What to do after arriving in Sweden

Congratulations again to everyone who got excepted into one of the programmes at LiU! Moving to another country can be difficult, scary, overwhelming and also be a lot to organise. So, in this blog post, I want to give you an overview of what to do once you arrive in Linköping or Norrköping. As a disclaimer, I am a European citizen, so some of this might not apply to non-EU students or are a bit different for them, but in general, they are still things that everyone needs to get sorted.

1. Register at the university:

Regardless of if you arrive on an Arrival Day or not you will have to stop by Campus to open your LiU account to get access to the system and receive your LiU card. The card can be used to enter buildings and rooms after hours as well as on the LiU Campus bus that runs between Norrköping and Linköping. Remember that you still have to show up to your roll call to start the programme, you can find the location info for that on the programme website.

2. Register at Mecenant and/or STUK:

Those are student apps that will provide you with your student ID. You have to renew it every semester. But it is important as you will have to show it to get into student events. They also offer student discounts for a large number of websites and stores.

3. Apply for a personal number:

If you stay in Sweden for more than a year you are eligible to apply for a Swedish personal number. I highly recommend you do so as you can sign up for memberships and it makes your life easier when it comes to administrative tasks. You apply for this through the Swedish Tax Agency. Their website gives you all the info on documents that you are required to hand in. I recommend you prepare those in advance. Also, make an appointment as early as possible, they are difficult to get and it can take up to 2 months to receive your number.

4. Make an appointment for an ID card:

This is not a requirement but again it makes some things easier. You can only get an ID if you have a personal number. Nevertheless, make the appointment early because the office (especially in Linköping) is really booked out. You can do that online on the Skatteverket website. 

5. Get a bank account:

If you plan on working in Sweden you might require a bank account. There are a few options for international students. There is Nordea, Swedbank, Handelsbanken and Danske Bank. They all also require at least a personal number and some even a Swedish ID. You need to figure out yourself which works best for you. A bank account will not only get you paid but also allows you to get BankID and Swish. BankID is an online identification app that is used for practically everything from making a bank transfer to identifying yourself to pick up a package. Swish is a Swedish online payment system that is really easy to use (similar to Paypal but directly connect to your bank account).

6. Get a Swedish phone number:

Once again it is not a must but I found it to be helpful with Swish and when putting down my phone number. This is by far the easiest step. Comviq has free sim cards (you can find them at the entrance to stores sometimes) that are activated by getting a monthly subscription. You can also cancel the subscription every month. On recent at STUK you might also find great offers for other providers.

I hope this helps you get started in Sweden.

All the best,

Emily