Newcomer's Guide to East Sweden
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Newcomer’s guide to East Sweden. Welcome to East Sweden! This is a guide for those of you who have taken advantage of a great long-term or short-term job opportunity and are planning to move to Linköping-Norrköping or the surrounding municipalities. This guide answers all your everyday questions regarding accommodation, WORK AND BUSINESS education, work, health care and living in Sweden. 4 RESIDENCE PERMITS 6 AND WORK Fast facts: • A dynamic region with world class skills across many areas of research, development and manufacturing • Population of nearly half a million • 300 R&D-intensive companies at two science parks. • 30 000 students and world-class research 8 HOUSING 12 EDUCATION at Linköping University • 170,000 jobs within a 45-minute commute • High quality housing in attractive environments, ranging from city centre and suburban locations to small towns and nearby countryside. www.eastsweden.com HEALTH CARE AND PRACTICAL 14 SOCIAL SECURITY 16 INFORMATION More information: For more information about housing, schools, preschools, etc, see the websites of the municipalities in the East Sweden region. Boxholm: www.boxholm.se Motala: www.motala.se Ydre: www.ydre.se Finspång: www.finspong.se Norrköping: www.norrkoping.se Åtvidaberg: www.atvidaberg.se Kinda: www.kinda.se Söderköping: www.soderkoping.se Ödeshög: www.odeshog.se CULTURE AND HOLIDAYS, TRADITIONS Linköping: www.linkoping.se Vadstena: www.vadstena.se 18 SPARE TIME 20 AND THE SWEDISH WAY Mjölby: www.mjolby.se Valdemarsvik: www.valdemarsvik.se 4 NEWCOMERS’ GUIDE TO EAST SWEDEN WORK AND RESIDENCE PERMITS WORK AND RESIDENCE PERMITS NEWCOMERS’ GUIDE TO EAST SWEDEN 5 EU/EEA CITIZENS period of initially two years to cover a labor shor- (personnummer). This number is unique and is An EU/EEA citizen who is either an employee, tage. This occurs only when the applicant applies needed to open bank accounts and to obtain a self-employed person, a provider or recipient of for limited-term employment in areas where the phone number, etc. services, a student or a person who has enough employer is faced by a labour shortage. After the personal identity number has been funds to support himself/herself, has a “right to received, the applicant should register for social Work and reside” in Sweden and should register with the Residence permit required for insurance either at the local office of the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket). “Right to duration of more than 90 days Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) or at reside” means that the EU/EEA citizen and his/ Non-EU/EEA citizens need a residence permit to www.forsakringskassan.se. her family members are allowed to stay in Sweden stay in Sweden for more than 90 days. The per- residence for more than 90 days without a residence permit. mit must be attached to the person’s passport and Skatteverket, local offices: Family members of such an EU/EEA citizen can stamped before arrival in Sweden. As with work Linköping: Kungsgatan 27 also get a right of residence. If they wish to stay permits, a residence permit is applied for at the Norrköping: Hospitalsgatan 23 in Sweden for more than three months, they are Swedish embassy or consulate in the applicant’s Motala: Kungsgatan 20 permits. required to apply for a residence card. country of origin or residence. The application Mjölby: Industrigatan 7-9 Citizens of EU/EEA countries do not need a is then sent by the consulate or embassy to the permit in order to work in Sweden and can start Swedish Migration Board which makes the deci- Försäkringskassan, local offices working the day they enter the country. sion of whether or not to grant the application. A Linköping: Drottninggatan 16 residence permit of longer than 12 months gives and Kungsgatan 27 NON EU/EEA CITIZENS the foreign citizen the same social and welfare Norrköping: Hospitalsgatan 23 Non EU/EEA citizens who plan to work in Swe- benefits as a Swedish citizen and subjects the per- Mjölby: Industrigatan 7-9 den need a work permit before entering the coun- son to the same taxes. Motala: Urban Hjärnes väg 11 try. A residence permit is needed in addition to If a person has held a residence and work per- the work permit if the person is going to work mit for at least six months, family members (i.e. for a period of more than three months. Citizens spouse/cohabitant and children under 18) can ob- More information is available at: of certain countries must also have a visa to work tain residence and work permits for the same time www.skatteverket.se, for periods of less than three months and you will period. A person who has worked as well as held a www.forsakringskassan.se find a list of these nationalities at www.ud.se. residence permit in Sweden for four years may be