Immigration consultant's notes. Startup in Sweden.

It's no secret that in the business world, Sweden is often called the “unicorn factory”. The country is the birthplace of many world famous brands in various industries. And one of the reasons for this success is that due to the small domestic market, local entrepreneurs are used to think globally and build a business globally, which is an indispensable condition for achieving serious results.

Sweden is highly rated in startup ratings, steadily taking places in the top ten next to Canada and South Korea. The explanation for this fact also lies on the surface: the "Swedish business" is well educated, multilingual and technologically advanced. What about the sarcastic allegations that the majority of the working time of the Swedes is involved in business meetings and negotiations? You will try it yourself, quickly get used to it and start to get a lot of advantages from such communication.

In order to obtain a residence permit for a self-employed person, the following requirements must be met. Applicant must have / provide:

• documents confirming knowledge of Swedish and / or English,
• significant experience in the chosen field of activity and experience in conducting their own business,
• evidence of running your own business and owning at least 50% of the shares in it,
• information that the services or goods of your company will be sold and / or produced in Sweden,
• document the availability of funds necessary to support the main applicant and his family members. These funds should be enough for the first two years of living in Sweden (the equivalent of 200,000 SEK for you (19,500 euros), 100,000 SEK (10,000 euros) for your spouse and 50,000 SEK (5,000 euros) for each accompanying child ),
• reliable documentation of the availability of the budget for the implementation of the project,
• contact information for potential customers in Sweden,
• evidence that the income of the main applicant will be enough to live in Sweden for two years (the initial validity of the residence permit),
• evidence that, after a two-year period, the main applicant will have enough funds to support himself and his family.

For the sake of objectivity, these are very serious conditions. But in general, the Swedish authorities believe that the higher the bar of requirements for applicants for relocation, the greater the chance for a startup to succeed. Well, the privileges of living and working in Sweden should be awarded only to the best of the best.

A residence permit is issued for two years with the subsequent opportunity to obtain permanent residence status, the period for consideration of documents is about 4 weeks.

Numerous incubators offer qualified assistance to companies implementing startup projects, the most recognized of which is Arctic Business, which works in cooperation with Lulea University of Technology (7th place in the global ranking of incubators). The goal of the incubator is to provide universal support for the startup, from financing to recruiting with the ultimate goal of taking the business to the international level.

For questions about organizing Startup projects in Sweden, obtaining a residence permit, arranging financing, and optimizing taxation, contact our specialists.