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‘Moving to Gothenburg gave me the ultimate work-life balance’

Forest strolls. Seaside vistas. And a job at Volvo Cars. Learn how one woman moved with her family to Gothenburg and why stories like hers are becoming increasingly common in west Sweden.

Published: 16 December 2016 05:00 CET

'Moving to Gothenburg gave me the ultimate work-life balance'

Laura Albregts and her family near Gothenburg. Photo: Oskar Allerby Photographer

Enticed by fresh opportunities and a sense of adventure, Laura Albregts moved from Amsterdam in 2014 with her husband and two young boys for a new life near Gothenburg.

And nearly three years after making the life-changing decision, Laura has no regrets about making her home on Sweden’s west coast.

“The work-life balance is really hard to beat. Things are flexible in a way that allows you to spend time with family and pursue your career,” she tells The Local.

Hearing Laura tell the story of her family’s move, it almost feels like relocating to Gothenburg was written in the stars long before the day she and her husband actually decided to make the move.

Laura Albregts near her Gothenburg-area home. Photo: Oskar Allerby Photographer

Both of them worked for companies with roots in Sweden – he for Swedish security company Gunnebo; she for AzkoNobel, the Dutch chemicals giant that still bears the name of the 19th century Swedish industrialist behind the Nobel Prize.

As a result, Gothenburg was more than a faraway dot on the map.

“We knew the city from a sightseeing perspective – we’d been out in the archipelago and taken day trips in the region,” Laura explains.

Learn more at MoveToGothenburg.com

But after the birth of their second child, the family yearned for more space than was available in crowded Amsterdam. And when a job opportunity in Gothenburg emerged for her husband, it didn’t take long before Laura and her family set their sights on Sweden.

“We asked ourselves, ‘What are we going to do next?’ And eventually decided, why not. The kids are small. This is the time for an adventure,” she recalls.

Finding home, sweet home

Despite a scouting trip and placing ads in a range of local newspapers, finding a place to live wasn’t as simple as Laura expected.

“That was probably the biggest hurdle, to be honest. For one, we didn’t know about Blocket,” she explains, referring to the popular Swedish buy-sell site which also features rentals and real estate listings.

Ultimately, Laura and her husband decided to buy a home rather than bother with the hassle of renting. “It feels like we’ve made a bigger commitment to the area, like we’re more rooted. I think it will be a good choice in the long-run. We feel like we can make our home our own,” she says of the family home, located in Stenungsund, located about 50 kilometres north of central Gothenburg.

Family first

At first Laura planned to continue working at a distance for AzkoNobel, but eventually decided to leave her job and go ‘all to build a full life based in west Sweden.

“This was our adventure and I wanted to both spend time helping our children adjust and learning the language,” she says.

With their home and one career sorted, Laura’s next task in the autumn of 2014 was finding a preschool for her children, aged two and three at the time.

“It took some time to figure out who to talk to, but after we got in touch with the municipality, things moved pretty fast,” she recalls.

Laura Albregts enjoys more time with family since her move to Gothenburg. Photo: Oskar Allerby Photographer

She thinks the process would probably go even faster today, thanks to MovetoGothenburg.com, a new online portal and associated LinkedIn page that provides foreign talents with a wealth of practical information and networking opportunities related to relocating and settling in Gothenburg and West Sweden.

“The site looks great and has all of the practical information gathered in one place. It would have been really helpful for us,” says Laura.

Of course, no website can alleviate certain challenges that come with moving abroad – like the “shock” for Dutch-speaking kids entering a Swedish-speaking school.

“It was tricky at first, but six months later they were speaking Swedish better than me,” Laura says with a laugh.

A new career

Indeed, life was moving in the right direction for Laura and her family – but the question of her own career remained unanswered. While comfortable with her decision to focus on her kids and learning Swedish, the thought of facing a second winter without the structure and stimulation of a job spurred Laura to action.

“I’d been looking passively, sending out the occasional CV in English, but after a year I decided it was time to get organized,” she recalls.

However, the task was “harder than expected” as Laura learned some of the subtle differences in marketing yourself “the Swedish way”.

“It wasn’t so much about selling your skills, but demonstrating that you could fit in and be a part of the culture,” she explains. “And learning Swedish was also really important – that helped open a lot of doors.”

