Student blogs

With the arrival of a new school year comes the arrival of new international KI students! Starting a masters – let alone moving to a new country – can be really scary. But the first step has been taken and you guys are in Sweden (and have already started the beginning of your bachelors/master!) Although it’s been a few weeks now, it’s normal for things to still feel out of place. But no worries, we’ve all been there, and everything starts to feel more familiar as time goes on. 

That said, here are a few steps I took that made me feel more settled into Sweden. There will be two parts to this blog. Part 1 will cover the “practical” steps of settling in, while Part 2 will cover the more “personal/social” steps.

Note: this blog is aimed at things to do once upon your arrival. Notifying the tax agency of your move, setting up Mecenat etc. are steps taken before the move! 

1. Get an SL card. This is the public transport card that gives you access to the metro, commuter train, buses and trams in the Stockholm region. There are various options that you can buy (single ticket, 7-day ticket, monthly ticket, 3-month ticket and a few more). As a student, once you have Mecenat, you can buy the discounted student ticket! Since I commute a lot in Stockholm, I found that buying the monthly ticket was the best option for me. You also have the option of buying an online SL ticket through the SL app or of getting a physical copy. 
2. Once you have completed the first visit to Skatteverket, (the tax agency) and have received your personal number (personnummer) in the mail, register at a Vårdcentral (healthcare clinic). Usually people register to the one closest to their home address. Make sure to do this before you start feeling ill and need to see the doctor! 
3. With your personnummer you can also apply for a Swedish ID! It will be needed if you want to open a Swedish bank account (in most cases) and obtain BankID, which is the main way of logging-in to all the important platforms (your bank account, healthcare app (1177), Skatteverket etc.) For this you can use this link which will take you to the Skatteverket page. 
4. This leads me to my next point, once you have obtained your Swedish ID, open a Swedish bank account. Opening this bank account is a tedious and time-consuming process, and if you hope to work during your studies, you will more than likely need it. There are various bank accounts you can apply to (Handelsbanken, Danske Bank, Swedbank, SEB, Nordea etc.), which one you choose depends on your needs, such as fees, digital services etc. 
5. With your Swedish bank account, you can then obtain BankID, which will make handling official tasks much easier (accessing the national healthcare app (1177), accessing your bank account, logging into the tax agency). BankID also allows you to get Swish, which is the main app used to transfer money between people and is even used to pay in grocery stores (besides debit card of course). Additionally, with BankID you can also get a replacement guarantee for tickets on your SL card in case you lose it (this can be done on the SL app).

I hope this was helpful, and that taking these steps will make you feel even a little more settled into Sweden. Part 2 of the blog will discuss the more personal/social aspects of how to get settled. Just remember that at the end it takes time, and soon enough you’ll be calling Stockholm your second home.