Getting a Swedish Passport

Following the news of receiving Swedish citizenship, I immediately wanted to schedule a time to get my Swedish passport. As I’ve mentioned many times before, the process and general efficiency when dealing with the various immigration authorities has been very streamlined (at least in my case), and attaining a Swedish passport was no exception (in total it took 6 days).

The actual process of getting a passport is quite different from what I’m used to in the USA. There’s no formal application process, photos, or questionnaires to submit. All passports and national ID cards are handled through the Police, if you’re in Stockholm simply go to bokapassitstockholm.se, find the nearest location and create a new booking.

bookedtime.jpg.jpg

If you’re not in Stockholm, here is the complete listing of places around Sweden to book a time. The obvious prerequisite being you are in fact a citizen, have a personnummer, etc. I think in general the times are fairly open and flexible, I managed to book a favorable time only one week after receiving Swedish citizenship.

Because this was my first Swedish passport I needed to bring my certificate of Swedish citizenship (sent by Migrationsverket), as well as a current for of identification. To be on the safe side I brought both my USA passport and my Swedish ID card. As it turns out only the certificate and a Swedish ID are required. While in previous interactions with authorities I was required to bring my residence or permanent residence card, once you become a Swedish citizen the card is no longer valid and it’s required to send the card to an address provided by Migrationsverket.

With regards to the actual experience at the Police station, everything was great. I arrived 10 minutes prior to my scheduled appointment. After taking a number and checking in, my number was called about one minute later. Within 8 minutes (and one minute prior to my scheduled time), I was finished. When I approached the desk I was first asked to pay for the passport. I wanted both the passport and the national ID card, costing 350 SEK and 400 SEK respectively (about $85 USD total). After payment was approved they scanned my Swedish citizenship document, took my photo, and scanned my fingerprints. I then confirmed all information was correct and added a signature. I was told when the passport and ID card are ready to pickup the Police send a text message.

As promised I received two text messages from the Police, one indicating the passport was ready and the second indicating the ID card was ready. The process of picking up the passport was identical, moments after checking in at the automated kiosk, my number was called. I presented identification and my receipt from the previous visit and received the passport and ID card.

polis_text