Connect with Global Talent Gothenburg/West Sweden on LinkedIn

Laura turned to the friends and connections she’s made in the area, many of whom invited her into their networks and workplaces. As luck would have it, she stumbled across an online advert for an opening at Volvo Cars that was a great match.

Not wanting to let the opportunity slip away, Laura turned to the network she’d built up over the previous year – which included a few people who worked in HR and could coach her through the application process.

“In the end, I actually had interviews with four different companies, but Volvo felt like the best fit,” she says of the job, which she started in January 2016.

The ultimate work-life balance

Overall, Laura couldn’t be happier with the new life she and her family have created for themselves in west Sweden. And while there were a bumps along the way, that’s all part of the “adventure”.

“If you are a family with small children – take the plunge! The transition provided me with a chance to spend more time with my kids and learn the language,” she says.

And Laura still marvels at the range of things to do in and around Gothenburg.

Gothenburg offers big-city options with a small town feel, according to Laura Albregts. Photo: Per Pixel Petersson/imagebank.sweden.se

“Gothenburg has a small town feel but offers big-city options. The diversity is amazing – you have beaches on the coast that in the summer can remind you of Greece, and then lakes and mountains inland,” she says.

“There’s nature, trendy restaurants, artsy districts, open-air markets, boating, skiing. It’s like everything is possible, and I have more time with my kids than ever before. It’s really the ultimate work-life balance.”

And Laura reckons that foreign professionals considering a move to Gothenburg will find the experience even easier than she did. The city’s population of talented foreigners is growing – and the city and business community are taking notice.

According to Statistics Sweden, the number of university-educated foreigners living in the region has increased by more than 60 percent since 2008. The trend has prompted a number of initiatives, including the Global Talent project and major investments in housing and infrastructure to make Gothenburg and West Sweden more accessible and attractive to talented foreigners.

“There are so many networks and activities to help you meet more people – language cafes, parent groups, expat groups. They’re great resources,” she says.

And the new MovetoGothenburg.com portal is another great resource that people can access even before they arrive.

“The new site is really good. I wish it had been there when I moved. It’s got everything that I had to find out the hard way.”

This article was produced by The Local and sponsored by Global Talent Gothenburg-West Sweden.

Reader question: How can I retire to Sweden?

Nordic citizens

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s easiest for Nordic citizens to retire in Sweden, as they enjoy unrestricted rights to live and work in any of the Nordic countries without the need for any kind of work or residence permits or EU residence documents.

This means that citizens of the Nordic countries can essentially just move to Sweden and register their arrival at the Tax Agency upon their arrival, bringing with them a passport or national ID card, as well as documentation proving their civil status (married, registered partner, single or divorced), and the birth certificate of any children moving with them.

EU citizens

The situation for EU citizens is similar to that of Nordic citizens.

EU citizens also report their move to the Tax Agency upon arrival in Sweden, and will need to show identity documents (such as a national ID card or passport), provide their full address in Sweden, including four-figure apartment number if applicable, as well as the name of whoever they are living with if they are living in someone else’s home.

They will also need to prove that they have EU right of residence. This can be done in a number of ways, including proof of work or proof of studies, but the relevant path for most retirees is proof of self-sufficiency, which essentially means documenting housing costs, including electricity and home insurance, and showing that you have some means of covering these financially, such as via a bank statement with a high enough balance, confirmation of a pension of a sufficient size, or an employment contract and payslip from another country, if the applicant is not planning on fully retiring straight away.

It’s also possible to prove self-sufficiency by providing a document or letter confirming that someone else can support you financially, along with a bank statement to back this up. There’s no application fee.

EU citizens may also need to provide proof of their civil status, whether they’re moving alone or with someone else.

Non-EU citizens

As a general rule, it’s not possible to retire to Sweden as a non-EU citizen unless your partner is a Swede or an EU citizen, or unless you’re a long-term resident of another EU country (if that applies to you, see below for details of these routes).

This is due to the fact that non-EU citizens need residency permits to live in Sweden, and these are only granted due to work, studies, or moving to live with someone who already has the right to live in Sweden.

If you don’t have a Swedish or EU partner but you have plans to retire to Sweden at some point in the future, you could in theory get a work permit in Sweden and work until you qualify for permanent residency, which usually means working in Sweden for at least five years.

Note that Sweden’s government is planning on reforming the permanent residency rules, so it’s likely that applicants choosing to do this would have to take language and civics tests in order to qualify for permanent residency in the future.

