Ankit Garg's Blog

This part continues from my earlier post on Tips and Guide for Linkoping Part 1. In due course of time from last year, we (I and my wife) come to know about other information and things that one may be willing to know about. I am continuing this post from the last point of my earlier post.

16. Swedish for Immigrants:

SFI is a program run by the Swedish government and it is totally free for people who are new and from outside of Sweden. You need to register for it once your personal number arrives. You can apply for the SFI course from this link
Note: You can not do anything without your personal number here.

If you are planning to have a car or to drive here then there are three options but the third one is kind of a Jugaad.
1. Before your arrival here, take an international driving license from India. It is valid for 1 year all over Europe and in Sweden, the validity of 1 year starts from the date of your arrival.

2. If you are here for a long time then you can apply for a driver’s license here but this option is a costly job. You have two options:-

2.1 Enroll in a driving course at Traffic School, the traffic school has different types of packages like a package of 10/15/25/25 driving lessons + unlimited practice test for Theory + Risk 1 + Risk 2, etc. It depends on the individual how many driving lessons they require before they can go for a driving test.

2.2 Find someone who holds a Swedish license and has it for a minimum of 5 years. Such a person can be your driving instructor privately but still you need to take Risk 1 and Risk 2 courses. So, the flow for getting a driving license goes like this,

2.2.1 First you need to take Risk 1 (this is an introductory course about driving and its aspects, this can not be skipped and is mandatory).

2.2.2 You need to take Risk 2 after you have learned to drive the car (usually your driving instructor at Traffic school would tell you if you can take Risk 2 or not). Risk 2 is a mandatory practical course where the learner gets to experience how much time the car would take to stop and cover a distance when the brakes are applied at the speed of 30,40,80,100 Km/h. Also, the experience of feeling when the car skids in the mud/snow or water, when the car gets upside down during the accident, and some other scenarios that only occur during the accident.

2.2.3 The third part is passing the Theory exam, this is the first test and one needs to pass it before even they can book the final practical test. For this test, one needs to go to the Trafikverket office in Linkoping and this test can be taken in English as well.

2.2.4 The fourth and final test is the practical test, where an examiner from Trafikverket sits with you and gives you directions to drive the car and make their judgment. If you pass then they will send you the driver’s license and if you fail then your theory test will also become invalid and you need to take the Theory exam again.

3. If you are on a contract job here which is longer than 1 year then you can apply for a temporary license through the Transport Authority. The validity of this temporary license will be till the end of your contract date.

4. If you hold a driving license from any other country within the EU/EEA or Switzerland then you can drive here and get your driving license exchanged for the Swedish driving license.

18. Jobs:

As mentioned earlier this could be one of the hardest parts of being in Sweden as you need to speak, understand, and write the Swedish language to get yourself qualified for any open job opportunity. Joining the SFI course to learn the language Swedish will help you to get acquainted with the language but still, it is not something that will lead you to speak, understand, and write this language in six months.

But, the best way to look for a job is through LinkedIn and after the Corona time, many companies post Remote and Hybrid jobs. So, the big companies from Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Mälmo post their openings which one can apply for.

The Swedish government has established an employment agency named Arbetsformedlingen. As they say, this agency helps you to find a job in Sweden and they have a very good database of job openings as by law employers have to have a post job opening on www.arbetsformedlingen.se. So, what you have to do is to visit the Arbetsformedlingen office at Storgatan 6 (across the big Hemkop) downtown and register yourself there.
Once you get registered there you will be assigned to an employment officer/case officer who will help you in the following ways:-

1. Plan activities for you.

2. They will ask you to verify your educational certificates through UHR ( more details in the next point) and prepare an activity plan for you.

3. They will ask you to search and apply for suitable jobs through their website and also to submit your activity report for each month.

4. If you have already joined SFI then they may enroll you for additional Swedish classes (sprak praktik) where you will learn other aspects of the Swedish language apart from your SFI classes. The social insurance agency Forsakringkassan pays you some stipend for going to Sprak praktik.

5. They may also enroll you for a job praktik in which you will learn technical Swedish related to your job. Finding a job praktik is as tricky as finding a job but still chances to get a job praktik are higher as compared to job. Forsakringkassan pays you the same stipend for the job praktik as well.

Job praktik is a three-month training program in which a candidate go to a company, do work for them, and learn the work culture and technical aspect of the Swedish language. The deal here is that Companies don’t have to pay anything to the trainee from their account, it’s the Arbetsformedlingen/Social Insurance agency that pays the stipend. If the company feels satisfied with your work and performance then they may hire you as an employee but in most cases, they hire a new trainee for the next three months, and this way they get their job done without paying anything.

Note: Once you get registered at Arbetsformedlingen it is required for you to login to your account frequently to have your account active. Also, try to be in touch with your case officer (handlagare) over the email or ask them to schedule a meeting with you.

