Living in Sweden - DailySweden

SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER· STOCKHOLM · THE DAY IN 5 STORIES

News

Payment fault sends some child benefits by voucher

2 min read

Archive photograph of a letter delivered to an apartment in Stockholm in June 2016.

Essential Living in Sweden

Construction workers in high-visibility clothing move a safety barrier beside a Gothenburg pavement.

News

Family permit renewals now face income checks

A grandmother cradles a newborn beside a window.

DS+ · Life Here

Sweden's paid grandparent leave when your family lives abroad

A couple speak with an agent during a home viewing.

DS+ · Life Here

The salary you need for a first-hand flat in Sweden

Latest in Living in Sweden

A father feeds a baby with a bottle.

DS+ · Making It

What your Swedish job pays when you have a baby

Two adults read documents at a kitchen table.

DS+ · Belonging

Making Sweden home when only one partner earns

Two people examine a folder together.

DS+ · Making It

Before you trust a Swedish job offer

Editorial illustration of two adults linked by a woven band narrowing under a glass weight.

DS+ · Belonging

Sweden eases family permit rules for young adults, with a harder test at 21

A hand holding a burgundy Swedish passport with Sweden and passport lettering visible.

DS+ · Belonging

Sweden’s citizenship plan leaves dual nationals with unequal protection

Red and white HOUSE FOR RENT sign on a lawn beside a wooden house.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

Your Sublet Can End Before Your Right to Reclaim Excess Rent

Two people look at a tablet beside Stockholm City Archives’ service counter.

DS+ · Opportunity Map

Check a Swedish Public Employer’s Pay Before Accepting Its Offer

A closed pink scar on the back of a hand.

DS+ · Household Ledger

One Accident Payout May Leave Other Insurance Claims Open

Worker in reflective vest handling a gurney in an open ambulance at night.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

Changing Clinics Can Change Who Pays for Your Care Journey

Hands handling clock parts in a workshop filled with tools.

DS+ · Opportunity Map

You May Be Able to Try a Business Without Resigning

Child's hand manipulating a wooden abacus; other children's torsos and an educational bead toy.

DS+ · Household Ledger

Check Your Autumn Preschool Bill Against Sweden’s New Fee Rules

An archival blank mortgage loan document dated 1884.

DS+ · Household Ledger

Your Mortgage Payment Can Stay High After Sweden Scraps the Extra Rule

Birgit Meyer and Georg Quander sign an employment contract in Cologne in 2012.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

Sweden Raises the Salary Bar for Work-Permit Extensions

A teacher watches a student practise welding at Bråvallagymnasiet in Norrköping.

DS+ · Opportunity Map

The Short Training Route With a 78 Percent Employment Result

A welder wearing protective equipment works on metal in Egypt.

DS+ · Opportunity Map

These Work-Permit Jobs Can Use Sweden’s Lower Salary Floor

A person uses Försäkringskassan's online service on a laptop.

DS+ · Household Ledger

September’s Establishment Benefit Reset Changes the Family Payment

A Swedish passport photographed from above.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

Sweden Tightens Citizenship Rules, Including for People Already Waiting

Skatteverket's name and symbol on the facade of its Kronan office in Sundbyberg.

Politics

Skatteverket ID cards could end in March 2027

A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 on the runway at Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

Making It

Ryanair signs collective agreement for Arlanda cabin crew

The Discrimination Ombudsman’s sign on an office wall in Solna.

Belonging

Over-70 banking rule was age discrimination, DO says

A worker operates an electric jackhammer on broken asphalt in Lysekil.

Life Here

8 in 10 inspected workplaces failed vibration-safety checks

A clinician administers a vaccination into an adult’s upper arm.

Life Here

Västra Götaland makes pneumococcal vaccine free from age 65

The courtyard facade of the Swedish Institute at Hôtel de Marle in Paris.

Making It

Three funded overseas residencies open to Sweden-based artists

A Swedish Customs vehicle parked at a Stockholm passenger terminal.

Life Here

Expanded debt seizures reach nearly SEK 1.5m in two months

A yellow multi-storey residential building in an alley in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan.

Life Here

Variable mortgage rates dip to 2.74% as fixed loans stay higher

A long white corridor inside Sparta student housing in Lund.

