Move home to Sweden

Who should be registered in the population register when moving to Sweden?

You can be registered if after moving in you are expected to regularly spend your nights in Sweden for at least one year. It is considered regular if you sleep here at least once a week. If you plan to stay for less than a year, you should not be registered. It is Skatteverket who decides if you meet the requirements.

Source: Folkbokföringslag (1991:481) (riksdagen.se), Skatteverket: Move to Sweden. 3 § folkbokföringslagen.

When should the move to Sweden be reported?

Skatteverket receives the notification no earlier than 14 days before you move. According to the law, the notification should be made within a week after you have been in the country for three months. Each person is reported separately, including children. For a child under 18, the guardians make the notification together, and children who have turned 16 can report themselves.

Source: Skatteverket: Move to Sweden, Skatteverket: You are a Swedish citizen, Folkbokföringslag (1991:481) (riksdagen.se). 26 § folkbokföringslagen.

Personal identity number or coordination number?

If you become registered in the population registration you will get a personal identity number. If you will be here for less than a year you will not be registered in the population registration, but you may need a coordination number, for example to work, study or have contact with authorities. An authority, a university or an education provider can request this from you, and you can also apply yourself if you will be in Sweden for less than a year and can show that you need the number and have a connection here. Before the number is assigned, you book a time at a service office for an identity check. If you have had a coordination number it will be replaced by a personal identity number when you are registered in the population registration. How the application, identity check and renewal are carried out is described in the guide to coordination numbers.

Source: Skatteverket: Coordination number, Law (2022:1697) on coordination numbers (riksdagen.se), Skatteverket: Move to Sweden. 2 chap. 1 § law (2022:1697) on coordination numbers, which applies since 1 September 2023.

How to move home to Sweden

1. 1

   Step 1: Check that your passport or national ID card is valid. If you lack ID documents as a Swedish citizen, apply to the Police.

2. 2

   Step 2: Notify the move in the Tax Authority's e-service Move to Sweden, at the earliest 14 days before you move. Make one notification per person.

   § 3 § of the People's Record Act (1991:481), verified 5 October 2026

   § 26 § of the People's Record Act (1991:481), verified 5 October 2026

3. 3

   Step 3: Upload ID documents and supporting documents for the family, such as a marriage certificate or the children's birth certificates.

4. 4

   Step 4: Book a time for identity check at a service office and bring all ID documents in original. The whole family must come.

   § 26 a and 26 b §§ of the People's Accounting Act (1991:481), verified 5 October 2026

5. 5

   Step 5: Make sure your name is on the door or mailbox, so that the decision from Skatteverket arrives.

6. 6

   Step 6: Provide information about the move to Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency), and ask the authority in the country you are leaving for a certificate of social insurance.

   Email: Request for Social Security Certificate from the previous country To: The Social Security Authority of the country you moved fromour council

   The template is in Swedish because it goes to a Swedish recipient.

   Ämne: Request for certificate of social security coverage, [ditt namn] [socialförsäkringsmyndigheten i landet du flyttat från] Hej. / Hello. Jag har flyttat från [landet du flyttat från] till Sverige och behöver ett intyg till Försäkringskassan. I have moved from [landet du flyttat från] to Sweden and need a certificate for the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan). Namn / Name: [ditt namn] Födelsedatum och id-nummer i [landet du flyttat från] / Date of birth and ID number: [födelsedatum och id-nummer i det landet] Adress i [landet du flyttat från] / Former address: [gamla adressen] Ny adress i Sverige / New address in Sweden: [nya adressen] Flyttdatum / Moving date: [flyttdatum] Jag ber om ett skriftligt intyg som visar om jag omfattas eller inte längre omfattas av socialförsäkringen i [landet du flyttat från], och vilken ersättning jag får eller har fått därifrån. Please send a written certificate showing whether I am still covered by social security in [landet du flyttat från], and any benefits I receive or have received. Vänliga hälsningar / Kind regards [ditt namn] [telefon] [e-post] [datum]

   • Försäkringskassan needs written documentation from an authority in the country you moved from, if you come from a country within the EU/EEA or Switzerland, showing whether you are covered by social insurance there and what compensation you receive (Försäkringskassan, 5 October 2026).
   • You provide the information to Försäkringskassan in the e-service Submit information when moving to or working in Sweden, or on form 5456.
   • Many countries have their own e-services or forms for the certificate. Search on the authority's website first and send the email if you can't find anything (our advice).

