Reader Question: Will an extra year's shelter change Ukrainians' rights in Sweden?
The European Commission last month extended Ukrainians' right to stay in EU countries until March 2024. A reader asked if this meant Ukrainians could finally get a personal number, BankID and other benefits.
To be registered, or folkbokförd, as living in Sweden, you need to have a right to reside in the country for at least one year, and once you are folkbokförd, it is possible to get a personal number, and as a result BankID, the digital identification needed to access so many services in the country.
When the Temporary Protection Directive, the EU mechanism under which Ukrainians have been given the right to live and work in the EU, was triggered in March this year, it was triggered for a year, meaning none of the Ukrainians coming to Sweden had the necessary right to reside in Sweden for a year.
So, the reader asked, now Ukrainians have the right to reside in Sweden until March 2024, does that mean they can get a personal number and BankID?
READ ALSO: What are The Local's Reader Questions?
Frustratingly for Ukrainians in Sweden, the answer appears to be "no".
Under Sweden's law for Civil Registration, people coming to Sweden under the Temporary Protection Directive are treated differently from other people who receive residency, Karl Lindberg, a press spokesperson for the Migration Agency, told The Local.
"Under the Swedish law for Civil Registration it is regulated that persons with a TPD permit will not receive a personal number until they have had the permit for more than three years," he wrote. "Ukrainians therefore have the right to have a coordination number but not a personal number. This doesn't change with the extension of the Directive."
The reader also wanted to know if the period they live in Sweden under the TPD would count towards citizenship (which normally is only available to those who have lived in Sweden for five years), or towards permanent residency (which is normally available for those who have lived in Sweden for four years).
Again, the answer, sadly, is "no".
"A person who has been granted a residence permit due to temporary protection will not be recorded in the national registration and [the time spent living in Sweden] cannot therefore count towards citizenship or permanent residency," Lindberg wrote.
Finally, the reader, who has received a permanent job in Sweden, wanted to know if it would be possible to apply instead for a normal work permit.
Disappointingly, it doesn't look like this is possible either.
"According to the SMA:s Director of Legal Affairs legal position RS/005/2022 (find here), Lindberg wrote, "the rules in ch. 21 of the Swedish Aliens Act should be applied before the rules on residence permits on other grounds in the Aliens Act. A different interpretation would not be compatible with the purpose of the Temporary Protection Directive."
Chapter 21 covers "special provisions on temporary protection in a mass flight situation", so what that means in practice is that anyone whose case is covered by the European council decision implementing the Temporary Protection Directive -- IE, all Ukrainians who have left Ukraine to come to Sweden since March 2022 -- should first and foremost be granted a residency permit on those grounds.
"The fact that someone simultaneously might be entitled to a residence permit on another ground, for example according to ch. 5 Section 3 and the Family Reunification Directive, is irrelevant," Lindberg said. "The same applies if the person cites reasons for a residence permit according to national rules."
We do our best to answer our members’ questions. If you have queries about anything to do with Sweden please email us at [email protected].
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To be registered, or folkbokförd, as living in Sweden, you need to have a right to reside in the country for at least one year, and once you are folkbokförd, it is possible to get a personal number, and as a result BankID, the digital identification needed to access so many services in the country.
When the Temporary Protection Directive, the EU mechanism under which Ukrainians have been given the right to live and work in the EU, was triggered in March this year, it was triggered for a year, meaning none of the Ukrainians coming to Sweden had the necessary right to reside in Sweden for a year.
So, the reader asked, now Ukrainians have the right to reside in Sweden until March 2024, does that mean they can get a personal number and BankID?
READ ALSO: What are The Local's Reader Questions?
Frustratingly for Ukrainians in Sweden, the answer appears to be "no".
Under Sweden's law for Civil Registration, people coming to Sweden under the Temporary Protection Directive are treated differently from other people who receive residency, Karl Lindberg, a press spokesperson for the Migration Agency, told The Local.
"Under the Swedish law for Civil Registration it is regulated that persons with a TPD permit will not receive a personal number until they have had the permit for more than three years," he wrote. "Ukrainians therefore have the right to have a coordination number but not a personal number. This doesn't change with the extension of the Directive."
The reader also wanted to know if the period they live in Sweden under the TPD would count towards citizenship (which normally is only available to those who have lived in Sweden for five years), or towards permanent residency (which is normally available for those who have lived in Sweden for four years).
Again, the answer, sadly, is "no".
"A person who has been granted a residence permit due to temporary protection will not be recorded in the national registration and [the time spent living in Sweden] cannot therefore count towards citizenship or permanent residency," Lindberg wrote.
Finally, the reader, who has received a permanent job in Sweden, wanted to know if it would be possible to apply instead for a normal work permit.
Disappointingly, it doesn't look like this is possible either.
"According to the SMA:s Director of Legal Affairs legal position RS/005/2022 (find here), Lindberg wrote, "the rules in ch. 21 of the Swedish Aliens Act should be applied before the rules on residence permits on other grounds in the Aliens Act. A different interpretation would not be compatible with the purpose of the Temporary Protection Directive."
Chapter 21 covers "special provisions on temporary protection in a mass flight situation", so what that means in practice is that anyone whose case is covered by the European council decision implementing the Temporary Protection Directive -- IE, all Ukrainians who have left Ukraine to come to Sweden since March 2022 -- should first and foremost be granted a residency permit on those grounds.
"The fact that someone simultaneously might be entitled to a residence permit on another ground, for example according to ch. 5 Section 3 and the Family Reunification Directive, is irrelevant," Lindberg said. "The same applies if the person cites reasons for a residence permit according to national rules."
We do our best to answer our members’ questions. If you have queries about anything to do with Sweden please email us at [email protected].
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
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