While preparing for my son’s 6 months University Exchange Program where he stayed in Stockholm from January to June 2017, I found plenty of useful information prior to the trip. This post is about my own personal experiences before and during our initial few days in Stockholm and to share some tips.
Getting a Visa or residence permit
We followed the procedures as advised by the University to apply for a residence permit before arriving in Sweden. For more information about visas see: www.studyinsweden.se/Living-in-Sweden/Do-I-need-a-visa/.
A guaranteed sum of money is a residence permit requirement. When applying for a residence permit, my son must prove to the Swedish Migration Board that he has a guaranteed sum of money at his disposal throughout the entire period of his studies. The amount, SEK 8,010 per month for ten months of the year, is set by the Migration Board. We have to scan and email to the Swedish Migration Board, a bank statement with the applicant’s name (no Joint Account) and the required sum of money in his account.
Getting and booking accommodation
Since there is a considerable shortage of accommodation in Stockholm, the University cannot guarantee accommodation for every exchange student. So, it is prudent to source for accommodation on our own.
It is important to start well in advance. It has proved quite difficult to find student housing in Stockholm, especially in the beginning of the semester when the Swedish students are also looking for accommodation. We started researching for accommodation a few months prior to the travel.
The following websites contain general information and tips and tricks on how to find accommodation in Stockholm:
When it comes to finding a place to stay, it was always about a few things “Location Location and Location”.
In the end, it must also meet the budget of international students. It was best to share an apartment with fellow students, if you know them well.
We finally found a suitable apartment that met the above criteria. It was within budget but with basic furnishing. Mostly importantly, it came with 3 bedrooms for my son and 2 of his fellow exchange students from Singapore. My nephew managed to a get a hostel room from his university.
Meals and other logistics
One of the surest ways to get homesick during an extended stay abroad is food! The craving for local or home-cooked food we grew up with will hit you sooner or later. Hence it is important to look into the meals and other logistics to address this.
I remember my 6 months stay in Stockholm, some 30 years ago. It was extremely difficult to find any Asian restaurants, let alone any stores selling Asian foodstuff in Sweden. There is no internet or google in those days. The day I stumbled on a small Oriental food store was one of the happiest days of my stay during that period. I could still remember my joy as I lugged home a bag of white jasmine rice. Before that, I was eating spaghetti and round grain, brown rice which was not ideal for making steam rice (my staple).
There are actually a few Asian food market stores in Stockholm now. There seemed to be a small Thai community in Stockholm and these stores sells Asian cooking ingredients and foodstuff.
One advantage of staying in a rented apartment is that it should come with a fully equipped kitchen with the needed utensils, cooking ware etc. Ideally, the kitchen should come with a dish washer! With a kitchen, we have the option to prepare our own meals.
We considered bringing the following items from home:
Good places to shop for household stuff would be Clas Olson and of course, IKEA. Clas Ohlson stores are more commonly found in the city center. The IKEA store in Stockholm is located in the suburb, around 15km southwest of the city centre at Kungens Kurva. The good thing is that IKEA provides free round trip shuttle bus service from central Stockholm to the large multi-storey store. The journey took about 20 minutes.
Opening a local bank account and getting a debit card
It is not easy for foreigners to open a bank account in Sweden to make use of banking services. Due to strict regulations and security aspects it takes an effort to open a bank account in Sweden. Banks are required to carry out a stringent check of customer identity and they charge a fee for their services. Also, services and offers from the different banks are depending on how long you’re staying and whether you have a Swedish personal identity number or not.
As far as I know, SEB is the only bank in Sweden that opens accounts for foreigners and with passports only. Note: This may change this in the future, so I would advise that you check the latest status.
There is a charge of 15 SEK per month to maintain the account. This will be automatic deducted from the deposits until the account is closed. I think it is a small sum to pay to enjoy the benefits.
The benefits include the following:
- You get a debit card that you can use to make payments at almost every store, supermarket and restaurant in town. No need to carry too much cash and deals with coins. It also enables easy access to cash when you need them. There are plenty of ATMs (or Bankomat as they are called in Sweden) all over Stockholm.
- Easy for the family to transfer more money into the account from overseas. I find this benefit particularly important. You may never know when you may need more cash to use or when there may be an emergency.
Our actual experience of opening an account with SEB and depositing money was not so straightforward.
