Student considering moving to Sweden

Last activity 30 April 2015 by danaldson

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ztm302Member26 April 2015 18:49:01

Hi,

I'm 20 years old currently studying in Australia and considering the prospect of moving to Sweden with my girlfriend who lives in Malmo. I am a dual citizen of the United Kingdom so I understand I have the right to live and work in Sweden and also am eligible for free tuition. My girlfriend lives in a house on her families property and I'm able to live with her relatively cheap.

I'm hoping to change over to either Malmo or Lund university and study there, however my biggest worry at this point is how I'm going to support myself whilst studying there. My Swedish is limited, I do plan to study Swedish before I leave and whilst I'm there of course, however, realistically I know it's going to be difficult to find myself even a part time job. I will have support from my girlfriend/her family, but I'm honestly not all that keen on being dead weight until I finish my degree.

I understand under certain circumstances foreign students can receive government loans and grants to help support their studies, but from what I've seen you need to have lived and worked in Sweden for 2 years. I could be wrong on this one, but I think I've read if you have a right to permanent residence it puts you on an equal standpoint as any other Swedish student. Is this the case? If so can I get this treatment if I'm cohabiting or am in a registered partnership with a Swedish citizen?

Thank you.

jennaiwanchukActive member30 April 2015 08:34:32

You might in fact have a bit more leeway than most other immigrants have due to the fact that you have dual citizenship with the UK, thereby making you an EU citizen by proxy. I will tell you though that non-EU citizens with permanent residency do not receive any funding/help, although they may be eligible for a student loan, which they have to re-pay.

I'm a Canadian who is in a Swedish partnership and I was required to be here for 3 years before I received Swedish Citizenship (svenskt medborgarskap), otherwise I was known as a "foreign citizen" up until my third year. Foreign citizens get 0 help.

What you should do is first check at www.migrationsverket.se to make sure immigrating here is all good, then get yourself a personal number from Skatteverket. I think you need to be here in person for that though. Once you've gotten your personal number, CSN.se is what you want to check to see if you're eligible for any funding.

Hope that sort of helps

-Jenna

danaldsonMember30 April 2015 09:20:29

That is a wonderful perspective...exactly what characterized the dynamics associated with the Swedish system...

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