Moving to Sweden

[Potjeh]

Well, I've come to a point where I have to either emigrate or do myself in, because I simply can't stand living in Bosnia any more. Fortunately, I also have Croatian citizenship, and Sweden is one of the few EU countries that have immediately granted Croatian citizens right to move to Sweden for work (others, like Germany, have a 5-year moratorium).

Anyhow, the issue is that my finances are extremely limited (this being one of the big reasons I have to get the hell out of here). At best I could scrounge up 600-700€, and the bus ticket alone will take ~150€ out of that number. Even if I were to immediately find work, I doubt I could survive on that till my first paycheck. Hell, I probably couldn't get board for the first month for that. So my only hope is some sort of work that comes with food and board, and frankly I have no idea how to even start looking for that. A big issue is that I don't speak a word of Swedish, though I hear you can get around Sweden reasonably well using just English.

Anyhow, I'm looking for Swedes, or even better recent immigrants to Sweden, to point me in the right direction. It doesn't really matter what sort of work it is as long as it's legal, I'll do shit Mike Rowe wouldn't do until I get up on my feet.

[Sarge]

While I unfortunately don't know anyone in Sweden that could help you, I wish you the best of luck man. It takes some balls.

If you take a (huge) wrong turn and end up in South Africa, let me know, I'll be glad to help.

[nokocola]

Hello, I would be more than happy to help you on your way to become a newswede-loftar-kidnapping extraordinaire (such as myself). I've jumped through all the hoops of migrationsverket, learning swedish as a second language and surviving the most miserably depressing winters. Pm me.

[Amanda44]

I did a quick search for you and found most jobs with food and accomodation in Sweden are linked to the hotel trade and farming/crop picking - I found quite a few sites with this information just through google, some had jobs advertised ready for application.

Wages are often low but food and accommodation is usually incluaded. For harvest work, Skåne in the south of Sweden is a good place to start looking.

The other side is jobs such as au pairs - gardeners - handymen, etc.

Really, live in work is universal with regard to the type of work.

I also wish you luck, it's a big step especially without speaking the language, I hope someone can offer you more help, fingers-crossed.

Edit: And someone has. ^^

[RainbowMoostache]

You will have to go to Migrationsverket first if you want to attempt to gain full citizenship here. You will live there in some of their... Dorms?.. Cabins?.. Hell I know, but you will live there for few weeks and then yaddayadda i dont fucking know what comes next, but then you will be granted a apartment of the city you've choosen.

On the other hand, you'll love Sweden. I can assure you that.

Sorry if I am not much of a help. It was ages since I did this myself, but the memory is so fragile.

[nokocola]

Wages are often low but food and accommodation is usually incluaded. For harvest work, Skåne in the south of Sweden is a good place to start looking.

The other side is jobs such as au pairs - gardeners - handymen, etc.

Actually, a lot of those berry picking jobs are illegal...

[Potjeh]

Well, seeing how I'm technically an EU citizen I don't need to go through Migrationsverket, I can just move over and start working, according to this. The worrying part is this:

You need to have enough money to support yourself while looking for work, for example through unemployment benefits from your country of origin.

I was hoping that there's some sort of immigrant housing program or something, but apparently there isn't one for EU citizens. So yeah, a live-in job is a must, unless it's possible to pay rent and food for a whole month with ~450€. I suppose I could use my Bosnian passport instead of Croatian to go in as a non-EU citizen, but I reckon my chances of making it in like that are slim to none since I don't have any useful degree.

Anyway, my googling for fruit picking job has been fruitless so far, and I'd appreciate links to concrete offerings for live-in jobs that don't require knowledge of Swedish. Agriculture sounds pretty good to me, but I'll take anything. I can head over there on 1st of September at the earliest, though I reckon that should be just in time for apple picking season (do they have a lot of orchards in Sweden?).

[sabinati]

crash on jorb's couch for a couple weeks and get a job at paradox

[Potjeh]

I wish

[NaoWhut]

Anyway, my googling for fruit picking job has been fruitless so far,

Lol,

Good luck Potjeh, i hope everything works out