Previously on Finding North...
Here I am, coming to you with a fresh update and some very exciting news (I'll also add some pretty pictures taken over the last two weeks)!
The last time I came here to rant about my situation with the good old Swedish bureaucracy, I had just received a negative answer about my personnummer and we had applied to legally make me my boyfriend's cohabiting partner through Migrationsverket...Well that was a big, fat bust since I later discovered on their website that their decision (which might well be a no) would take between ten to fourteen months...As you can imagine, despair followed this information - the best option for me would now be finding a job, something that was proving harder than expected because I only knew English. I handed in a dozen resumes and everyone was very polite, some even friendly, but nothing issued from there. Some people made me feel ridiculous (wordlessly) for trying to find a job here without knowing the language, which made my frustration rise. How could I learn the language if I couldn't join the classes without a personnummer?! But my luck was about to change...
The last time I came here to rant about my situation with the good old Swedish bureaucracy, I had just received a negative answer about my personnummer and we had applied to legally make me my boyfriend's cohabiting partner through Migrationsverket...Well that was a big, fat bust since I later discovered on their website that their decision (which might well be a no) would take between ten to fourteen months...As you can imagine, despair followed this information - the best option for me would now be finding a job, something that was proving harder than expected because I only knew English. I handed in a dozen resumes and everyone was very polite, some even friendly, but nothing issued from there. Some people made me feel ridiculous (wordlessly) for trying to find a job here without knowing the language, which made my frustration rise. How could I learn the language if I couldn't join the classes without a personnummer?! But my luck was about to change...
On the last day of April, one of my boyfriend's friends heard about all the struggles I had encountered in my pursuit for a personnummer and a job. Fortunately for me, he was astonished to find out exactly how flawed the system seems to be and reacted very strongly (which is very rare to see, since swedes are mostly passive people). He got on the phone with everyone he knew who might have a job for me, but most importantly of all, he called the school to let them know how ridiculous it was that I had to wait in order to start learning Swedish. Turns out if you take a stand, things might actually change. He got a call back from the director and after some weeks of waiting and an interview, I'm starting my lessons tomorrow even though I haven't received the number yet. I'll be eternally grateful to him and the way he handled everything. It was refreshing to see someone act like this in Sweden, I must confess. Coming from a place where this would be the norm, it can be frustrating (if not infuriating at times) to see how everyone here accepts everything so easily without fighting back. But it really paid off and I'm finally starting a new chapter in my life. As if that hadn't been enough to fill me with joy, I got more good news in the same week...
Just as I was about to lose hope and was starting to seriously fear for my future, a light came shinning down on me. And I have my friend Rasmus, my bestest Swedish chum to thank for! He talked to his family and they agreed to meet me for a job interview. It went very well and they liked me enough to hire me, even without knowing the language. Yes, you read that correctly! Yours truly has found herself a summer job in a charming little restaurant by the river. I couldn't be happier. I couldn't believe it was all finally falling into place for me. This last week was a dream, a life raft that arrived at the utmost right time. I feel so incredibly lucky and blessed and glad. I'm catching a break at last, this was the opportunity I had been waiting for and I'll hold onto it fiercely.
Now this process didn't happen without a few twists and turns. This being Sweden, you can't really expect things to go well on the first attempt or without being mad at one of the government agencies at least once (insert a side dish of slight bitterness and sarcasm here). Since I had a job contract, I went to Skatteverket in order to get a sort of "temporary personnummer" called samordningsnummer which was necessary for the company to hire me. After filling the forms and handing in my application, the lady there told me it could take up to twelve weeks to get it. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Three months to receive a four digits number? It was outrageous... I was filled with dread and I soon realized that if that was the case (and it being Sweden, I didn't doubt it would take exactly that amount of time) I couldn't work there anymore since I was about to start working in June. Thankfully, my amazing boyfriend researched a lot and figured out another way to make it work (for those interested, it's through something called löpnummer). So the dream lives on, for the time being the Swedish bureaucracy hasn't managed to ruin anything else and I hope it stays that way!
The wait is finally over. I haven't won the war yet, but it sure was a hard fought battle. And I do believe I came out of the other side... feeling victorious.
Now this process didn't happen without a few twists and turns. This being Sweden, you can't really expect things to go well on the first attempt or without being mad at one of the government agencies at least once (insert a side dish of slight bitterness and sarcasm here). Since I had a job contract, I went to Skatteverket in order to get a sort of "temporary personnummer" called samordningsnummer which was necessary for the company to hire me. After filling the forms and handing in my application, the lady there told me it could take up to twelve weeks to get it. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Three months to receive a four digits number? It was outrageous... I was filled with dread and I soon realized that if that was the case (and it being Sweden, I didn't doubt it would take exactly that amount of time) I couldn't work there anymore since I was about to start working in June. Thankfully, my amazing boyfriend researched a lot and figured out another way to make it work (for those interested, it's through something called löpnummer). So the dream lives on, for the time being the Swedish bureaucracy hasn't managed to ruin anything else and I hope it stays that way!
The wait is finally over. I haven't won the war yet, but it sure was a hard fought battle. And I do believe I came out of the other side... feeling victorious.
Comments
Post a Comment