It is also likely that the residence requirement for permanent residency could be extended or otherwise altered within the next five years, so be prepared that the rules could change in the future if you do decide to go down this route.

What if only one of us is an EU citizen?

If you’re planning to move as a couple but only one of you is an EU citizen, the non-EU citizen should be able to qualify for a residence card as a family member of an EU citizen.

This allows the non-EU family member to live in Sweden as long as their EU citizen partner fulfils EU right of residence rules (by documenting self-sufficiency as explained above, for example). There is no application fee.

In order to get an EU residence card, the non-EU citizen must have a valid passport, be able to show that they belong to the same family as the EU citizen (through, for example, a marriage certificate or proof of cohabitation), and the EU citizen must be able to show that they meet the EU right of residence requirements.

This doesn’t just apply to partners or spouses of EU citizens either – it can be used for children of either parent aged 21 or under, or other family members who are financially dependent on the applicant (including children over 21 and parents, or anyone the applicant takes care of due to serious health reasons).

You may also need to provide proof that you are either covered by the social insurance system in your country of origin, or proof that you have taken out full-coverage private healthcare insurance for your stay in Sweden.

Swedes are not normally considered EU citizens in this context, unless they were recently living with their partner in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland. See below for the rules for couples consisting of a non-EU citizen and a Swede.

What if one of us is a non-EU citizen and the other is a Swede?

The process for non-EU citizens wishing to retire to Sweden with their Swedish partner varies, depending on where the couple lived before retiring.

If the couple lived together in another EU country (this includes the UK if they lived there together before Brexit), they can apply under the route described above for non-EU partners of EU citizens.

If that is not the case, they can apply for a residence permit to move to a spouse or cohabiting partner in Sweden, sometimes referred to as a “sambo visa” (sambo is the Swedish word for a cohabiting partner).

In this case, the Swede must be able to support both themselves and their partner (which in 2023 meant having at least 9,445 kronor left after housing costs are paid each month), and have a house which is big enough – a home of at least one room with a kitchen or kitchenette, for a couple without children. The application fee is 2,000 kronor for an adult.

What about non-EU citizens who previously lived in Sweden?

In some cases, non-EU citizens who have previously held a permanent residence permit in Sweden are eligible for a new residence permit if they can prove sufficient ties to Sweden.

If they have been living abroad for three years or less, they must have lived in Sweden for at least four years in order to be eligible for a new permit.

Non-EU citizens living outside Sweden for more than three years must usually have lived in Sweden for at least ten years to qualify for a “returning to Sweden” permit, or if they can prove sufficient ties to Sweden in some other way.

The Migration Agency will assess your application to determine how strong your ties are to Sweden compared with your home country or the other country you have been living in since you left Sweden, and factors such as where you chose to have a family or whether your reasons for leaving Sweden were out of your control will be taken into account.

If your permit is granted, your partner or any other family member wishing to come with you will also need to apply for a permit to join you in Sweden, most likely a residence permit to move to a spouse or cohabiting partner in Sweden.

What about non-EU citizens who have long-term residence permits from another EU country?

In some cases, non-EU citizens who have lived in another EU country for at least five years are able to move to Sweden under EU freedom of movement rules.

This particular route applies to holders of the EC/EU residence permit for long term residents. This grants them certain rights similar to the rights of EU citizens, including the right to move to other EU countries to work, study, start a business or live off a pension.

Not all EU countries issue these permits – Denmark and Ireland do not issue long-term resident status cards to their non-EU residents – and they have different names in different countries, but if you have one of these cards you will be able to move to Sweden as long as you also fulfill the self-sufficiency rules for EU citizens. You will need to apply for the card in your country of residence before moving to Sweden.

You cannot, however, register your arrival at the Tax Agency, like EU citizens, and will instead need to apply for a residence permit from the Migration Agency within three months of arrival.

You will need to fill in this form (Application for a residence permit for persons who have long-term resident status in another EU state and their family members, 137011), and either hand it in directly to a Migration Agency permit service unit or post it to the Migration Agency office responsible for EEA and long-term residence permits. The fee costs 1,500 kronor for adults and adult family members, or 750 kronor for children under the age of 18.

What about Brits?

Brits moving to Sweden after December 31st, 2020 are subject to the same rules as non-EU citizens. This means that they will need to apply for a residence permit or a card proving right of residence as a family member of an EU citizen if they wish to move to Sweden, or will need to hold a EC/EU residence permit from another EU country.

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