Student blogs

In my previous posts, I hinted at the difficulties I faced whilst attempting to get the residence permit. As such, during this time, I expect that many of you are going through the same motions and same waves of feelings that I had experienced at the time. In this post, rather than giving a tutorial, I will share more in detail my thoughts, my personal experience and timeline.

Other Digital Ambassador blogs

If you are looking for a more detailed tutorial on some of the formalities of this experience, please check out some of my fellow DA blogger’s posts. Yohannes just wrote a detailed blog on navigating this process if you’re interested in that! Additionally, a past blogger who is also from the Caribbean wrote a tutorial for this process for individuals from the Americas back in 2023 if you also want to read her perspective.

Researching the residence permit

Getting a student visa or student permit was not foreign to me at the time. Honestly, I expected that there would be difficulties in this process. However, I was not prepared for one thing: the location of the embassy. Molecular Techniques in Life Science Master students (MTLS) who were admitted are offered a one-to-one online session with a current MTLS student through KTH. It was in this meeting where I was made fully aware of the predicament I was in. There was no Swedish embassy in Jamaica. I had to make my way to the nearest embassy that serves Jamaican citizens. For me, I had the option to go to the Washington D.C. and I was fortunate enough to already have a visa that allowed me to visit the US.

This realization set off a wave of anxiety on receiving the residence permit. I started to look for information online. I wanted to hear about people’s personal experiences and therefore, I found my way to reddit forums. Yet, often the space gave me even more anxiety. The posts were not positive indications that the process was smooth and I was worried about the timeline. I would need the residence permit to even enter the Schengen area. On the internet, there were not many Jamaican testimonies online to compare my case with. Was it normal to travel to another country from Jamaica for the residence permit? When can I buy my tickets to the US and later Sweden? Could I get the process done in time? These thoughts consumed me to the point where I wondered if this was the right choice.

My timeline

To give a rough overview of the dates involved, I paid my tuition late April and submitted my application to Migration agency on May 2^nd. On May 3^rd, I received a notification for further information that was clarified immediately on the same day. Approximately in less than a week, I received the notification to visit the embassy entered on my application. I bought my plane ticket for that exact week and headed over to D.C. When I was applying for the permit, the Swedish embassy in the U.S. was not operating on an appointment basis but rather a drop-in basis on a specific day of the week at a specific time. Each embassy location might have different procedures so please remember to check the details of the embassy visit either on their website or through inquiry.

How did I get the card?

One additional obstacle I had to overcome was receiving the physical card. It was just not financially feasible for me to travel all the way back to D.C. to pick up the card. Luckily, there was an option to receive my card via a delivery that I paid for at the embassy. After approximately two months, in July, an unknown number called me. It was the delivery driver! I finally had the card physically in my hands and I let out a breath of relief.

Since time was the primary stressor, I decided to share some of my own timeline here in hopes of offering some good news to the people currently or will be going through this process. However, do remember that it is all a case by case basis that changes based on your own situation, your country, the embassy you need to visit, when you apply and whatever the current regulations are.

Tip: Act promptly and completely

The most common advice you’d receive is apply early. I could not apply at the earliest instance, but I actively tried to act the earliest I could to each of steps presented to me. For example, I responded to the notification for more information within the same day I received it. Acting promptly and as completely as possible are the parts of this process that you can control.

Finding friends

As I mentioned before, I sought out people’s testimonies on reddit at the beginning of the process. While it was comforting to see that there were others who were in the same boat as me, it was also a place that fueled my anxiety further at times. I had to constantly remind myself that people are more likely to write a post when they come across difficulties that they need help with rather than if the process were smooth. I tried my best to find posts that also matched my situation the closest whether that is with the embassy location or general region they were from. Of course, I could not find any fellow Jamaicans who were also going to Sweden. Until I actually did find one.

The luck of a lifetime: finding a fellow Jamaican friend

On the way back from the US after visiting the embassy, a close friend of mine texted me to ask about my programme. It was in this conversation where she connected the dots and realized that her friend was also going to Sweden for his Master’s programme! Not only did I find a fellow Jamaican who was applying for the residence permit in the same year, I found a fellow Jamaican who was also a high school classmate of mine. This was probably one of the best news I had heard (aside from my acceptance of course) that summer. We could share our struggles together, share information with each other and celebrate together when we both received the card on the same day.

Where to find others?

I understand that this is a very unique and lucky experience to have but I do hope that you also find a fellow person to ride the waves together. Try to find communities online for example. My programme puts together a Whatsapp group chat for admitted students. You can also find other admitted students to KI on the Goin app (feel free to connect with me as well). If you are a future MTLS student, you also have access to KTH and SU communities because that is the advantage of our programme!

Finally, I wish you all the best on this journey! I am hoping for the day you finally get to release that sigh of relief like I did.