   Copy email

   Blank template: Word · PDF

7. 7

   Step 7: Register with a healthcare centre and book dental care when you are registered in the population registration. our advice

What should I show at the service office?

You and your family members who are moving with you should visit one of the selected service offices in person. You book the time at the State Service Center. You must show who you are with a passport or national ID card; a driving license is usually not enough. You must also provide the full address where you live and sleep, with apartment number, and the name of the person you live with if you live with someone. Explain why you are moving here, for example work, studies or where the family will live, and show documentation about the family: marriage certificate, divorce judgment or children's birth certificate. If you have never been married, you do not need to show anything about that.

If you are temporarily staying at a hotel or hostel, you provide that address and report the new one when you move on. A c/o address is not registered.

Source: Skatteverket: You are a Swedish citizen, State Service Center: Book a time for moving to Sweden, Population Registration Act (1991:481) (riksdagen.se). 26 a and 26 b §§ folkbokföringslagen.

I lack a valid passport or ID card

If you are a Swedish citizen, you apply for a passport or national ID card from the Police. You book a time at a passport office and need to show a valid Swedish ID document that you have with you physically; the digital ID card in BankID is not accepted. The Tax Authority's ID card is also available, but Skatteverket refers Swedish citizens to the Police.

The Tax Agency's ID card can be obtained when you are population registered and have a Swedish personal identity number, from the age of 13. The application fee is 400 kronor (2026) and is paid before the visit to the service office. There you prove your identity with an approved ID document, or with a certificate issuer: a person who knows you well and accompanies you to certify who you are.

Source: Police: Pass and national ID card, Skatteverket: The Tax Agency's ID card, Skatteverket: How to apply for an ID card.

What applies to EU citizens moving to Sweden?

You who are a citizen of an EU or EES country need to show that you have a right of residence to be registered in the population register. If you are going to work, you can have a right of residence as an employee, self-employed or job seeker. Skatteverket has its own pages for you who will study or live on your own resources. The notification and visit to the service office are done in the same way as for Swedish citizens. A driving license from a country within the EES remains valid here as long as it is valid.

If you are a citizen of another Nordic country, you do not need a residence permit or residence certificate to become population registered. You report the move and visit a service office in person with a passport or national ID card. More in the guide on how to move within the Nordic countries.

Source: Skatteverket: Citizens of the EU/EEA who will work in Sweden, Transportstyrelsen (the Swedish Transport Agency): Foreign driving licenses, Skatteverket: You are a citizen of another Nordic country, Info Norden: Move to Sweden, Population Registration Act (1991:481) (riksdagen.se). 4 § folkbokföringslagen.

Försäkringskassan, healthcare and dental care

If you are moving here with children under 16 years old, you provide information to Försäkringskassan to receive child allowance. You provide the information in the e-service on My pages or on form 5456. Försäkringskassan assesses whether you are insured in Sweden. If you come from a country within the EU/EEA or Switzerland, Försäkringskassan wants written documentation from an authority in that country, stating whether you are covered by social insurance there and what compensation you receive. As a registered resident, you are entitled to healthcare on the same terms as others living here, and as an insured person, you are entitled to state dental care support.

Source: Försäkringskassan: Moving to Sweden.

Is my foreign driving licence valid?

A driving licence from an EES country is valid in Sweden if it is valid in your home country and has not been exchanged for a Swedish one, even when you are registered here. A driving licence from a country outside the EES ceases to be valid when you have been registered here for more than a year. Exceptions are driving licences from the United Kingdom and the Faroe Islands, which continue to be valid. Only driving licences from the United Kingdom, the Faroe Islands, Switzerland, and Japan can be exchanged for a Swedish one under certain conditions.

Source: Transportstyrelsen: Foreign driving licences.

Household goods and customs

Moving home from another EU country, you pay no fees to Tullverket (Swedish Customs). Coming from a non-EU country, your moving goods may be duty- and tax-free if you have lived outside the EU for at least one year, owned and used the goods for at least six months, and bring them home within a year. The conditions, forms, and what applies to the car are in the guide on moving goods and customs.

Source: Tullverket: Moving to and from Sweden, Tullverket: Duty- and tax-free for you when moving to Sweden.

Template for the certificate from the previous country

In Swedish and English, to the social insurance authority in the country you are leaving. All templates are available under templates for the move.

The law behind it

The sections summarised, with a link to the legal text on riksdagen.se.