Look inside
The plan for Sweden, from the inside
These are all 32 steps of the Sweden journey, exactly as they appear in your personal plan — with the lead time and the costs next to them. Not a brochure: this is the file that feeds the platform. Pick another country below if you're heading elsewhere.
For which country?
Every country has its own steps, its own order and its own clocks. Switch as often as you like.
- Steps
- 32
- Phases
- 5
- Official sources
- 61
- Only for your situation
- 8
Phase 1
5 steps
Orientation
Sweden asks no application and doesn't even have a counter at the immigration service. The two queues that do exist shape your whole journey: five weeks for the folkbokföring — and on the housing market of the cities a queue where you as a newcomer stand at the back.
- 1.1
Understand the system: no registration, but folkbokföring
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.2
Look the housing market straight in the eye before you decide anything
- Lead time
- an evening of research
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.3
Get a picture of what it's going to cost
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours with the calculator
- Costs
- none
- 1.4
Take the decision together
- Lead time
- no fixed one; take your time
- Costs
- none
- 1.6
Choose your target date
- Lead time
- five minutes, below
- Costs
- none
Phase 2
11 steps
Closing the Netherlands
The familiar list, with one surprise that appears nowhere else on the site: under the current treaty Sweden levies on your Dutch occupational pension — and a new treaty is ready that turns this around again. Whoever leaves in retirement wants to know exactly where they stand this year.
- 2.1
Arrange your healthcare: the basic insurance stops on moving day
- Lead time
- start 3 months before departure; the CAK application takes ± 4 weeks
- Costs
- workers none; pensioners the CAK contribution
4 official sources
- 2.2
AOW and pension: the treaty that is now tipping
- Lead time
- an afternoon of research, and one tax adviser conversation
- Costs
- the tax adviser conversation
3 official sources
- 2.3
The tax wind-up: M return and the protective assessment
- Lead time
- the return comes after the emigration year; preparing can be done now
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.4
Stop allowances and child benefit
- Lead time
- an hour, online
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 2.5
Deregister with the municipality
- Lead time
- possible from 5 days before departure, up to and including departure day
- Costs
- none
1 official source
- 2.6
DigiD, bank and your vote: keep the lines with the Netherlands
- Lead time
- an afternoon
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.7
Documents: multilingual extracts, no apostille needed
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks for requesting extracts
- Costs
- fees per extract
2 official sources
- 2.8
Partner comes along without a job of their own
- Lead time
- an evening together, then a few things to arrange
- Costs
- none — the consequences are in the article
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.9
Living partly in the Netherlands: the eight-month rule
- Lead time
- one decision, before you commit to anything else
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.10
The house in the Netherlands: sell, rent out or keep
- Lead time
- one conversation with the mortgage lender and one with a tax adviser
- Costs
- advisory hours; when renting out possibly an interest surcharge from the bank
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.11
Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO, healthcare and the house
- Lead time
- an evening, and after that one report a year
- Costs
- none
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
Phase 3
3 steps
The move
Within the EU moving is administratively nothing, and taking the car along is here — unlike in Denmark — simply a good idea: no registration tax, one inspection, done. The kilometres are the biggest item.
- 3.1
Plan the move: 1,000 to 1,600 kilometres, two bridges
- Lead time
- quotes 2-4 weeks ahead; driving yourself is always possible
- Costs
- see the cost indication
2 official sources
- 3.2
Taking the car: here it's simply a good idea
- Lead time
- RDW export and applying for the refund, 1-2 weeks
- Costs
- see the cost indication
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.3
The pet: EU passport, and in the register within four weeks
- Lead time
- vet visit 2-3 weeks before departure
- Costs
- vet check; registration 40 kronor per animal
3 official sources
Only if this applies to you
Phase 4
6 steps
Registration in Sweden
The chain is strict in order and slow at the start: home → folkbokföring (five weeks) → ID card (two weeks) → bank → BankID. Count on one and a half to two months before you're fully part of the digital system — and plan nothing in that period that requires a personnummer.
- 4.1
Find your home: the queue, or the second-hand market
- Lead time
- count on weeks to months, depending on the city
- Costs
- deposit and advance payment, see the cost indication
2 official sources
- 4.2
The folkbokföring: five weeks that open everything
- Lead time
- ± 5 weeks after the visit in person
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 4.3
Skatteverket's ID card
- Lead time
- ± 2 weeks after the application
- Costs
- 400 kronor
1 official source
- 4.4
Bank account and BankID
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks once you have the ID card
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 4.5
Register the family with Försäkringskassan — nothing happens by itself
- Lead time
- an evening with the e-service
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 4.6
The tax side: avoid the 110% withholding
- Lead time
- can be arranged as soon as your personnummer is there
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
Phase 5
7 steps
Arrival
You exist — now the systems run. The car has the shortest clock, the a-kassa the biggest consequence: since the reform of October 2025 your length of membership literally sets the percentage of your benefit. Join on your first working day.
- 5.1
Registering the car in Sweden
- Lead time
- ursprungskontroll plus inspection, a few weeks
- Costs
- 1,240 kronor ursprungskontroll, plus the inspection
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.2
Work: join an a-kassa on day one
- Lead time
- an afternoon
- Costs
- a-kassa contribution per month
2 official sources
- 5.3
Get to know the healthcare system: paying up to the ceiling
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- see the text
2 official sources
- 5.4
School, förskola and the barnbidrag
- Lead time
- apply for childcare as soon as you have an address; guarantee 4 months
- Costs
- förskola with maximum rate; school free
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.5
Tax: the pre-filled return, and your preliminary tax
- Lead time
- an evening a year
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 5.6
Learn Swedish: free, but since 2026 with a clock on it
- Lead time
- apply via the municipality; start within 3 months
- Costs
- free
2 official sources
- 5.7
Your driving licence: nothing is required, exchanging is allowed
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- exchanging 600 kronor
1 official source
8 of these steps aren't always there. They appear only when your answers call them up — a pet, a car, children staying behind. That's the difference between a plan and a checklist in which you have to work out yourself what applies.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Sweden journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 1.2 of your plan
Look the housing market straight in the eye before you decide anything
- Lead time
- an evening of research
- Costs
- none
This is the pitfall of this route, so it comes before everything. Swedish rental homes with a first-hand contract run via a queue: in Stockholm almost 900,000 people were registered at the end of 2025 and the average waiting time is nine years. As a newcomer you stand at the back.
The realistic route is the second-hand market: renting andrahand from someone who has a contract — legal, provided the landlord or the rent tribunal gave permission. Three rules protect you: never rent without that permission (the main tenant can lose their contract and you your home), never pay for the contract itself (trading in rental contracts is a criminal offence, for the buyer too), and know that excessive sublet rent is reclaimable. At the same time do register with the queues right away — 200 kronor a year in Stockholm, and every month counts.
This is step 1.2 of 32. The other 31 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
And what you don't see here
This page shows the content. What a page can't show is the work the platform does for you afterwards:
- The clocks that start running the moment you begin, and a nudge at the moment something is asked of you — not earlier.
- Your documents in one place, with their expiry dates watched, so nothing lapses while you wait for something else.
- The ticking off, together with your partner on the same journey.
- The steps that drop out or appear based on your answers, so your plan holds only what really applies to you.
Ready to start on Sweden?
All 32 steps, set to your situation and with the deadlines watched. € 199 once, no subscription.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Sweden: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Sweden really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Thirty-six journeys are fully ready — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Canada, Panama, United States, Suriname, China, Dubai, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.