Source: Skatteverket, Business Work permits should be applied for at the granted permanent residence. Sweden Swedish embassy or consulate in the applicant’s country of origin or residence. Work permit app- lications must include a written offer of employ- More information is available at: ment in Sweden. The offer of employment is pro- www.migrationsverket.se vided by the Swedish employer and must include Source: Swedish Migration Board information about salary, insurance and housing and Invest in Business Sweden in Sweden. Qualifying grounds PERSONAL ID NUMBERS for work permits & CIVIL REGISTRATION Executives or specialists from non-EU/EEA Anyone who plans to live and work in Sweden for countries normally have no difficulty getting their more than 12 months needs to apply for tax and work and residence permits if employed by Swed- civil registration at a local office for the Swedish ish or foreign-owned companies in Sweden. Ex- Tax Agency (Skatteverket). Please note that a visit ecutives are normally defined as people in leading to the Skatteverket in person is required together roles (for example, those in charge of marketing, with a passport, residence permit, documents sales, export, purchasing, human resources, pro- relating to civil status and birth certificates for duction or R&D). children younger than 18 years. After registration A work permit may also be given for a limited the applicant is given a personal identity number 6 NEWCOMERS’ GUIDE TO EAST SWEDEN BUSINESS AND WORK BUSINESS AND WORK NEWCOMERS’ GUIDE TO EAST SWEDEN 7 SWEDISH BUSINESS CULTURE mally run for 1–3 years. The agreements are made VALUE ADDED TAX (VAT) Swedish management is based on the idea that the on two levels; on a centralized industry-wide level The standard rate of value added tax (moms) is individual is both willing and able to do a good and on a local company based level. Around 85 25 percent. A reduced rate of 12 percent VAT job. A Swedish manager tends to think of him- percent of wage earners and 75 percent of salaried applies primarily to food, hotel accommodation self/herself as a coach rather than a commander, workers belong to a trade union. Wage earners are and camping. A reduced rate of 6 percent applies Business and he/she often delegates tasks and authority to mainly members of unions within the Swedish mainly to newspapers, books, magazines, public his/her staff. As an employee you are expected to Trade Union Confederation (LO) and salaried transport, sporting events and to certain cultural take responsibility and initiatives and not wait for workers are generally in unions that are part of activities. Certain services, such as medical and direct instructions. the Swedish Confederation for Professional Em- dental care, social services, banking and financial and work. Swedish companies usually have a flat and ployees (TCO) or the Swedish Confederation of services are not covered by VAT. For consumers, team-oriented structure with few management Professional Associations (SACO). VAT is always included in the marked price. levels. As a result, the decision making process is simple and direct, even though decisions are PERSONAL INCOME TAX ESTABLISHING A BUSINESS made with great consideration. The feeling of Income tax has two components: local income If planning to start a business, the Swedish Com- agreement and compromise is very important tax, and state income tax. Local income tax rates panies Registration Office (Bolagsverket) can help throughout the workplace and in the decision vary between regions from about 29 to 35 per with more information. making process, as it is in every aspect of Swe- cent. In 2009, the average local income tax rate in dish society. The flat structure and low levels of Sweden is 31.5 per cent. In addition to local in- hierarchy in Swedish companies create a relatively come tax, the employee pays a state income tax of More information is available at informal business culture where people greet each 20 percent on annual income of more than SEK www.bolagsverket.se other with a handshake and use first name-terms 380,200. For incomes above SEK 538,800 the www.verksamt.se in every situation. The dress code is often informal employee pays a state income tax of 25 percent. Sources: Business Sweden, but smart. These rates apply for the 2009 financial year. Skatteverket, Office hours are mostly between 8 and 5, but Bolagsverket working hours are flexible. It is very important in the Swedish culture to be on time as it is regar- More information is available at ded not only as a sign of respect but also of ef- www.skatteverket.se ficiency. This is especially true at the workplace. Most employees are provided 5 weeks vacation per year. It is customary to take at least one or two TAX REDUCTIONS coffee breaks during the workday, also known as FOR FOREIGN EMPLOYEES “fika”.