Moving to live in Sweden, namely in its capital, Stockholm, is not at all difficult. Unlike other EU countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, the Swedish government is rather friendly towards migrants. Arriving in this country for work or study, after five years of official stay and without problems with the law, you can get permanent residence. Even without knowing Swedish. Most of the locals speak excellent English. And when you marry a Swede, after three years you can collect documents for citizenship. But, due to the large number of people who want to emigrate here, the authorities are still preparing some changes in the migration legislation. Which, most likely, will significantly complicate the move to this small, but such a cozy country.
Whatever the reason for staying in Stockholm, most migrants face the same difficulties in the first year. Despite the fact that in general, life in Sweden is wonderful.
A person from Russia, who has not particularly traveled abroad for a long period of time, will have to turn his worldview and idea of life upside down.
And so, the difficulties that will have to face in the first year
Bank account and bank card
For a comfortable existence in Stockholm, you will definitely need a bank card. There are not many places in the city where you can pay with cash. And more and more terminals are being installed for contactless payments.
If there is no official job, then there are no ways to get a local bank card. Well, having presented a work contract in a special department of the bank, in which you would like to open an account, you will need to fill out a questionnaire. And the bank will still think whether you are suitable for him as a client, whether he wants to cooperate with you. I am glad that not all are picky, there are still banks that open an account in 5-10 minutes (but a contract with an employer is still required), for example SEB.
Having opened an account and received a plastic card, you can get confirmation in BankID. And use special bank applications that facilitate many things. For example:
- make an appointment with a doctor;
- transfer money to a friend;
- check your personal account at the tax office.
And much more that you can do online from your phone. At the same time saving time and money on public transport.
Accommodation
One of the most difficult questions. Housing is sorely lacking for everyone who wants to live in Stockholm. As elsewhere, housing can either be bought or rented. But…
The sale of real estate is carried out on the basis of an auction. Due to the high demand, which exceeds the supply, such a sales system has been established. Whoever offers the realtor a high price becomes the owner. Therefore, very often apartments and houses are sold at prices that exceed the market average. And the deal is drawn up upon depositing at least 10% of the cost (you can get a mortgage for the rest of the amount). On average, your own living space in the capital can cost 20 million rubles.
There are two types of rent:
- Primary, that is, from the homeowner.
- Secondary, as it were, sublease (lease from a tenant).
The first option is the most profitable in terms of cost and conditions. Those who managed to get such housing are considered lucky.
Everyday life
Each apartment complex has dedicated laundry facilities. This is a separate room with washers and dryers. In order to wash, be sure to sign up for a specific time.
Garbage and its sorting is another story altogether. To recycle waste and support the environment, there are sorting points in all houses. There you need to sort the garbage into special containers:
- plastic:
- paper;
- magazines and newspapers:
- transparent glass;
- colored glass;
- tin;
- batteries;
- light bulbs;
- electronics.
Large garbage, such as old furniture, must be taken out to special points, or a special service that deals with this must be ordered.
Transport
The most common is a bicycle in summer. And all because it does not harm nature and ecology in the first place. And also good for health and cheap. Metro, trams and buses are also very popular. All of them, for the most part, run on biofuels. But the government is trying to fight cars. There is a high annual transport tax, paid entry to the center, expensive parking and fuel. All this in order not to clutter up the narrow streets of the city and not to pollute the environment.
Medicine
Everything is complicated with her here. Sometimes, in order to get to a narrowly specialized specialist, you need to wait a month or two. Service in public clinics is free with insurance. In private medical centers, insurance covers only part of the costs, more or less depends on the complexity of the disease and the reasons for its occurrence. You must make an appointment with the doctor. In emergency and especially difficult situations, of course, they are accepted out of turn.
Salaries and taxes
Of course, in comparison with Russia, in Sweden salaries and taxes are high. For example, a teacher in Stockholm, on average, earns 210 thousand rubles a month. This is excluding tax. Of these, 31% will go to the state treasury. The more a person earns, the more he gives to the state. This can be shocking at first. But, having lived for some time in this country, you understand what the money is spent on. Social support of citizens, smooth roads, beautiful building facades, free education and medicine and much more, which makes life here safe and comfortable.
Food prices
Of course, higher than in Russia. But the salaries are significantly different, and the quality of the products. Due to the fact that the trend of healthy eating is gaining momentum, there are a lot of specialty stores with healthy products. Tobacco and alcohol are very expensive. You can't buy alcoholic drinks in a regular store at all. Only in a specialized state, where they will definitely ask for an identity card.
Conclusion
Life in Stockholm does not immediately get high. And not everyone will be able to feel at home here. But this can be said about any place on our planet.
The only thing we can say for sure is that one year is not enough for adaptation to feel like one of our own here. There is too little in common in Stockholm with any city in Russia. And the pros and cons are everywhere, and each has its own.
Despite high salaries, everyone is used to saving money and handling money wisely due to high taxes. Nobody pushes out their status, even rich people can easily ride the subway or bicycle. And using a private car every day is considered a waste.
So judge for yourself what are the pros and cons for you personally.
