when they tell me all I have to do is fill out a form online. Alright, back on the train and back up north we go.

Time to full out another form, I'm getting good at this now... Time to wait a couple more weeks. Ah, progress is being made. Plot twist, turns out that because I'm a EU citizen, I have right of residency. Ohhh, you tricky government agents. Well played... well played. So, I'm off to the tax agency tomorrow to do the exact same thing I did in July.

Well, that's long a read. Hope you enjoyed my journey to moving to Sweden. Oh, btw, I'm attending SFI and they just gave me a personal number? They said I can use that until I get my real one? I have no idea what's even real anymore.

[Gamla Hälsingebock]

Ouch!!!

[Gjeebes]

Now you essentially know of how irritating the rest of your time in Sweden will be.

Good luck. You WILL need it.

[RAFS]

Wow, that's quite the journey!

Well, I'm curious to hear if anyone else has enjoyed Swedish bureaucracy?

Probably a rhetorical question, but yes, I've actually had a very good experience with the Swedish bureaucracy so far. I won't say it's perfect, but it's miles ahead of what I've experienced in any other country (and I've experienced several).

I don't say this to rub it in, just to provide a counter-point to anyone else reading this thread. From this forum it might sound like nothing ever works in Sweden, but that's not the case at all - it's just that people don't tend to post about everything going smoothly.

[Svedallas]

Well, I'm curious to hear if anyone else has enjoyed Swedish bureaucracy?I've been visiting Sweden for the past 5 years or so. I met a Swedish girl and dated for a whi ... (show full quote)

Well, I'm curious to hear if anyone else has enjoyed Swedish bureaucracy?

I've been visiting Sweden for the past 5 years or so. I met a Swedish girl and dated for a while, a lot of back and forth between countries. 2 months in Sweden, 2 months in Bermuda,etc. We got married and were expecting a baby so we decided to move to Sweden. I finished up my military service and officially moved in July.

V?lkommen till hellvete...er... I mean Sverige.

Well, it seemed easy enough. I'm British and hold a EU passport. According to the government website, I just had to go and register with the tax agency. Cool, went in July. Waited in line for 3 hours. They had 4 desks available to help people, but no one in front of me spoke english or Swedish. So every line had to wait on the one translator they had available. They took a copy of my passport, marriage certificate, etc. They told me a letter would come in the mail with my personal number. Alright, that wasn't too bad...

Wrong... late August, as in the last week. I received a letter. Well, considering my name was spelled completely wrong, I didn't expect much. How do you mess up copying a 5 letter name from a passport? Not actually spelt wrong, as in a typo, they added completely new characters to it. Well, turns out I have to go back to the tax agency. Because my wife lived with me in my country, we had to prove we actually lived together and that I wasn't forcing her to stay against her will. Fair enough, that seems like a bad thing. So, off I go again... wait in line for 2 hours. They take my passport and birth cirtificate, marriage certificate etc again. Show them papers of our apartment lease, joint bank accounts etc. Told to wait again on mail...

Fast forward to late September now. Boom, here comes my letter. Hmmm, turns out they can't give me a personal number because I need to apply to the migration board first. OK, maybe I did something wrong. I follow the directions and off to G?vle I go. I arrive at the migration agency and something doesn't seem right. It's all Syrians and North Africans here... none the less, I wait in line, these guys were actually fast. Only took an hour. Damn, turns out the tax agency sent me to the refugee center. Those crafty buggers... so, I'm directed to the migration agency in Uppsala. Damn, that's far away. Ah well, on the train I go. Imagine my suprise when they tell me all I have to do is fill out a form online. Alright, back on the train and back up north we go.

Time to full out another form, I'm getting good at this now... Time to wait a couple more weeks. Ah, progress is being made. Plot twist, turns out that because I'm a EU citizen, I have right of residency. Ohhh, you tricky government agents. Well played... well played. So, I'm off to the tax agency tomorrow to do the exact same thing I did in July.

Well, that's long a read. Hope you enjoyed my journey to moving to Sweden. Oh, btw, I'm attending SFI and they just gave me a personal number? They said I can use that until I get my real one? I have no idea what's even real anymore. ... (hide full quote)

Had you arrived approximately 6/7 years ago, this would have never happened.
Sweden was once upon a time, orderly. Almost too orderly...But this is before the crisis and incompetent politicians.

Now, it is a complete joke.
Going to Skatteverket for any regard, used to be MAX 30 mins to be seen.

FYI - I know someone who recently moved from UK with husband, SFI was a 6 month wait.
I remember it was usually a week or two wait.

[Cheeseroller]

Nope, I disagree Svedallas. My wife moved to SE in 2006 and then Migrationsverket would give you three different answers to the same damn question. Once we were assigned a case office it was easy. I worked for the government years ago and I know how to get on their right side.

Avoid using the phone, it's too easy for them to hide. Visit personally, even if the drive and queuing is a PITA.

[Cheeseroller]

Now VISA processing in the UK - that is one hell of an experience. All outsourced to India and impossible to get any sense out of them, even while paying premium rates for the phone call.

[Gamla Hälsingebock]

"it's just that people don't tend to post about everything going smoothly."


TheLocal rarely gets posts from people, happy with their lot in Sweden...

[SmokerT69]

Well, I'll continue to update you on my never ending quest. I'm off to the tax agency in 5 hours when they open.

[bonviveur]

my advice would be do as much as possible online, thats after you set up bank id, good luck

[Tenacious185]

I laughed out loud reading your story. Not because I think it's funny that you have been through hell...at all...but Jesus, the lunacy of it all. I moved here three years ago, and I had absolutely zero problems with either Skatteverket or Migrationsverket. Now my bank on the other hand - they're a pain in the ass, but the government agencies were ok for me. (Luckily - I realize this is not the case for everyone.)

I hope the rest of your transition goes a bit smoother.

[Gjeebes]

"...three years ago..."

That was pre-"open borders immigration disaster". Odds were better then. : )

[Sthlm83]

[Tenacious185]

"...three years ago...". That was pre-"open borders immigration disaster". Odds were better then. : )

I'm sure that makes a difference. It was already crowded as fook in Stockholm, but I definitely can see the difference, everywhere, between then and now. And absolutely when I came for my first visit in 2010 - it almost feels like there were half as many people here then...

[Svedallas]

Nope, I disagree Svedallas. My wife moved to SE in 2006 and then Migrationsverket would give you three different answers to the same damn question. Once we were assigned a cas ... (show full quote)

Nope, I disagree Svedallas. My wife moved to SE in 2006 and then Migrationsverket would give you three different answers to the same damn question. Once we were assigned a case office it was easy. I worked for the government years ago and I know how to get on their right side.

Avoid using the phone, it's too easy for them to hide. Visit personally, even if the drive and queuing is a PITA. ... (hide full quote)

I would say anything but MV then. After seeing some stories, I cannot imagine what it is like now.

(Sigh...I miss the old Sweden... )