We went to a SEB branch near our apartment and opening an account there using my son’s passport and documentation from the University (Letter of acceptance, including the duration of his studies) was easy. The debit card and PIN are not issued at the time of account opening. The process was that SEB would mail them to the address you provided in the account opening form. MY son received the card and PIN in separate mail within a few days.
However, to deposit money into the account, we were told to go to the SEB branch located in Sergel Torg. So we need to make a separate trip to Sergel Torg. I thought depositing money into a bank was the easiest thing to do but it was not.
We were trying to deposit about 30,000 SEK (USD 3,500). I was surprised when the SEB staff asked us to show proof of where the money came from. Huh??? I guess there is some anti-money laundering procedure being followed but this is not a large sum of money from where I came from. It is also way below the cash control limit, above which one has to declare to the Swedish customs officer at the point of entry.
I told her the facts. That this was the money we brought into Sweden from home. We told the SEB staff that this was the sum of money that we brought into Sweden to pay for my son’s living expenses as a foreign exchange student in the Sweden. She suggested that we show some withdrawal slip or proof that we withdraw the money from some bank somewhere. Obviously, we would not be carrying a bank withdrawal statement with us on our travels. Finally common sense prevails and the cash deposit was done.
My relative who was also depositing money into her son’s newly opened SEB bank account in the next counter also faces the same questions. She was asked to fill in some kind of declaration form before her money was deposited. I was not asked to fill in any form.
The other point to note after opening a local Swedish bank account is to confirm the bank’s code for inter-bank money transfer such as SWIFT and IBAN codes. This information, together with the account number, is needed when doing inter-bank fund transfer into the SEB account from overseas.
Insurance
This is important as cost of living, including medical costs in Sweden, is high. For exchange students, the university provided some basic health insurance. We bought additional Overseas Student Travel Insurance to get better coverage.
Transportation
The best way to travel within Stockholm is to use the efficient public transport system. No car rental is required.
Useful tips on how get around with public transport, SL, throughout the Stockholm County can be found here.
One important point to note is that tickets are not sold on board the bus and must be pre-purchased before boarding.
Weather ( preparing for winter)
Coming from a country that is hot and humid all year round, some preparation is needed before travelling to a country like Sweden where sub-zero temperature in winter is common. Swedes have adopted a rather optimistic tag line to describe the best way to deal with the Swedish climate 'Där finns ingen dålig väder, bara dålig kläder' which translates to 'there is no bad weather, only bad clothing.
There are many articles available in the internet explaining how to dress for sub-zero temperatures and harsh weather, so I will not repeat this here. My only tip is that if you are planning to stay more long periods in a country, just bring enough for the initial stay and buy local clothes once you get settled in. Although it may cost a little more (since Sweden is known to be relatively expensive), there are more options in the country. And most importantly, buying local means you blend in with the locals and not stick out like a sore thumb in terms of local fashions.
A good scarf or neck-warmers made a lot of difference when it comes to keeping the torso warm.
Gloves are a must for cold weather. Technology is so cool nowadays. There are Touch-screen-friendly gloves, specially designed with materials that allow you to use your phone without hindering the touchscreen experience.
Don’t forget the moisturisers and lip balm. The humidity in Stockholm is much lower than the hot and humid country we came from. The dry air could cause nose bleeds. It is good to have a humidifier in the bedroom. We actually brought a small humidifier from home but it can also be bought in Clas Ohlson stores.
Medications
Don’t forget the local medications that may not be easily available oversea.
Communication
Wi-Fi is everywhere in Sweden but if you want to use Google Maps to get around, keep track of your social media feeds, use WhatsApp, Twitter etc., you’re going to need a Swedish SIM card. The good news is that switching to a Swedish SIM is easy. We bought our Comviq prepaid data-SIM card from a 7-11 store at the Arlanda Airport.
For longer term visitors, we would suggest getting one of the main brands such as Telia from a downtown store. The staff could explain the various plans and options available.
It may be good to check what the useful travel apps for your smartphone are before leaving home. The generic travel apps that I use are: Google Maps, Google Translate. Also search for country specific travel apps e.g. for transportation, restaurants or even locations of public toilets!
Last but not least, prepare to go with a positive attitude. A trip like this is an opportunity to experience living in a different country. So much to see, to learn, to experience. And to make some new friends. Memories will be created that will last you a lifetime. It did for me, 30 years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment