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Tag archives for Work visa

The Next Step: Extending my Work Permit

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passport stamps

Photo by: Ho John Lee (CC BY 2.0)

Whahoo!

It’s been a little stressful lately dealing with various immigration challenges. But things are starting to turn around. Yes!

What’s Been Happening
My work and resident visas expire at the end of March. I was supposed to have six-month permits but due to some bureaucratic hiccups and our non-understanding of the process, I was given permission for just November through March—only four months.

The Migration Board (Migrationsverket) says that you must apply for an extension of your permit at least one month before it expires. I applied for the extension in late January so that was good.

Traveling To and From Sweden
I traveled back to the US in February and before I left, I bought another ticket to travel to the US in April. I was afraid that it would be too hard to see my family for just six days and then leave again without knowing that I would return soon. My plan worked because it felt great to be able to see “See you soon.”

Then the bomb dropped. I found out that the Migration Board says you are not allowed to leave and re-enter Sweden while your case is being decided. You are allowed to stay in Sweden and continue to work but you cannot leave because you may be denied entrance when you return. How strange that would be if I could not do my job, could not return to the life I have built over the last four months here in Sweden. The kicker was that they said the approval of the extended permit would take six to seven months.

I called the airline but my ticket was completely unchangeable. So there I was, stuck with a ticket I had paid for but didn’t dare use.

Passport Control
In an ironic twist, two out of the last three times I entered Sweden, there was no passport control at all. That was most likely due to the fact that I entered from within the European Union. My trip usually originated in the US but I changed planes in Frankfurt, or Munich, or London. EU citizens can freely move between countries so passport control is less necessary. The irony? For the first time, my flight in April will arrive directly from the US so I imagine Arlanda (Stockholm’s airport) Passport Control will be looking at passports and permits more closely. Sweden, like the US, does not like people to enter the country with, say a visitor’s visa, and then try to switch that visa to another kind while you are there. Usually you must leave the country to change your visa type.

The HR woman at my work called the Migration Board and was told (off the record since they say the opposite on the website) that Passport Control would not deny me entrance if I could show my previous permit, prove that I had applied for an extension, and was coming from a country Sweden has lots of immigration agreements with.

Both the HR person and I called Arlanda’s Passport Control to see if they said the same thing. The woman we spoke to assured us this was the case but as always happens when two different officials tell me two different things, I wasn’t sure whom to believe.

Nevertheless, I decided that I was going go anyway. I had already paid for the ticket, it was important to my family, and I was just going to chance it. I could always call my boss from immigration prison and beg him to intervene on my behalf. (Ah, good back-up plan…)

Early Decision
But now, I don’t have to call my boss on a late Saturday night in April! I received the decision yesterday from the Migration Board after seven weeks instead of seven months. It could be because we wrote a letter asking for it to go quicker. It could be because I keep calling them. It could be because mine was a really simple case.

I was so happy that I immediately ran down to what I thought was the Migration Board but was actually the Tax Board to order my new permit card (a biometric card that shows how long you can stay in Sweden…no one has ever asked to see my current one nor is it accepted as an ID…but it’s necessary to have.) I have made so many trips to various Tax Board offices that in my deliriously happy state I got them confused with the Migration Board.

The Windfall
Now that I have permission to stay 19 months, I can apply for a personal number (personnummer). This is done at the Tax Board so I will go back there shortly. I cannot express how many doors will open once I have a personal number. With this number, I can then get a Swedish ID card. (You might recall that I paid the fee to get one of these and traveled all over Stockholm to get to the special ID-giving Tax Board office a few months ago but it turned out having a coordination number (samordningsnummer) was not good enough. One needs the real thing–the personal number.)

The Swedish ID card will allow me to have a full bank account that I can access online. This is important because right now I cannot pay for things like train tickets or memberships online—the way nearly everything is done.

It has also been tricky to look for an apartment without the personal number. Both the private and municipality websites where you stand in queues to find an apartment require a number. Some of them will accept the coordination number and some will not.

I could not purchase trip health insurance the last time I went to the US (a whole other challenge) because I did not have a personal number. Although I am covered here in Sweden, I am not covered when I travel home to the US.

