What would I need to know about moving to Sweden?

Lillen is completely wrong. We swedes are very proud of our culture and arabs are not taking over our country. She seems to just be a racist and a islamophobic girl who fails at life.

To just introduce some of our culture we have very many traditions that are very unique. Like our witches in the easter, Walpurgis Eve, midsummer feast, crayfish party, surströmming premiere, advent, lucia and many many more traditions.

We also love fashion, art, film and have very many prominent figures in these "areas". Such as the famous director Ingmar Bergman who recently died. The ”chic” stores: H&M and IKEA are also from Sweden. Famous fashion brands from Sweden are Whyred, Tiger of Sweden, Cheap Monday, and many more. Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is also famous for its architechture and it's considered as the Venice of the north.

Let’s not forget our music, like The Cardigans, The Sounds, the Hives, Ace of Base, Basshunter, Axwell, ABBA, The Knife, Roxette, Lykke Li and September. Members of Placebo are also Swedish. This is just to name a few, because Sweden is actually considered to be the third largest exporter of music in the world, after UK and USA.

Anywho, the best place to find information about how to work in and move to Sweden is this webpage:

http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Work/

It’s from the Swedish government so all the information there are correct.

Unless one of your parents is Swedish or you have citizenship with a country in the EU, it's very difficult to move over. Your only options are work, study (which is only temporary) or a long-term relationship.

For work, you need a job before you can be issued a permit. EU rules say that a company has to advertise the job, and foreign workers can only be hired if there are no suitable applicants from within the EU. This is rarely the case. It happens sometimes in fields with not enough local workers (like healthcare and engineering), or for very specialized jobs where the person is near the top of their field. In other words, you need to have a lot of education/experience, preferably in an in-demand career, and be really good at what you do.

For studies, there's currently no tuition fee but that's planned to change in 2011. The fee isn't set yet, but is expected to be somewhere around $10,000 per year for non-EU students. You also have to show you have enough funds in the bank to cover living costs, which are expensive (around another $10,000 per year). 73.000 SEK is the exact amount required for a permit to be issued, and that gives you very basic living conditions in Sweden. For undergraduate studies, you have to pass a Swedish language test first called TISUS.

If you're in a long-term relationship with a Swede or permanent Swedish resident, you can apply for a family permit that allows you to move over. You're issued a temporary permit the first two years, and then a permanent one assuming the relationship is still intact. You have to show that you and your partner can support you. It can be difficult to find work in Sweden in this situation, so you need to prepare to be able to cover your living costs for at least a year. Read the links below for more information

They have a very different culture than the US, and also very different from the rest of Scandinavia. They often appear to strangers as arrogant, but they are more often just less open and chatty than other people, but once you get to know them better they are very nice. They are also the least liberal of the Nordic countries, and they have all these social rules that can be hard to follow, such as don't talk to strangers, don't smile to people you don't know etc. Sweden is very complex, in one way they are the most open country in Europe taking in the most refuges and immigrants and go to great lengths to accommodate other cultures especially Arab culture which is very trendy in Sweden, on the other hand their own minorities are often treated with despise and ignorance, this includes the Finnish minority, the Scanians and the sami people.

Especially the Scanians are often treated with ridicule and even hatred, not just from the right wing but even from the mid-liberal parties and regular media can come up with the most insane stories about how the Scanians are not like Swedes, cost the Swedish society more money, are unhealthy or in general bad ignorant people. For someone not being Swedish it just comes across as really weird.

They have a bad history of imperialism back in the past, but tend to be very proud and nationalist around their old imperialist past and the Swedish Carolinian kings. Rather odd actually. As they at the same time are proud to say Sweden has no real culture and that Arab cultures are superior to Scandinavian. Thy can also be quite impossible to discuss with, because they tend to think they and the Swedish state are always right. And if you ever criticize Sweden they will call you a nationalist or racist. You can criticize the politicians all you want though and they often do, but you can't say anything bad about the state. I can't say that I really get Swedish people or their politics, they are way too complex, but I have met lots of wonderful Swedish people. Once you get to know them, and it takes some time to really get close to a Swede, they are usually very kind, generous, helpful and friendly.

And do bring lots of warm clothes. I'm sure you will have a great time there and exciting new experiences.

Edit: LOL I think Nationalist Clas proves my point exactly when I said anyone who criticizes Sweden will be called a racist - although I fail to see how I can be an islamofobe for saying that Swedes have a strange nationalist way of being proud of their country - which Clas replies to by saying that's so not true because Swedes are very proud of their country??? And who said anything about Arabs taking over Sweden??? I said Arab culture is very trendy - how on earth is that racist???

Concluding from Clas' reactions Arab culture probably isn't so popular after all because Clas seems to think other people's culture will take over his country, so how lucky he could produce such a long list of real Swedish culture he can be proud of which apparently doesn't include a single multi-cultural one. (Clas why didn't you include a single multi cultural food, designer, fashion, band etc.??? so you think someone who mentions Arab culture is trendy is racist but you who completely forget to mention their existence in your proud Swedish culture are not?) I rest my case.

All I know is that I visited there a while ago during their winter and it was weird. The sun set at 2:00 in the afternoon so there was all this gloomy darkness; I didn't like that. The reindeer are adorable. The major department stores allow dogs to walk all over including their cafes. The crystal is fantabulous, as is their chocolate and pastries. I didn't care for the lingonberries. All they eat there is fish and reindeer, yuck!!!!!

Well, yeah learning their language would be good.

they are a bunch of arrogant, closed minded dweebs that follow the crowd. other than that the girls are hot.