Living & Working in Sweden

All about work permits and visas
This page details the different kinds of visas you need to travel to and remain in the Sweden in a variety of circumstances.

Working
You must have a work permit in order to work in Sweden. Once you have been granted a permit, it must be entered into your passport before your arrival.
Obtaining a Swedish work permit is no easy matter. Swedes, foreign citizens already living in Sweden and EU/EEA citizens have preference over others in obtaining work here.

If there is a temporary shortage of labor, or if you have obtained employment as part of an international exchange program, the Migration Board may grant you a work permit.

If the offer of work is for more than three months you will also require a Swedish residence permit.

If you will be in Sweden for less than three months, you will not require a residence permit. You may, however, require an entry visa. Information about which citizens are required to have entry visas when entering Sweden is available here. Visas are normally granted for three months at the most. You can read more about visas here.

Source: Migrationsverket (Swedish Migration Board).

Visiting
A stay for up to 90 days does not require a visa. Visitors to Sweden who are U.S. citizens are required to hold a valid passport. South Africans, Hong Kong residents with Chinese passports and residents of many African, Asian, South American and some Eastern European countries should check requirements with Swedish embassies.

Source: Lonely Planet.

Studying
The Swedish government maintains a Web site for those who are interested in pursuing studies in Sweden at www.studyinsweden.se.

There is a useful FAQ document at www.sweden.se

Swedish citizenship
Generally, United States citizens do not often emigrate to Sweden, but for further information on Swedish citizenship whether by birth, adoption, legitimization, notification, or naturalization, there is a brochure in pdf format prepared by the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationverket), which offers further information and discusses the concepts of Swedish citizenship and qualifications.

›› Swedish Embassy in Washington.
›› U.S. Embassy in Stockholm
›› Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy, Stockholm

Planning a trip to Stockholm?

Stockholm Transport (SL)
Find ticket information, general corporate information on SL, and some information about the art in the Metro. The responsibility for a well-functioning public transport system in the Stockholm Region lies on Stockholm Transport. Let the Journey Planner give you directions in English how to travel from one place to another with Stockholm Transport. The Journey Planner gives you the quickest and most convenient journey between two stations or bus stops.

Stockholm's metro is the world's longest art exhibition, over 65 miles long. In some 90 of the 100 metro stations, travellers can enjoy exciting, beautiful and varying artistic experiences - sculptures, mosaics, paintings, installations, engravings and reliefs. Around 140 artists have helped to create underground grottoes, verdant gardens, rippling springs, water lily ponds and fabulous caves, reflections on times of old and documentation of contemporary life. An additional few hundred artists have added temporary art features.

Get a map of the Stockholm Metro (Tunnelbanan)

Sweden - Basic Facts

Area: 450,000 km² (174,000 sq. mi.), third largest country in Western Europe
Forests: 53%
Mountains: 17%
Cultivated land: 8%
Lakes and rivers: 9%
Longest north-south distance: 1,574 km (978 mi.)
Longest east-west distance: 499 km (310 mi.)
Capital: Stockholm
Population: 9 million inhabitants
Languages: Swedish; recognized minority languages: Sami (Lapp), Finnish, Meänkieli (Tornedalen Finnish), Yiddish, Romani Chib (a Gypsy language).
Form of government: Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy.
Parliament: The Riksdag, with 349 members in one chamber
Religion: 82% belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden
Average life expectancy: men 77 years, women 82 years.
Most important export goods: Paper products, electrical and computer equipment, motor vehicles, machinery, chemical products, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, foodstuffs
Most important imported goods: Petroleum products, motor vehicles and accessories, machinery, electrical and computer equipment, foodstuffs, textile products, footwear

Average temperatures
JANUARY JULY
Malmö -0.2° C (+31.6° F) +16.8° C (62.2° F)
Stockholm -2.8° C (+27.0° F) +17.2° C (63.0° F)
Kiruna -16.0° C (+3.2° F) +12.8° C (55.0° F)

Daylight
JANUARY 1 JULY 1
Malmö 7 hours 17 hours
Stockholm 6 hours 18 hours
Kiruna 0 hours 24 hours