19. Getting your documents verified through UHR:

UHR is a Swedish government agency that works to verify the foreign educational qualifications of the candidates and also assess the level of foreign education as per the Swedish education level. The employment agency asks you to get your educational qualifications verified so that the employer can know about your educational qualifications and equivalent Swedish education level.

Getting your documents verified through them can take up to 4 months to 6 months as they will send verification of your documents to the country from where you obtained your degree.

All you need to do is to follow this page “Application form for Recognition of Foreign Qualifications“.

20. Sending documents or post in the cheapest way:

The cheapest way is to use Sverige Post (www.posten.se). For the first 20 gms only 12 SEK is charged and then 2 SEK/gm is charged, this rate is without tracking. If you ask them to add tracking then it may cost you an additional72 SEK. So, it’s only 12 kr for sending a 20 gm post in any part of the world.

Sending a normal letter to India may take a month of a time.

21. EU Health card from Forsakringkassan:

With the European Health Insurance Card, you can get compensation for necessary care if you get sick or have an accident when you travel within the EU/EEA and Switzerland.

The European Health Insurance Card gives you the right to necessary care at a hospital or doctor’s office that is affiliated with that country’s national health care system. It is the care provider that determines what is considered to be necessary care. You pay the patient fees that the country’s own residents pay. In some countries, you must first pay the entire care cost yourself and then request compensation from that country’s equivalent of Försäkringskassan.

Immediately present the card together with your ID to the care provider. Everyone in the family, including children regardless of age, must have their own health insurance card. The card is free of charge.

The European Health Insurance Card is valid in:
Belgium, Bulgaria, Cypress, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, the UK and Northern Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria.

You can apply for this card from this link. You just have to enter your personal number on the website, the card is sent to the address that is registered in Försäkringskassan’s customer register. The card is valid for three years.

For more information visit this link.

22. Studying, training, and extracurricular activities in Linkoping:

There are many things to do in Linkoping once you arrive here. For example: You can join a basic swimming course or become a professional swimmer by joining the swimming school (Sim skola) or you can join a paid photography course at Folkuniversitetet.

Studying:

In Sweden, education is free for all the residents except the private courses from Folkuniversitetet. If you would like to do a master degree from any university in Sweden then you do not have to pay any fee for that as long as you are paying tax or have a family member who pays tax for the family. There are both, distance-based courses and also on-premises courses from the university.

You can find more details on the below-mentioned websites for courses:-

1. www.studentum.se: You can find higher education in Sweden and abroad. Each training presents the most important information you need to compare different programs with each other such as eligibility requirements, admission points, housing situation, possible costs, etc. Once you find a course you can easily get in touch with the school and ask questions by leaving an interest.

2. www.folkuniversitetet.se: Folkuniversitetet is an adult educational association that offers a wide range of adult education all over Sweden. Folkuniversitetet runs numerous internationally oriented activities such as language courses, courses abroad and projects with an international emphasis.

Their brochure in English is available here.

3. www.studyinsweden.se: This link contains details about free and paid Swedish e-courses.

Extracurricular activities:

23. Remitting money to India or abroad:

There are many money-remitting websites available in the market for this purpose and also you can send your money through your Swedish bank, but, generally sending money through the bank will cost you more as banks charge their own fee for wire transfers and they have different conversion rate as compared to these money remitting websites. I know/used about following websites for this purpose:-

1. www.wise.com: They provide a mid-market conversion rate and also give you the option to fix your conversion rate, so, you may get a good conversion rate during the rate fluctuations.

2. www.worldremit.com: They have a bit lower charges as compared to Transferwise but not good forex rates.

3. www.money2india.com: This service is provided by ICIC Bank and I believe you don’t want to go with this option as they don’t provide a complete Power transfer (Online transfer) option. You have to do half online and half offline transfers i.e. you need to generate the remittance request and transaction reference number from the website and then they will provide you a wire transfer form. You have to wire transfer your money according to the details mentioned in the wire transfer form.

If you have a bank account with Nordea Bank then you can remit money very easily through it.

4. https://remit.onlinesbi.com

24. Find the right health care:

You are new in Linkoping and unfortunately, you fall ill, what you should do to find the right health care is explained here.

As soon as you are registered at Skatteverket with your address and you receive your personal number, you will be assigned to a local clinic which is called Vardcentral in Swedish. You will get a letter in your mailbox indicating the name of the local clinic, its address, and the telephone time during which you can contact them.

The first point of contact is your local clinic, when you get sick, you call them and explain your symptoms to a nurse. A nurse in Sweden is very experienced and she is trained enough to decide if you need a visit to the doctor or not. Most of the time, they can tell you which medicines to buy. To get an appointment with a specialist, a doctor at a local clinic needs to check you first and then they can refer you to the University hospital.

PS: I will keep updating this page with more information which I get in due course of time. I would also appreciate any correction or any new thing that you may want here or should you find any.

25. Indian Community

The Indian community in Linkoping is quite big with people from every corner and state of India. There are some facebook groups (Links below) and a whatsapp group to get connected to other Indians. We all try to help each other in any way possible so such groups makes it easy to communicate and get to know others.