How to find a job in Sweden as a foreigner

Nordic citizens need no permit or registration to work in Sweden, and EU/EEA citizens have the right to work without a work or residence permit. Swiss citizens can also move to work, but must apply for a residence permit if they stay longer than three months. Everyone else normally needs a work permit, applied for from outside Sweden and granted before the job starts. The permit is tied to a signed offer, so the job search comes first. Since 1 June 2026 the salary must be at least 90% of the Swedish median salary: SEK 34,470 a month for applications made from 16 June 2026. Some occupations and groups are exempt and need 75%. Our work permit guide explains every route, including the EU Blue Card.

Sweden’s official Work in Sweden portal highlights tech, AI, research and life science as fields that welcome international professionals. Study in Sweden adds engineers, software developers and tech specialists in energy, IT and advanced manufacturing. Arbetsförmedlingen, the public employment service, points EU jobseekers to high demand for skilled labour in northern Sweden, where large industrial projects are recruiting.

A second signal is the government’s list of occupations exempt from the salary requirement, published in the Aliens Ordinance. It includes assistant nurses, IT support and operations technicians, systems administrators, welders, maintenance mechanics and electrical distribution technicians. Exemption means Sweden accepts a lower salary floor for these jobs. It does not guarantee an employer will sponsor you, but it shows where recruiting from abroad is accepted policy.

• Platsbanken, run by Arbetsförmedlingen, is Sweden’s largest job site and covers every sector. The interface is in Swedish, but many ads are written in English.
• EURES shows Platsbanken vacancies to EU/EEA and Swiss jobseekers. A EURES label means the employer actively welcomes applications from those countries.
• Regional portals: Careers in Gothenburg lets you filter for English-speaking jobs in West Sweden, and the Skåne STEM job portal covers the south.
• EURAXESS and university websites list research and PhD positions.
• Company career pages and LinkedIn. Many employers publish roles only on their own sites, and a message to the talent acquisition team is a normal way to ask about upcoming hiring.
• Recruitment and staffing agencies, which handle many specialist and consulting roles.

Swedish ads are short and practical: the role, the responsibilities, a few must-haves and some nice-to-haves. Work in Sweden advises applying if you meet the main requirements, even if you miss some extras. Ads state language requirements clearly, and they rarely show a salary. Pay is usually discussed later, individually, within the framework of a collective agreement, since Sweden has no statutory minimum wage. Most ads name a contact person. Calling them with one sharp question about the role is expected, not pushy.

You apply with a CV and a personal letter. The interview often starts with the employer presenting the company, and several people may interview you together. Prepare concrete examples of how you work in a group and handle conflict, and answer everyone in the room, not just the most senior person. Employers call references, so line up two or three people who know your work. Permanent jobs often begin with trial employment of up to six months. Once hired, expect a flat structure, first names with managers, punctual meetings and at least five weeks of paid holiday a year.

For most jobs, yes. Arbetsförmedlingen says it is difficult to get a job without at least basic Swedish and that most jobs require fluency. The exceptions are higher technical professions and other highly skilled roles, where English is often the working language. Our guide to English-speaking jobs in Sweden shows where those roles are and how free Swedish classes work.

Registration comes before almost everything. Without a personal identity number you cannot get a Swedish ID card, and banks can take longer to open an account on a coordination number alone. Once you are registered, Skatteverket sets up your tax automatically and your employer deducts it from each salary. Most people pay general income tax (A-skatt) and file a return each spring. People on assignments shorter than six months may instead pay special income tax for non-residents (SINK). Some experts, researchers and key staff staying for up to seven years may qualify for tax relief on part of their income, so ask your employer before you sign.

Everyone being registered must attend the identity check in person, families included. Bring your passport, residence permit card and employment contract, because missing documents are the most common reason the process drags.

Plan in stages. The job search is the longest and least predictable part, and most internationals should budget several months of steady applications, longer if the role needs Swedish. After an offer, work permits for highly qualified roles are usually decided within a month when the application is complete, while other jobs can take around four months. Registration, an ID card and a bank account then take a few more weeks. Add the stages together before you resign from a job at home or sign a lease, and keep savings for the gap between arrival and your first Swedish salary.

Migrationsverket warns about fake offers and employers who break the rules. Only the agency can grant a permit; no company or agent can promise you one. Before you trust an offer:

• Look up the company’s organisation number with Skatteverket. If it doesn’t exist, it is a scam.
• Call the company on the number from its own website and write only to official company email addresses.
• Pay application fees only to Migrationsverket. If an agent pays on your behalf, pay only a company account and keep the receipt.
• Walk away if you are told to live at the workplace, share a small flat with many others, or pay back part of your salary.

If you are targeted, report it to the police where it happened and use Migrationsverket’s tip-off function.

Arbetsförmedlingen’s services are open to anyone with the right to work in Sweden: guidance, advice on where your chances are best, and job tryouts to show what you can do. EU/EEA citizens can get EURES advice and, if they are in a recruitment process, apply for Targeted Mobility Scheme support towards interview travel, relocation and language training. The Work in Sweden portal (sweden.se) walks through each practical step. For salary levels in your field, use Statistics Sweden’s salary search or the National Mediation Office’s wage statistics, and ask the trade union for your profession. Unions also often review members’ CVs.