Making It

Nine in ten students study where housing falls short at term start

Editorial illustration of a wage and work gear between an open route and a blocked threshold.

DS+ · Belonging

The job Sweden subsidises may not count for citizenship

A sealed MMR vaccine kit contains a vial, pre-filled syringe and two capped needles.

Life Here

Stockholm plans free measles vaccine for adults born since 1960

Interpreters wearing headsets work with documents inside a booth overlooking an IAEA meeting in Vienna.

DS+ · Life Here

Language help changes with the agency handling your case

A wide view of a crowded Danish-Swedish job fair with jobseekers and recruiters speaking at many stands.

DS+ · Opportunity Map

See the full count of English-language job ads in Sweden

Apoteket and Kronans Apotek pharmacy entrances side by side at Kungens Kurva in 2016

DS+ · Making It

85% of foreign-trained graduates find work after Swedish bridging courses

An engineer handles winding material on a large power-transformer winding machine in an industrial workshop.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

See open specialist, developer and engineer jobs before they close

Three workers install solar panels on a red-tiled house in Brastad, Sweden.

DS+ · Making It

Foreign-born workers power Sweden's venture-backed clean-tech transition

An editorial illustration shows a stack of anonymous complaint papers beside a four-step workplace prevention process.

DS+ · Making It

Ethnic discrimination complaints surged despite employers' preventive duty

Apartment blocks and a small house stand side by side in Södermalm, Stockholm.

DS+ · Life Here

Sweden's housing shortage eased while tenure inequality remained entrenched

A woman stands beside a baby seated in a stroller outdoors.

DS+ · Life Here

Mothers take 69% of parental leave. Women’s pensions trail SEK 7,100

A glassworker handles glowing glass at Bergdala glassworks in Sweden.

DS+ · Making It

Swedish women earn SEK 4,500 less a month as the gap stalls

The Swedish Migration Agency office in Solna, seen from outside.

DS+ · Life Here

New family rules could add years before Sweden starts deciding

Graduates in black academic gowns and caps gather at a crowded ceremony in Nigeria.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

How to make your foreign degree count in a Swedish application

An SJ X40 regional double-decker train stands at Sundbyberg station in March 2006.

DS+ · Opportunity Map

How to cut the cost of a distant Swedish job interview

Passengers carrying bags board a plane at Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

DS+ · Household Ledger

How a Swedish job offer can help pay for your move

The green Arbetsförmedlingen symbol and bilingual agency name on a glass-fronted building in daylight.

DS+ · Opportunity Map

How a jobs-centre subsidy can strengthen your application

A large crowd of students at a university graduation ceremony in Ottawa.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

How foreign graduates can keep job hunting in Sweden

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

DS+ · Household Ledger

How lower-paid Swedish jobs can still support a work permit

A Migrationsverket sign outside an agency building.

Belonging

Swedish citizenship grants fell 94% in July as 103,598 cases remained open

A crowd gathers at an anti-racism demonstration in Stockholm in August 2015.

DailySweden view

Exclusion builds the parallel societies Sweden claims to fear

Adult SFI learners work at desktop computers during a workshop in Värnamo in October 2013.

DS+ · Making It

Approved SFI breaks cut the time left to finish

Baristas prepare coffee during a café shift. The photograph is illustrative; the workers are not identified as students, Swedish residents or residence-permit holders.

DS+ · Belonging

Sweden’s new work cap threatens student residence permits

A Polish border guard checks passengers' travel documents aboard a coach at the Berastavitsa-Bobrowniki crossing in August 2018.

Belonging

Sweden’s revised guidance says Belarusians should not return for passports

A care worker in blue scrubs pushes a person in a wheelchair through a clinical corridor.

DS+ · Making It

Foreign-born workers made up about two-thirds of new elderly-care hires

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

How to Move to Sweden Without a Job Offer

Graduates in black academic gowns and caps gather at a crowded ceremony in Nigeria.

DS+ · Making It

Most recognised foreign graduates still lacked matched work eight years later

A close-up of a baggage tag marked Stockholm Arlanda and ARN.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

How Sweden counts travel against citizenship residence

Visitors and exhibitors move between stands at a job fair in Malmö.

Making It

How to find an English-speaking job in Sweden

Inside a Stockholm metro carriage with grey seats, yellow handrails and a display showing Thorildsplan.

