Monthly Archives: December 2018

Swedish Personal Number and ID

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How to get your Swedish Personal Number and Identity Card

Swedish Identity Number is legally known as personnummer is to identify people living in Sweden. The Swedish Personal Identity is a 10-digit number starting with your date of birth. The number is in the format: YYMMDD-XXXX. If you were born on 20th April 1988 then the number could look something like this 880420-9999

One needs to obtain a Swedish Identity Number as a student if the student is going to study more than 1 year(at least 12 months) in Sweden. Thus, you need to have a valid resident permit for 1 year. Or students from inside the EU/EEA who are able to prove that they intend to stay in Sweden for at least 12 months.

A personal number can be useful for working legally even while studying, opening a bank account, getting the ID card, getting into the health care system, getting a driver’s license etc.

All of the students studying a two-year degree course here in Sweden need to apply for Swedish Identity number at the Tax Agency called Skatteverket.

Address for the Tax Agency Office Skatteverket-

Things you must bring to the tax agency for issuing the personal number

  • Valid passport
  • Resident Permit
  • Admission letter Notification Results / Proof of enrolment
  • Information for your address/apartment you are living in Sweden
  • (If applicable) Documents proving marital status (original or a certified copy)
  • (If applicable) Birth certificates for children (original or certified copy)

What to do?

  • Visit Skatteverket during their open hours. There is no need for any prior appointment
  • When you reach there, there might or not be a waiting line but when your turn comes to tell the person in charge that you are here to apply for a Swedish Personal Number as a foreign student.
  • You will be either given a hard copy of the form or a computer to fill the soft copy. You would need to fill basic personal information. After submission, you will be assigned a waiting number to see the customer service person.
  • On your turn, you will be asked to handout your passport, Notification Results, Resident Permit, and bank statement(maybe) to take a photocopy of these. This is it for the personal number. You will receive the personal number via post.
  • Then you will be asked if you want an ID card for opening your bank account. If you say yes you will be given an invoice for your ID card. For this, you have to pay 400 SEK but you can do this once you receive your Personal Number.
  • Once you get your personal number, which will come via post to the address you mentioned, you can go to the Forex bank with the invoice you received from Skatteverket to pay for the ID card. And take the invoice of payment as proof from Forex bank. Remember that they charge 50 SEK as transferring or handling charges.
  • Next, you need to make an online appointment at Skatteverket to give your biometrics.
  • Visit Skatteverket again on your booked date, show them the invoice you got from Forex bank. They will take your biometrics. You need to wait for your Swedish ID card for approximately 2 weeks as they do their process. You will receive a message for when it is ready and then you need to go and get it from Skatteverket.

Hope this helps!

Snow is here

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Snow is here ❄

I was quite wanting the snow to not fall because I do not like winters. Funny, right? I came to Scandinavia even when I don’t winter ? But today I saw the snow falling, those little white balls of ice sitting on my jacket. I was like “Come on! How can you not like this?” But still what I saw today is not even the trailer of what will come next when everything will turn white. Also, this reminds me one should have proper winter shoes here. The foremost important thing is to have shoes which are waterproof, warm and have traction for snow.

Walk in the woods

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Walk in the woods

Linköping is surrounded by forests and fields in every direction. There is one right behind where I live in Ryds Alle is just two minutes away. I was amazed to see it is so close by from where I stay. The one forest I like the most is behind the park called SkåLand (I don’t know the name of the forest). It is opposite to the University. That forest is really huge and one can easily take a good walk for about 2 hours. It also has a small open gym (also known as the Rydskogens fitness center) with mechanical machines for exercise and changing rooms. There are a lot of different tracks inside to choose from. A huge football field also occurs in the middle of that forest near the open gym. There are benches placed after a few intervals. I think taking walks in a forest is a blissful way to relax, intake some fresh oxygen, and staying close to nature. It is meditative and mindful in a way after long hours of study I find roaming in the woods gives me a good recharge for the body and mind. Sweden is overall a very beautiful country and these forests are no less. I think it is a plus point for us who are living here. I am someone who loves nature and exploring places. And I’m glad I’m here!

 

Fall in Sweden

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My First Fall in Sweden

In India, the autumn season usually gets overpowered by the monsoons. Although I love rains, I had still been waiting to go through the fall season. And this year was the first time I experienced the autumn season for real. It was more beautiful than the photos I used to see of either Vermont or Sweden. The moment when you step out of your house, see a bed of leaves lying in front of you, everywhere, all over the path wherever you walk. And sometimes, if you are lucky, you will see them falling right on you. The little child in me got alive when I saw the leaves falling, running towards the yellow partly crisp leaves, wanting to catch them each time they head to the ground. It was almost magical when they shed all at once. The wind, the fresh smell, the changing colors of the leaves, from greenish-yellow, to mustard, to orange, and then finally red until they FALL. ???