Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [265]
France (01-70 70 84 58; servinfo@suede-tourisme.fr; Office Suédois du Tourisme et des Voyages, 11 rue Payenne, F-75003 Paris)
Germany (069-22 22 34 96; info@swetourism.de; Schweden-Werbung für Reisen und Touristik, Michaelisstrasse 22, DE-20459 Hamburg)
UK (020-7108 6168; info@swetourism.org.uk; Swedish Travel & Tourism Council, 5 Upper Montagu St, London W1H 2AG)
USA (212-885 9700; usa@visit-sweden.com; Swedish Travel & Tourism Council, PO Box 4649, Grand Central Station, New York NY 10163-4649)
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TRAVELLERS WITH DISABILITIES
Sweden is one of the easiest countries to travel around in a wheelchair. People with disabilities will find transport services with adapted facilities, ranging from trains to taxis, but contact the operator in advance for the best service.
Public toilets and some hotel rooms have facilities for disabled people; Hotels in Sweden (www.hotelsinsweden.net) indicates whether hotels have adapted rooms. Some street crossings have ramps for wheelchairs and audio signals for visually impaired people, and some grocery stores are wheelchair accessible.
For further information about Sweden, contact De Handikappades Riksförbund (08-685 80 00; www.dhr.se), the national association for the disabled.
Also, contact the travel officer at your national support organisation; they may be able to put you in touch with tour companies that specialise in disabled travel. The disability-friendly website www.allgohere.com has an airline directory that provides information on the facilities offered by various airlines.
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VISAS
Citizens of EU countries can enter Sweden with a passport or a national identification card (passports are recommended) and stay up to three months. Nationals of Nordic countries (Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland) can stay and work indefinitely, but nationals of other countries require residence permits (uppehållstillstånd) for stays of between three months and five years; there is no fee for this permit for EU citizens.
Non-EU passport holders from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US can enter and stay in Sweden without a visa for up to three months. Australian and New Zealand passport-holders aged between 18 and 30 can qualify for a one-year working-holiday visa (see below).
Citizens of South Africa and many other African, Asian and some Eastern European countries require tourist visas for entry. These are only available in advance from Swedish embassies (allow two months); there’s a nonrefundable application fee of Skr550 for most applicants. Visas last up to three months, and extensions aren’t easily obtainable.
Non-EU citizens can also obtain residence permits, but these must be applied for before entering Sweden. An interview by consular officials at your nearest Swedish embassy is required – allow up to eight months for this process. Foreign students are granted residence permits if they can prove acceptance by a Swedish educational institution and are able to guarantee that they can support themselves financially.
Migrationsverket (011-15 60 00; www.migrationsverket.se) is the Swedish migration board and it handles all applications for visas and work or residency permits.
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WORK
Non-EU citizens require an offer of paid employment prior to their arrival in Sweden. They need to apply for a work permit (and residence permit for stays over three months), enclosing confirmation of the job offer, completed forms (available from Swedish diplomatic posts or over the internet), two passport photos and their passport. Processing takes six to eight weeks, and there’s a nonrefundable application fee of Skr1000.
EU citizens only need to apply for a residence permit (free) within three months of arrival if they find work, then they can remain in Sweden for