ohioboy

My girl friend just moved back to sweden and she is now a resident, I want to go there to live but I can't
go if I apply for residency until it is approved, but I can go for 3 months to visit, but wondering if I marry her would I still have to leave to apply for residency, or even buy property, or any ideas on how to stay?
thanks

paul1956

Hi.
The residency application does not need to take soo long..I think you will get an answer to your application before three months has past if you come and visit.
If you marry you will get an permanent permit to stay,but dont get married to get that !
If you have a job it will make it much easier for you.
Mrs Rymer in sweden

ira

Hi OB,

Before you rush off to Sweden to marry the girl, I suggest that you wait six months and see if you still think that that is a good idea.

P_M

Ohioboy, may I offer a word of unsolicited advice? Do you speak Swedish? If not, you might want to look into how easy or difficult it is to find work as an English-only speaker. The reason I bring this up is that my cousin went to Paris to live with his girlfriend and he spoke hardly a word of French. He soon learned there are few jobs other than washing dishes for non-French speakers and he was home again just a few months later.

Good luck.

blackduff

If you move to Sweden, it's a requirement that you learn to speak Swedish. There's an agency which gives free lessons in Swedish. For my wife and I were capable of speaking basic Swedish in three months. We had about four hours per day for the lessons.

Swedish is much easier to learn than French. I speak both of these languages fluently. I remember that Sweden has about a quarter of vocabulary words than French.

There are some jobs as only English speaking people but you're going to need some sort of credentials. To teach English in Sweden is not found for Americans. Most English is taught from Brits.

The weather is going to be severe in the winter. Comparing Ohio, it's a factor of three or four. Compare the weather in Montreal. Sweden is very close to Montreal weather.

The short days in the winter bothers a lot of people. The sun comes up about 9:00 am and the sun sets about 15:30 hrs. I would go to work in the dark and return home in the dark.

The long days in the summer repays for the short days you lose in the winter.

Husband and Wife help in everything in the home. Get ready to spend time washing the clothes or handling the kids full time. The whole chores will divide between.

Overall it's a good place to live. You will pay a lot of taxes there and booze costs a bomb but in general you can live nicely there.

The medical care is less than it did when I lived there but I'm sure it's still better than the US system. I am an American so I'm not just slagging off the US system.

I think you should take the chance and give a bit of adventure. Just get a good warm jacket.

Blackduff

Dutch

Are you comfortable with hairy legs?

Also, why move to Sweden when there are several Ikeas in Ohio?

Viajero2

ohioboy-- Let me see if I got this right: your girlfriend made the desicion to be a permanent resident in another continent with no certainty, knowledge, or regard of what YOUR standing or options are to be able to join her....? YIKES! kinda of speaks volumes....These are questions she should be directing to the proper Swedish authorities...!? The excuse "Somebody at Fodor's told me...." ain't going to cut it if you act on bad advice....

Best advice you got so far is WAIT AT LEAST SIX MONTHS TO MAKE A MOVE.

janisj

ohioboy posted this two months ago and moved on (first and only fodors post). I doubt he is still looking for answers -- even IF he still remembers the girl's name.

P_M

Thanks for pointing that out janis, I usually notice the date of the OP but I missed it this time. It's a shame we didn't answer when he first posted, the poor boy is probably washing dishes in Sweden as we speak. ;-)