Like I promised on my previous blog about our relocation journey here in Sweden, here’s a detailed timeline of our migration to Malmo, Sweden. I’m also updating this as we go along and process all the other important things now that we’ve arrived here like applying for the resident permit card, getting the personnummer, applying for an ID card etc. I hope this helps to provide you more insight on our journey as well.
March 2020 – husband got hired by a Sweden-based company
March 18 – received documents that needed to be filled-out from Alfa Moving (a Scandinavian mobility services company based in Sweden hired by my husband’s company to assist us with our immigration)
March 26 – sent back all the filled-out documents back to Alfa Moving (application form of Swedish Migration Agency , scanned passport copies , Power of Attorney)
April 15 – was advised by Alfa Moving that our application (both me and my husband) has been submitted already to the Swedish Migration Agency. They also told us that the estimated processing time is 2 – 3 weeks for a decision (case specific and may vary). It’s also important that we’re outside of Sweden during this application and only Alfa Moving is to communicate with them to avoid delays and complication in the process.
April 24 – after 9 days, received an email from Alfa Moving that my husband and I have been both granted a work and residence permit for the period of 2020-06-01 to 2022-06-01.
May, June & July – have been waiting for updates from Thailand if they’ll be lifting already travel ban ; also did our research for the requirements needed to process before travel to Sweden
July 31 – there’s still a travel ban in Thailand
August 3 – contacted Migrationsverket to ask them if it’s possible that we can just go directly to Sweden to submit our biometrics and photo for our resident permit card to be processed and they said it’s OK that we can go there directly.
August 13 – booked our flight via Emirates Airlines for September 18, 2020 (here’s a blog why we chose Emirates Airlines over Qatar Airways for our flight to Sweden). HR department of my husband’s company sent copy of the employment contract to Philippine Embassy in Sweden to request for an apostille. (still trying to process the other requirements for OEC at the same time we’re processing CFO). Also inquired at St. Luke’s BGC Taguig for swab testing cost.
Non-senior: Php 4,300.00 (with 10% courtesy discount)
Senior/PWD: Php3,822.22 (with 20% senior discount)
August 18 – applied and paid for the CFO thru Landbank
August 19 – sent an email to CFO attaching our proof of payment, scanned passports, copy of the Decision Letter of Approved Residence and Work Permit in Sweden and also the Endorsement Letter of my husband’s company indicating why his presence is needed in Sweden. Later, on the same day, received a reply from CFO providing us confirmation that they’ve received payment and attached to the said email is our temporary certificate that is good to present to Philippine Immigration.
August 20 – filled-out Google Form to schedule an appointment at St. Luke’s BGC on September 15 (Emirates required the PCR swab testing to be done within 96 hours from flight schedule)
August 26 – Alfa Moving advised us by this time to process a D-visa to have greater chance to be admitted entry to Sweden since Philippines is not part of the visa-free entry countries to Sweden and that there’s still an ongoing entry ban to Sweden as well for non-essential travel. We were also advised to contact the Swedish Embassy in Manila on how to process D-Visa.
August 27 – tried to call Swedish Embassy in Manila the next day but unfortunately, wasn’t able to contact or speak with anybody. Researched and we saw that VFS Global processes the Schengen tourist visa. Tried also contacting VFS Global but unable to reach someone. Since we were told that D-visa is also considered as tourist visa, we checked the requirements for Schengen visa application. And because we can’t find anything regarding D-Visa application, we just decided to get all the requirements indicated in a Schengen Visa type of application. Also secured Travel Insurance from Paramount Life and General Insurance. Also began printing our online bank statements as supporting documents.
August 28 – received soft copy of the apostille document for the authenticated employment contract of my husband. Also requested for notarization of my husband’s affidavit of work employment and sent the document to an Attorney located in Makati City via Grab (we were still trying to process other documents for OEC at this time because we’re just trying our best to secure these documents even if we were already given an assurance by the CFO for the sticker, just to be on the safe side).
September 1 – appointment scheduled to VFS Global, submitted all our requirements for Schengen Visa application. The personnel was hesitant at first if they’ll accept our application since D-Visa is not really part of their process and they’re also not yet processing at this time tourist visa applications. Explained gently that this should not be included as part of non-essential travel as we need to be in Sweden within 4 months of the validity period of our residence & working permit to avoid further consequences. The personnel went inside their office and came back and accepted our documents. We were advised to keep our lines open as the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok might need to contact us. We were told that normal processing times is 15 days. Kept our fingers crossed that we get our passports back on time for our flight on Sept. 18.
September 7 – received a call from Swedish Embassy in Bangkok asking us to process a D-Visa application form instead. Submitted the D-Visa application form at 4:08AM via email (already Sept 8 MNL time)
September 8 – on the same day at 3:36PM, received a reply from Swedish Embassy in Bangkok that both of our D-Visas have been granted. Yay!
September 14 – went back to VFS Global in Makati City to retrieve our passports. Also received a hard printed copy of our Decision Letter for the approved Residence and Work Permit.
September 15 – went to St. Luke’s BGC Taguig for our scheduled appointment of PCR swab testing
September 17 – received our negative results from Covid-19 sent to us via email
September 18 – scheduled flight to Sweden
September 19 – arrived at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm, Sweden. Rode a bus from the airport going to Stockholm Central Station. Then rode a train from Stockholm Central Station going to Malmo Central Station as we’ll be based in Malmo, Sweden. Arrived at night and checked-in at AirBnb accommodation.
September 23 – checked-out of AirBnb accommodation and transferred to check-in at Elite Hotel Esplanade.
September 24 – bought city bus & train travel cards unlimited for 1 month via Skanetrafiken.
September 25 – went to Migrationsverket to apply for our resident permit card (here’s a blog on how we applied for resident permit card in Sweden). Alfa Moving also started to provide us options for our prospective apartments.
October 1 – received both of our resident permit cards
October 2 – went to Skatteverket to apply for our personnummer (here’s a blog on how we applied and got our Personnummer or Swedish Personal Number). We were advised of 2 – 12 weeks for processing.
October 7 – met with the landlord for site inspection of our prospective apartment
October 15 – start date of our apartment rental
October 18 – received the letters indicating our own personnummers . Thank God! =)
October 22 – went back to Skatteverket to update our address since we’ll be transferring to the apartment already. Also bought the book called Teach yourself Complete Swedish by Dr. Anneli Beronius Haake as I plan to study Swedish language.
October 23 – checked-out of the hotel and moved-in to our apartment
November 5 – went back to Skatteverket to apply for our Swedish ID card (here’s a blog on how to Apply for Swedish ID card). This is important especially when you’ll be applying to open a bank account or when stores ask for a valid ID.
December 11 – received our Swedish ID card, yay! =)
December 14 – went to different banks to try to open a bank account ; here’s a blog about our experience in opening a bank account from the 3 banks (Lansforsakringar, Handelsbanken, Nordea) and which was the easiest bank for us to open a Bank Account in Sweden
**This is a live blog article as I will continue to update this with further information as we process other things as well here in Sweden.
**Please also check my previous blog to know more about our detailed experience in our relocation to Sweden amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. 💟
Be grateful and kind,
websynne