I wrote this blog for four months for free because the lack of a personal number confused the issue of how much my pay should be taxed. This finally resolved itself and I am grateful we didn’t have to wait until the personal number was issued.

You see why this is fantastic news? Whahoo! I feel like I am getting closer to being Swedish. What could be better than permission to live in Sweden and a personal number! (Well, Swedish citizenship maybe…)

Kristin Lund

March 10, 2012

14 Impressions & Random Thoughts After 3 Months in Sweden

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snowflake close-up

How amazing is a snowflake up close? Very! Photo by: wild_turkey5300 (CC BY 2.0)

  1. I swear they have “Hollywood snow” here…The snow flakes are so large that it almost looks fake. It’s really beautiful because the snowflakes can be so many different sizes at once…Maybe Hollywood is getting it right, after all, since I have now seen snow look this way in real life.
  2. I miss my dog! I couldn’t find any statistics but there must be a much lower ratio of pets to people here in Sweden than in California. I see a lot fewer pets. Maybe it’s just because it’s cold out.
  3. The electric kettle is a wonderful thing…not sure why it isn’t popular in the USA?
  4. I was told that hardly any Europeans use duffel bags as luggage when traveling on airplanes. Then I noticed mine was the only one on the conveyor belt so perhaps it’s true. Why is that?
  5. Swedes bag their own groceries. You pay for how many bags you want in advance. Your purchases go down the conveyer belt and the cashier moves a bar so that the next customer’s purchases won’t mix with yours but instead pile up next to yours on the other side of the bar. Nevertheless, it get’s really stressful because the food tends to get crushed by the food coming down the belt and because the next customer’s (customer number three’s) groceries will then start to mix with yours when the bar is moved back.
  6. Week numbers…I never know what number week it is and even though Swedes refer to them (as in “Let’s get together week 8″) all the time, even some Swedes don’t seem to know which number equals which week.
  7. Wine in a box? Splendid!
  8. Taxis in Sweden are classy. The cabs are always clean and nice. You can order them in advance and depend on them showing up. Most prices are fixed in advance so you can rely on not getting taken advantage of.
  9. Swedes usually get a paycheck just once a month. Yikes! That requires good planning…
  10. Nearly every salad bar consists mostly of iceberg lettuce and cucumbers (and if you’re lucky, corn and shaved carrots).
  11. I know I’ve said this before, but I can’t help continuing to be surprised that 9 out of 10 winter jackets are black. Every once in awhile there is a red, arctic-style jacket with a faux fur-lined hood but where are all the other colors?
  12. I have learned that you must leave the house with your gloves and hat on and not plan on putting them on later. It’s a cumulative cold thing, once you’re cold, you’re cold. You must leave the house with everything on.
  13. Calendars that start on a Monday? Help, I’m confused!
  14. The coolest thing about snow is that (when you don’t live downtown), you can see all the tracks from the animals that came visiting during the night (I have seen deer, bird, and hare tracks and I live in the suburbs, not the country. I have also seen tracks I can’t identify… so I would imagine they are from Sasquatch…)

    black coats on coat rack

    Here's the coat rack at work...Thank goodness someone accessorized with a red scarf!

 

Kristin Lund

February 26, 2012

Will You Still Love Me When I’m (still working at) 75?

7 comments
Fika time in Sweden

Phote by: Helena Wahlman/imagebank.sweden.se

 

This week, Prime Minister Reinfeldt announced that it might be necessary for Swedes to work until they are 75 in order to collect a pension like the one they receive today.

Reinfeldt repeated his thoughts about raising the pension age to 75 during a Stockholm meeting about the future with leaders from Nordic and Baltic countries and the UK. He was quick to say that he did not believe it should be an obligation to work past age 65, he is merely trying to get people to think more flexibly on the subject.

The minimum work pension age in Sweden is 61, but many people continue to work until 63 or 65. People who wait till 65 to retire are entitled to various additional benefits.

The prime ministers meeting at the Northern Future Forum heard comparisons of pension ages around northern Europe. In Iceland, where the official retirement age is 67, half of all 65 to 69-year-olds continue to work. In Norway, the pension age was recently lowered from 67 to 62 years of age.
–Radio Sweden

The idea of “working till you drop” has not been very popular here and there has been lots of debate and discussion in the media on the topic this week. The trade unions were not, to say the least, enthusiastic. Even I received a popular (Photoshopped) picture making the email rounds this week of Reinfeldt down on his knees, telling a skeleton to get up and work.