DS+ · Household Ledger

Stockholm's half-price travelcard can erase your tax deduction

A professional truck driver seated inside the cab of a lorry.

DS+ · Opportunity Map

The three checks before applying for Swedish truck job

Two Indian participants collaborate on a laptop during the Indic Wikimedia Hackathon in Hyderabad in 2026.

DS+ · Making It

India-born residents help power Sweden’s tech sector and add over SEK 6 billion to public finances

The Skatteverket name and symbol mounted on the brick facade of the Kronan office in Sundbyberg, lit by low sunlight.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

The one-year line that changes your first Swedish registration

Two electricians install a new main electrical distribution board at a property in central Ystad.

DS+ · Opportunity Map

The filter that opens more than 200 engineering jobs across Sweden

An electronic market board displays changing share prices and percentage movements.

DS+ · Household Ledger

ISK explained: Sweden's investment savings account for shares and funds

The colourful Kuggen building at Lindholmen Science Park in Gothenburg.

DS+ · Opportunity Map

The Swedish cities with the strongest English-language job clusters

Six open cardboard moving boxes arranged inside a residential interior.

DS+ · Household Ledger

The relocation package that can beat the same cash bonus

A partial solar eclipse visible through clouds over Tuntorp in western Sweden.

Life Here

Sweden gets a partial eclipse Wednesday, but viewers need eye protection

Paul Larsson, head of the Swedish Police Authority's service department, in an official portrait.

DS+ · Decision to Doorstep

Sweden’s new digital ID will not work everywhere at launch

Adults work at desktop computers during a Swedish for Immigrants workshop in Värnamo.

DS+ · Making It

Foreign-born women with lower measured skills work full time less often

A social worker with a red folder speaks with two adults across a table, with papers in front of them.

DS+ · Life Here

How to handle a Swedish decision you cannot understand

Five people review notes and visual materials around a table during an Open GLAM working meeting in Stockholm.

DS+ · Making It

Even Swedish work experience matters less when you were born abroad

Syrian refugees with luggage gathered outside Stockholm Central station after arriving in Sweden in September 2015.

DailySweden view

Sweden cannot demand integration while making belonging conditional

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

DS+ · Life Here

The one step to take when the Migration Agency keeps you waiting

Two adults work together at a weaving loom during an adult-education activity in Norrtälje.

DS+ · Life Here

Sweden's education-linked life-expectancy gap has reached 6.7 years

Four adults use desktop computers during an SFI workshop in Värnamo, Sweden.

DS+ · Making It

Passing SFI is linked to work, but hiring barriers remain

An empty classroom with rows of desks and chairs in Tollarp, Sweden.

DS+ · Making It

What Swedish schools can legally ask parents to pay

Two adult women stand among attendees at a Danish-Swedish job fair in Copenhagen.

DS+ · Making It

Age discrimination can start at 40 in Sweden’s job market

Ballot papers laid out for Sweden's 2014 general election.

DS+ · Belonging

Sweden’s foreign-born voters trail Swedish-born voters by 22 points

A hiker scrambles across loose rocks on the exposed Västra leden route at Kebnekaise.

Life Here

Kebnekaise hikers face more rockfalls as permafrost thaws

A row of green Ryde electric scooters is parked along a city pavement.

Life Here

Ryde data breach hits every customer account

A nightclub crowd dancing beneath purple stage lights.

DS+ · Belonging

They said “too drunk”. Complaints describe ethnic discrimination at Sweden’s club doors

A Swedish passport photographed from above.

DS+ · Belonging

Some temporary-permit holders can seek citizenship if officials expect them to stay

An empty classroom with rows of desks and chairs in Tollarp, Sweden.

DS+ · Life Here

Parents can now use VAB for the meeting, not only the sick day.

Seven adults sit in a circle on grass during a Wikimania 2019 meetup in Stockholm.

DS+ · Making It

Work-life balance attracts international talent to Sweden. Building a life is harder.

Three Swedish Red Cross volunteers stand together with first-aid bags at Karlstad Airport.

DS+ · Belonging

Sweden's associations are strong enough to survive and exposed enough to fear.

A newborn baby held skin to skin on a parent's chest with the baby's face visible

Life Here

Three Babybay bedside cribs recalled over strangulation and fall risks

Several official-looking envelopes on a wooden table, with a Kronofogden envelope prominent in the foreground.

