Gathering information on changes in Sweden post-COVID-19 crisis

Hello everyone,

I hope you're all doing well in Sweden.

We are putting together an article on the post-crisis changes in Sweden for to-be expats or expats looking to get updates. And no one would be in a better position to provide us with, not only up-to-date information, but also practical expat insights on the situation in Sweden.

We've set up a list of questions we thought would be useful, would you be willing to help us out with these? If we have missed anything, please add any information you think might be relevant.

What are the current regulations for entering Sweden? (quarantine, health checks, fees involved…)

Have there been visa changes recently? (new visas, cancelled visas etc…)

Is it easy to find work in Sweden following the crisis? (working conditions for foreigners, quotas, new areas of work, incentives for remote working…)

How would you view the Swedish healthcare system in light of the crisis? (response to the COVID-19, how to get tested for COVID-19…)

Has anything changed regarding universities and schools? (safety for foreign students, changes regarding student visas or conditions…)

How is the real estate market following the crisis? (price, availability…)

Has the cost of living changed because of the crisis in Sweden?

How about lifestyle? Have there been major changes in habits following the sanitary crisis? (measures in public spaces, new habits to adopt…)

We will condense the gathered information in one and the same article and publish it in a specific section of our Sweden guide. Thank you so much for your help! The information you will provide will be of infinite help to someone looking to move to Sweden or to anyone living there but is not quite sure where to find these updates!

Have a glorious day and a glorious week-end!

Kind regards,
Veedushi
Editorial Assistant, Expat.com

What are the current regulations for entering Sweden?

Because EU recommended to do so, Sweden extended temporary entry ban until 31 august from non EU or EES countries. But Swedish authorities for most of the time followed this special term "Non essential travel" since the first day. How do you determine this term "non essential" is a good question. However one of my daughters friends traveled to Greece during the hard period of pandemic, to start her new job there, both Sweden and Greece allowed her to travel but she had to stay in quarantine there for three weeks.

Have there been visa changes recently?  

Yes they have decided not to grant any new visa during this period. But if you are already in Sweden, you must apply for an extension before your visa period come to end, then you are allowed to stay legally until they take a decision, which they will do after the pandemic.   

Is it easy to find work in Sweden following the crisis?   

Obvious answer to this question is No. Since som employers are about to appeal for bankruptcy and many others have reduced their business operations. Unemployment in Sweden has increased.

How would you view the Swedish healthcare system in light of the crisis?

They did a great job. Everything becomes much easier when a government start with educating inhabitants from scratch and keeping them updated frequently in a situation like this, so rumors and assumptions have no room to spread, so that all panic and unnecessary chaotic behavior from inhabitants can be avoided. Swedish authorities have always been good at that, nothing would be left to chance in Sweden even though it might look like so for a moment.

Has anything changed regarding universities and schools?

Compulsory secondary school attendance law and pandemic started to contradict with each other so they had to change the law that a principal of a school can decide whether a school will be remain open or closed. Because they simply could not ask children between age 7 and 16 to stay at home, since that would be a contradiction against the constitution of the law of compulsory education. In the end some schools remained open while som were closed time to time, and those which had to close had to take the measures to keep up with the syllabus.
Upper secondary level schools and universities were not really closed but most of the lectures were cancelled but they had some distance exams and so on. 
         
How is the real estate market following the crisis?

It is falling down, a good period for buyers. However one good thing following the crisis is they are into make a new law that a real estate deal will be possible to sign digitally with E-ID, so non of parts need to be in the same country even, a real estate agent will be able to close a deal from his/her bathroom while the owner from a poolbar in Kingston town and the buyer from where ever he/she might could be.       
   
Has the cost of living changed because of the crisis in Sweden? 

As far as I see price level remains as it was before so hard to know if cost of living has changed, however fuel prices started to go down for some weeks ago. 

How about lifestyle? Have there been major changes in habits following the sanitary crisis?

Yes they keep distance, specially poor senior citizens feel very bad when they had to come closer to others for instance at places like a grocery store or so, they try hard to apologize by giving an innocent look even though it is not their fault.
Nightclub people are going crazy...One night stand hunters are suffering....

I also think people have started to think more; they usually do everything they can do to keep themselves busy so that they don't have time to think but crisis gave them a chance to think, rather forced them to think.

Many thanks for initiating these relevant questions and the direct-up-to-date answers.
Appreciated!

Hi finnbo,

I hope all is well on your end.

Thank you so much for this valuable information. This is definitely going to be helpful for soon to be expats.

Have a great week ahead!

Warm regards,
Veedushi