But Reinfeldt explained that people live longer now. And if the life expectancy age keeps rising but workers still retire at the same age, then pensions will have to be lower in the future. He questioned whether people are ready for that. Reinfeldt is also championing workers over the age of 55 getting hired. He says employers will be much more likely to employ someone who will work 20 years instead of just 10. He suggests that if a career becomes too physically demanding then a person over 55 should be prepared to learn a new career.

As a middle-aged worker, myself, I can’t say I’m thrilled with the idea. It depends on the kind of work and whether or not the worker wants to continue working. But it seems to me that we should encourage people to take the time to “smell the roses” and live a little. Since we aren’t able to accomplish too much of that in today’s lifestyle, we should try to build in some time after retirement. If we retire at 75, how many roses are we going to smell?

Kristin Lund

February 11, 2012

Shoes in the Swedish Workplace

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shoes next to red wall

A female co-worker left her indoor shoes under a whiteboard for awhile...

 

There’s been some previous discussion/posts about shoes and shoe customs on Sweden.se so I thought I’d chime in on the shoe situation in the workplace.

Personally, even before the snows came this winter, I found it hard to wear the same shoes to work that I was going to wear at work in Sweden. This is because the winter streets and sidewalks are almost always wet and there is lots of sand and grit everywhere (to keep tires and feet from slipping).

But that’s just me.

I saw women wearing high heel (non-snow) boots on the train even after it began snowing. I have also observed men on the train platform wearing dress shoes that they are probably going to wear all day at work as well.

I am proud to say that I made some accurate predictions about what shoes/boots to bring to Sweden and I have not had to purchase any here. (A good thing since I am on a budget and shoes—and for that matter, socks—are expensive here.) I brought along a low pair of wet weather boots that I bought super-cheap online (in the off-season) a few years ago but never found a purpose for in San Francisco. I purchased a set of wool footbed liners and as long as I wear extra socks, these babies are perfect. They are not fashionable but they are easy to get on and off and they insulate me well from the cold train platforms and various levels of rain, snow, and cold. They would not be good boots for any kind of deep snow and for that I brought with me other (even less fashionable) boots.

In her Expat blog, Kate wrote in her hilarious style:

Swedish people have pretty strong feelings about walking around indoors with your shoes on. In short: don’t do it.

If you really want to question this fundamental rule of behavior, be prepared for the looks you’ll get: bewilderment, horror, and—most of all—disgust. When I confirmed that yes, in the United States, we do wear shoes indoors, one of my friends gave me a look that inexplicably called to mind the image of healthy green plants withering and disintegrating away into brown crumbles of nothingness in hyperspeed. It was frightening.

When I get to work, I do take off my shoes but I then put on another pair. This is the work equivalent of “removing your shoes at the door.” I peel off the extra socks, and change into a pair of black flats that I leave at work. Despite the policy of taking off your shoes in Swedish homes, in the workplace, people do seem to wear shoes. But most people, at my job anyway, switch to another pair.

Sweden.se published an article about business culture five years ago in which the author said:

Work attire is often conservative, but casual. Employees may wear sandals or tennis shoes at the office, switching back to sturdier outdoor shoes when they head home.

Althea Boman, a teacher and businesswoman in Örebro who moved from the USA 15 years ago, remembers being quite surprised to see sandals at the workplace. She says: “In the States, people are not interested in seeing your toes, no matter how nicely pedicured they are. That certainly took a little getting used to.

I don’t know which state the author moved from 15 years ago, but in California, no one would think twice if a woman wore an open sandal to work.

At my Swedish job, which has a very relaxed culture, many men switch to sandals with socks when they get to work. Laid-back footwear for men at work in the US would be much more likely to be sneakers. Even in California—land of the people who wear Birkenstocks—few men wear them to work. With or without socks.

men's shoes at work

I took these pics of mens' feet at work...They think I'm nuts, of course...

