Jeroen

Review of Skattemyndigheten i Stockholms...

I'm a Dutch citizen moving to Sweden. I moved to S...

I'm a Dutch citizen moving to Sweden. I moved to Stockholm the 1st of November. I went to Skatterverket when I had the contract for my apartment, but not yet for my job (I found a job but hadn't signed the contract yet). They told me I can't apply for my personnummer if I don't have all necessary information with me.

I came back a few weeks later when I had both the contract for my apartment and my employment contract. I told them I want to apply for my personnummer. They made a copy of my passport but didn't need any other information or contract. Which is really weird, since the first time they couldn't do anything for me without it.

So, I applied on the 14th of November with my passport. I had my apartment and employment contract, but Skatterverket didn't need that apparently.

I called them several times over the coming 2.5 months about the status. When I applied I was told the waiting time is 6-8 weeks. The first time I called it was the same. All the times after that it was 8-12 weeks. Finally, around the 20th of January, when I called them again, they told me they sent me a letter requesting more information. I didn't receive this letter yet and asked them if I can mail the information. That was possible, so I did (they asked for my employment contract and salary slips).
(By the way, this letter took about 2 weeks to reach me. I don't live in the middle of the forest, but just in Stockholm. I guess this is something Swedish and nothing to do with Skatterverket).

So, I emailed my employment contract. They asked for my salary slips of Sweden until now, but of course I don't have that yet. The company can't pay tax for me without any kind of tax number. Skatterverket told me that the company can pay my salary already, but they didn't want to say how.

For 2 weeks I didn't hear anything and I decided to call them. Apparently my application was denied. I spoke with several persons at Skatterverket and got a different explanation from all of them:
1. You have to live in Sweden for at least a year before you can get a personnummer.
2. You don't have a full-time contract, so you need to prove with your salary slips that you're actually working and making enough money to live from.
3. You can only get a personnummer if you have a full health-insurance in your country of residence. (I don't have a country of residence, since I moved to Sweden and I'm waiting to be resident here)

Then I asked what I can do now. I got this really nice person (I'm not being sarcastic, this was a really nice person) on the phone who told me I can get a coordination number. With that I can pay tax and get my salary. Later when I get salary I can apply for my personnummer again. I wanted to have a bit more information about the coordination number, so she connected me to the right person (and she put me first in queue so I don't have to wait again).

I got connected to this reaaallyy nice person (this time I'm being sarcastic). I asked her how I can apply for this number. She told me I can fill in form 4402 from the Skatterverket website. Okay, that's clear, and I'm certainly going to do that. Then I asked what this number actually is, compared to the full personnummer. She didn't know. Then I asked, a bit more specific; can I for example open a bank account with this number, or join a gym? (Note: I was talking normally, asking a normal question. Not with an annoying voice or something) She said, and I quote: "I am not from this department, that's a reeallyy stupid question!!". Before I had the chance to respond she hung up the phone. I was sooo surprised by this. This is the worst customer service you can imagine, and then for the Swedish tax company.

Skatterverket wants to help (some people more than others) but they're simply terribly slow and make it so complicated.