Sweden for Ukrainian Expats: Temporary Protection, Personnummer, and Settling In

If you have fled the war in Ukraine and arrived in Sweden, your legal status is temporary protection under the EU Temporary Protection Directive — in Swedish, massflyktsdirektivet. This is a special, fast route that is different from both EU free movement (which Ukrainians do not have) and the slow standard non-EU permit process. It gives you a temporary residence permit, the right to work, schooling for your children, and access to healthcare and some financial support — without going through a full asylum procedure.

The directive has been extended at EU level until 4 March 2027. Sweden implements it through Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency). Because dates and rules around this status are reviewed regularly, treat every deadline in this guide as a starting point and confirm the current version on migrationsverket.se. This guide walks you through the real arrival sequence: getting your status, getting your number, opening a bank account, finding healthcare and housing, and working — in roughly the order it happens.

1. Your legal basis to be here: applying for temporary protection

You do not buy a visa and you do not wait outside Sweden for a permit. You apply for protection under the Temporary Protection Directive through Migrationsverket, either online or at one of their service centres after you arrive. You will need your Ukrainian passport or other ID, and you will have your photo and fingerprints taken.

If your application is approved, you receive a temporary residence permit and a residence permit card (uppehållstillståndskort, often called an LMA card while you are in the support system). That card is your proof of status — keep it on you. It is what you show to employers, to healthcare staff, and at the pharmacy.

For the full mechanics of permits in Sweden, including how extensions work, see our residence permit guide. If your permit expires in 2026, you generally must apply to extend protection before 4 March through Migrationsverket's e-service — check the exact application window on their site, as it opens for a limited period each year.

2. The personnummer (and the coordination number that comes first)

In Sweden almost everything — banking, a phone contract, a doctor, a rental — runs on your identity number. There are two kinds, and as a Ukrainian on temporary protection you will likely get them in sequence.

• Coordination number (samordningsnummer) — issued by Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) to people not yet in the population register. This lets you work and pay tax. You will typically get this first.
• Personnummer — the full personal identity number. You qualify for this only after you have held your temporary-protection permit for at least one year and are likely to stay in Sweden for at least 18 months from when the permit was granted. Note: because the directive currently ends 4 March 2027, people whose permit was granted on or after 5 September 2025 generally can't meet the 18-month test and may not qualify until it is extended. To get it, you notify Skatteverket of your move and book an identity check at a state service centre (statligt servicecenter).

This one-year gate is the single most important thing for Ukrainians to understand about Swedish bureaucracy: you can work and live here on a coordination number long before you get a personnummer. Once the personnummer is issued, it replaces the coordination number. For the full process, our personnummer guide covers booking the appointment and what documents to bring.

3. Bank account and tax

With a coordination number or personnummer plus your residence permit card, you can open a Swedish bank account. Banks vary in how readily they onboard temporary-protection holders, so bring your permit card, ID and proof of address, and be prepared to try more than one branch. A Swedish account also unlocks BankID, the digital ID that nearly every Swedish service depends on. See our bank account guide for which banks are most accessible.

While you wait for a Swedish account, or for cross-border transfers and currency between Ukraine, Sweden and the EU, a Wise or Revolut account is a practical bridge — both open quickly with your passport, hold euros, hryvnia where supported, and Swedish kronor, and let you receive a salary or send money home cheaply.

On tax: once you work, you pay Swedish income tax like anyone else. Skatteverket has a dedicated "Coming to Sweden from Ukraine" page, and our Swedish tax registration guide explains how registration, your tax card and deductions fit together.

4. Housing

When you are in the LMA support system, the Migration Agency can provide or assign accommodation. Many Ukrainians instead arrange their own housing through municipalities, host families, or the rental market. Be aware: the formal Swedish rental market (förstahandskontrakt) runs on long queues and usually wants a personnummer, so most newcomers start with sublets (andrahand) or municipality-arranged housing. Our moving to Sweden guide covers how the housing queues and contracts actually work.

Important to plan for: if you later switch to a work or study permit (see section 6), you lose Migration Agency housing and have to arrange your own. Line up housing before you make that switch.

5. Healthcare access

As an adult with a valid temporary-protection permit, you are entitled to emergency medical care, emergency dental care, maternity care, care that cannot wait, and care under the Communicable Diseases Act. Show your residence permit card / LMA card at the clinic and pharmacy — it entitles you to care and prescription medicines at a reduced fee (most prescribed medicines cost SEK 50 while you are covered by LMA).

Children under 18 from Ukraine are entitled to the same healthcare and dental care as other children living in Sweden, which is generally free, though small details can vary by region (region). For how the wider Swedish system works once you have a personnummer, see our healthcare guide.

6. Work, qualifications, and the path forward

You can work from day one of your permit — from age 16, no work permit needed. To make yourself employable: register with Arbetsförmedlingen (the Public Employment Service), which runs programmes specifically for people with protection, and look into SFI (Svenska för invandrare), free Swedish-language classes that open many more jobs.

For regulated professions — nurses, doctors, teachers, engineers — qualification recognition is handled by Swedish authorities (for example, Socialstyrelsen for healthcare roles and UHR for general academic recognition). Start the recognition paperwork early; it is slow, and translated, apostilled Ukrainian documents help.

The transition route is the key forward-planning item. From 11 June 2026, temporary-protection holders can apply from inside Sweden for a residence permit for work, self-employment, research, higher-education studies or an EU Blue Card — no need to leave first. There is also a transitional benefit: people moving from temporary protection get a reduced work-permit salary threshold — 75% of the median wage instead of the standard 90% — for up to two years (or until your permit expires). If protection winds down in 2027, this is the legal bridge to staying long-term — but switching means giving up LMA support, so you need a job and housing secured first.

Common problems and fixes

• "A service wants my personnummer but I only have a coordination number." Many services accept the coordination number, or have a manual route for people on temporary protection. Ask specifically for the samordningsnummer process. The personnummer comes after one year on the permit — it is not a sign anything is wrong.
• A bank refuses to open an account. This is common early on. Bring your residence permit card and ID, try a different bank, and meanwhile use Wise or Revolut to receive pay and transfer money.
• Your permit is about to expire. Apply to extend protection through Migrationsverket's e-service before the deadline (commonly 4 March for permits expiring that year, but confirm the current window). Do not let it lapse.
• You found a job and want to switch off temporary protection. Use the post-11-June-2026 in-Sweden application route — but secure housing and income first, because you lose LMA support on switching.
• You can't tell which rule still applies. This area changes faster than almost any other in Swedish immigration. Always cross-check the live page on migrationsverket.se rather than older guides or forum posts.

Next step

Go to migrationsverket.se and open the page "Protection under the Temporary Protection Directive." Confirm your permit status and the current extension deadline, then book your Skatteverket identity appointment to get (or upgrade) your number. With your permit card and a coordination number in hand, open a Wise or Revolut account today so you can receive pay and send money home while your Swedish bank account is being set up.