 

I like the way Swedish men are willing to wear crazy socks with their sandals. They just go for it. Or maybe I am over-dramatizing the level of sock courage since one co-worker told me that the only reason he was wearing socks with little moose on them was because he hadn’t done his laundry and he had no other choice.

But that does not explain all the striped socks I see…

For my own fashion statement, maybe I should change into a pair of “Swedish Hasbeens” a cool shoe brand that Sabrina talked about in the Fashion blog.

Still with me? I’m telling you, people like to discuss shoes and even look at pictures of shoes. Here are some pictures from the Photo blog:

Red shoes

Hanging shoes

Kristin Lund

February 3, 2012

Contract Work in Sweden

42 comments
Stockholm crowds

Maybe coming to Sweden for contract work is very rare... Photo by: Ola Ericson/imagebank.sweden.se

 

I have gained an important, important piece of information. It very difficult to get all the pieces of documentation you need to participate fully in Swedish society if you come to Sweden on a contract that is less than one year. My hard-learned advice to those of you trying to move to Sweden on a work permit is to make sure you get a contract that is over one year.

I had a very challenging day last week when I took the subway around Stockholm, going from one Tax Board office (Skatteverket) to another (they kept referring me to different offices), trying to get a Swedish ID card. The ID card is used as proof of age and proof of identity, for example when collecting prescription medication from pharmacies, paying by credit card in stores and in banking transactions.

Obtaining a Swedish ID card was to be my next step after getting assigned a Coordination Number (samordningsnummer). You will recall I wanted a Personal Number (personnummer) but instead I could only obtain a Coordination Number.

The Personal Number means a person is in the Swedish Register. In order for me to get a Personal Number, I must have permission from the Migration Board to stay (and work) in Sweden for at least one year. I came to Sweden on a six-month work permit because my job contract was for six months. So, since the work permit is six months, I do not qualify for a Personal Number. Instead I qualify for the Coordination Number.

After receiving the Coordination Number, I went to the Tax Board to get a Swedish ID. First I had to follow a complicated set of instructions which included getting a co-worker to pay 400 Swedish kronor in advance of my visit online (ironically the very thing I can’t do since my bank requires a Swedish ID card in order to have online banking services).

What I did not understand was that that I was not “registered.” I thought I was registered because I had been assigned a Coordination Number. But this does not count as registration. Here’s what the Tax Board says:

Swedish ID card and information

The Tax Board would not give me an ID card. To make matters worse, they informed me that I was not covered by the national health insurance (försäkringskassan). I argued with them that this did not make any sense since I am paying over 30% of my paycheck in taxes and, in addition to this, my employer pays another (roughly) 31% for health, disability, and other services for me.

I have since been assured by the insurance office that I am, in fact, covered. The next step is for me to send the insurance office my registration form along with various work documents and then I hope they will send me a piece of paper telling me I am covered. I have received so many different opinions that now I want some hard proof. I have not, since I came to Sweden, needed any health care but, should the need arise, I don’t want there to be confusion for obvious reasons.

Believe me, it was upsetting for the woman at the Tax Board to tell me that. There were tears involved. The problem is that I get a different answer depending on who I talk to and I don’t know which person to believe.

Up until very recently, I resisted the idea that this job process could be so challenging. I thought that there must be lots of people who go through this so there must be a logical process. But it has dawned on me that perhaps there aren’t many people going through this. Most people who come to Sweden to work probably come as employees and so they have no end-date on their application. Therefore they get the Personal Number, therefore they get the ID card, therefore the insurance, and it all falls into place. It would be the same thing for the “relationship visa” in which you come to Sweden to live with someone. The assumption in those cases is that you will be in Sweden forever.

Even though I have moved here permanently (assuming I find lasting work), my situation does not look that way on paper.

That is why I recommend you make sure your contract is more than one year if you plan to come to Sweden for contract work. The best thing would be to come as an employee but this is hard to arrange when you are in another country. Like me, you may have to come as a contractor and then try to parley that into longer-term work. (There is also the possibility that my current contract may be extended.)

To that end, I have recently re-done my CV in a more Swedish-friendly style (more on that in future posts) and you will soon learn about my adventures looking for work in Sweden.

Kristin Lund

January 31, 2012