Living in Sweden

Kronofogden Letters Need A Reply Before Payment

A surgical team performs an operation in a hospital operating room.

DS+ · Life Here

In reported regions, 27 percent of patients missed Sweden's 90-day care guarantee

A person holds a bank card while using a laptop for online shopping.

DS+ · Life Here

Swedish online shops must now make cancelling as easy as buying

Four business professionals discuss documents around a laptop at a meeting table.

DS+ · Making It

Ten of twelve public companies failed duties to prevent ethnic and religious discrimination.

Ballot papers laid out for Sweden's 2014 general election.

DS+ · Belonging

Swedish-born adults with two foreign-born parents report lower trust across every institution studied

A Black woman in blue scrubs and protective equipment reviews documents while working in a hospital.

DS+ · Making It

Foreign-born women's jobs in Sweden are concentrated in care, service and sales

A close view of the green Arbetsförmedlingen symbol and bilingual agency name on a glass-fronted building.

Living in Sweden

Late Registration Can Reduce Swedish Unemployment Protection

A large active construction site with cranes and partly completed structures in Malmö.

DS+ · Making It

Sweden is short 61,000 workers. It recognised 16,599 foreign qualifications.

A crowd at an anti-racism demonstration holds signs opposing discrimination.

DS+ · Belonging

Racism is widespread in Sweden, but much of it goes unreported

The Skatteverket name and symbol mounted on the brick facade of the Kronan office in Sundbyberg, lit by low sunlight.

Living in Sweden

Extra Swedish Income Can Leave Tax Unpaid

Apartment buildings rise above trees beside the water in Nacka, Greater Stockholm.

Life Here

Greater Stockholm apartment prices fell 7.1% in July

A green and white Swedish learner-driver sign attached to a car.

Life Here

Sweden ends mandatory course for private learner driving

An empty KTH lecture hall in Stockholm with rows of blue seats facing teaching equipment.

Living in Sweden

Study Permit Extensions Need Proof Of Progress

Five people review notes and visual materials around a table during an Open GLAM working meeting in Stockholm.

DS+ · Belonging

You can work, pay tax and build a life in Sweden and still be treated as an outsider.

The Skatteverket name and symbol mounted on the brick facade of the Kronan office in Sundbyberg, lit by low sunlight.

Living in Sweden

Skatteverket ID Cards Need An In Person Visit

People gather around a decorated Midsummer maypole beside red wooden buildings in Rälta, Sweden.

DS+ · Life Here

Sweden's brightest season can be its loneliest

A barista works at a mobile espresso bar in central Ystad in 2013.

DS+ · Belonging

Swedish citizenship does not guarantee equal recognition

Kista Science Tower office building in Stockholm’s technology district

Making It

Tech pay growth beats Sweden's private-sector average

The exterior of Pharmacy Uplands Vapen on Dragarbrunnsgatan in Uppsala.

Living in Sweden

EU Prescriptions Need Paper In Swedish Pharmacies

An empty classroom at Södra Latin upper-secondary school in Stockholm.

Belonging

Negative student attitudes to LGBTQ people rose fivefold

Participants at the Swedish Institute in Stockholm join a video call with an edit-a-thon at the Swedish Embassy in New Delhi.

DS+ · Making It

Sweden hires international talent. Promotion is where the welcome can end.

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

DS+ · Belonging

The same family. Three different rights to stay in Sweden.

The Skatteverket name and symbol mounted on the brick facade of the Kronan office in Sundbyberg, lit by low sunlight.

Living in Sweden

Inactive coordination numbers need an identity check

Two washing machines and a tumble dryer stand in a condominium laundry room in Gothenburg.

Life Here

Sweden's cheapest summer electricity now comes in the daytime

Rental e-scooters stand around a marked parking rack on Vasagatan in Stockholm.

Life Here

Sweden reviews e-scooter rules after 6,624 injuries in 2025

Two glass jars containing dark honey stand on a table.

Life Here

Eleven of 17 honey products failed Swedish checks

A wall calendar showing September, October and November 2007, with one October date outlined in red.

Making It

Paid holiday starts later for new Swedish employees

An Arbetsförmedlingen sign above a shaded pedestrian walkway with people and parked bicycles in the background.

Belonging

Jobs, taxes, benefits: six agencies now report suspected undocumented residents to police

The Janteloven plaque at Aksel Sandemose's childhood home in Nykøbing Mors, Denmark.

Sweden Explained

High achiever? Be careful of Swedish Jantelagen

An empty classroom with rows of desks and chairs in Tollarp, Sweden.

Living in Sweden

VAB days belong to the child not parents

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

Living in Sweden

Temporary jobs can weaken Swedish citizenship applications

Swedish police officers stand between barriers and a crowd at a Stockholm rally in August 2014.

DailySweden view

Born in Sweden. Why does the crime debate still call them immigrants?

The Försäkringskassan sign on the agency’s main office building in Stockholm.

Living in Sweden

Salary exchange has two Swedish income limits

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

Belonging

Migration Agency lifts Ukraine protection forecast to 10,000

Two white Arbetsförmedlingen flags flying on tall poles against a blue sky.

Living in Sweden

Severance pay can delay Swedish unemployment money

A Swedish passport photographed from above.

Citizenship

Sweden’s new citizenship rules require longer residence and your own income

A caregiver hands a cup of tea to an older woman seated in a care home.

Making It

Forged assistant-nurse certificate triggers nationwide checks

A close-up of a baggage tag marked Stockholm Arlanda and ARN.

Living in Sweden

Long Trips Abroad Can Delay Swedish Citizenship

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

Permits & visas

The Swedish partner permit your lease can weaken

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

Belonging

Sweden Granted Citizenship in Just One-Third of June Decisions

A white Migrationsverket flag flying outside against green trees.

Belonging

Sweden’s track-change repeal hit restaurant workers hardest—most of 700 approvals came through permanent residence

Rosenbad, the Swedish government offices in central Stockholm.

Making It

Sweden opens review of CSN income limits and long degrees

Historic orange and ochre buildings line a cobblestone street in Stockholm's Gamla Stan.

Life Here

57% of Swedes still live where homes are scarce

Entrance to the Public Health Agency of Sweden in Solna.

Living in Sweden

600,000 adults often feel lonely in rich, connected Sweden

A Kronofogden sign mounted on an exterior wall beside a flowering tree in daylight.

Life Here

Kronofogden warns of longer summer waits

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

Citizenship

How debts can block you from Swedish citizenship

An upward daylight view of Skatteverket's Kronan office facade and entrance sign in Sundbyberg.

Personnummer

The Swedish address your mailbox cannot solve

A close view of the green Arbetsförmedlingen symbol and bilingual agency name on a glass-fronted building.

Making It

Sweden’s registered unemployment falls by 22,000 in June

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

Permits & visas

The Swedish job offer the Migration Agency may not trust

An upward daylight view of Skatteverket's Kronan office facade and entrance sign in Sundbyberg.

Making It

The pension swap that only works above the ceiling

The red Migrationsverket name and bridge symbol displayed on a glass office wall.

Tech

The startup work-permit discount is narrower than it sounds

Participants working together at a technology hackathon in Stockholm

Tech

The belonging test Swedish tech teams can actually document

LO-borgen trade union headquarters building in Stockholm

Tech

Why Swedish tech reorgs rarely start with the manager

Front side of an EU Blue Card electronic residence permit template

Tech

The EU Blue Card is not just a richer work permit

Borshuset, the historic stock exchange building in Stockholm

Tech

When Swedish startup options become salary, not upside

Swedish Security Service vehicles parked in Visby during Almedalen Week

Tech

The quiet filter inside Swedish security-tech jobs

Office buildings reflected at night in Bagmane Tech Park in Bengaluru

Tech

Stockholm versus Bengaluru: where does a senior developer keep more income?

Swedish Migration Agency office building in Solna

Tech

What happens to your work permit after a technology layoff?

Ericsson office building illuminated at winter dusk in Kista

Tech

The Swedish employers still recruiting English-speaking engineers

Participants working together at a technology hackathon in Stockholm

Tech

Why international developers struggle to build a social life in Sweden

Kista Science Tower office building in Stockholm’s technology district

Tech

What Sweden’s tech workers are actually earning in 2026

The Trygg-Hansa office complex on Fleminggatan in Stockholm, near Statskontoret's visiting address.

Belonging

Protected housing in Sweden increasingly a last resort, investigator says