New parents

Birth and personal identity number

When a child is born, the hospital reports this to the Swedish Tax Agency, which in turn registers the birth in the population register. In connection with this, the child is assigned their personal identity number. The child's mother then receives an extract from the population register by mail, along with a form to register the child's given name(s) and possibly surname and/or middle name(s). The extract from the population register shows you what is registered about the child with the Tax Agency.

Having a child in Sweden when you are not registered here

Have you given birth to a child in Sweden even though you are not registered here? If so, you need to fill in the form Komplettering till födelseanmälan and send it to the Swedish Tax Agency.

Your child’s birth will then be registered with the Swedish Tax Agency. This is extremely important to, for example, enable you to

• apply for asylum for the child
• apply for a passport for the child
• register the child in another country.

It is particularly important that you enter on the form whether you are married to a person who is registered in Sweden, because, in that case, your child can also be registered.

How to get the form

The form is available at the delivery ward. If you do not fill it in there, it will be sent to the address that you gave when you left the delivery ward. You can also collect the form at a service office. The addresses of all our service offices are given under Kontakta oss (Contact us) on this website, at the top of the page.

How to fill in the form

Be careful to fill in the form correctly. It is very difficult to alter the information afterwards.

Having a child abroad

If you have a child in a country other than Sweden, the child will not usually be listed in the Swedish Population Register from birth. This applies even if you have been listed in the Population Register at some point. A child who moves to Sweden for one year or more can usually be listed in the Population Register and given a personal identity number.

• Moving to Sweden

How can my child be listed in the Swedish Population register?

If your child has been given a coordination number, you can submit a written request for your relationship to the child to be registered in the Population Register – provided that you have a Swedish personal identity number. To make this request, please send a letter to the Swedish Tax Agency.

Your letter should state that you want your relationship to your child be registered in the Swedish Population Register. It should also include the following:

• your personal identity numbers
• the personal identity number of your child’s other parent (if applicable)
• your child’s coordination number
• your contact details

Please send proof of parenthood documents with your letter, such as a copy of your child’s birth certificate.

If you have established parenthood through the municipal Social Welfare Board or district court, the Swedish Tax Agency will be notified. When we have approved your request, we will register your relationship in the Swedish Population Register.

• Moving to Sweden

Apply to have your child's name registered

If you are a Swedish citizen and have a child in a country other than Sweden, Norway, Finland or Denmark, you can apply to the Swedish Tax Agency to have the child’s given name and surname registered here. To do so, please fill in form SKV 7750 (which is in Swedish) and submit it to the Swedish Tax Agency with documents confirming the identity of the child’s parents or guardians. Alternatively, you can apply for name registration when you apply for a passport for the child.

• Given name and surname – Application (SKV 7750; in Swedish)

Send your documents to us

Please post all documents to us at the following address:
Skatteverket Folkbokföringen
Box 298
881 26 Sollefteå
Sweden

Applying for a Swedish passport

As a child’s parent or legal guardian, you can apply to the Swedish Police, or a Swedish embassy abroad, for a passport for your child – provided that the child is a Swedish citizen. You can apply to have the child’s name registered at the same time.

• Citizenship (legal guidance in Swedish) External link.
• Sweden Abroad: Official website for Sweden´s embassies and consulates External link.

Birth Certificate (Födelsebevis)

Sweden does not issue international birth certificates as other countries do. The document corresponding to the birth certificate is the population registration certificate Extract from the Population Register.

Population registration certificate Extract from the Population Register

Custody

Custody is a judicial concept. The person who has custody of a child makes decisions regarding that child. Custody must not be confused with day-to-day care.

A child is in someone's custody until the age of 18.

Joint or sole custody

If the parents are married when the child is born, they automatically have joint custody of their child. If the parents are not married, the mother automatically has sole custody. You can register that you want to have joint custody in conjunction with the establishment of paternity or (for a woman) parenthood by the social welfare board in your municipality.

Parents can also register joint custody at a later date, but this is then done directly with the Tax Agency. For this to be possible, there may be no previous decision regarding custody and the child must be registered as living in Sweden.

Custody registered in conjunction with the establishment of paternity, parenthood or directly with the Tax Agency applies from the day the Tax Agency registers the information.

Custody by agreement

If either parent has sole custody of the child, you can enter into an agreement that you will instead have joint custody or that the other parent will have custody. Parents who have joint custody of the child can enter into an agreement that one of them will have sole custody.

The agreement must be approved by the social welfare board, which then notifies the Swedish Tax Agency. Custody by agreement applies from the day the social welfare board approves the agreement.

Custody by court judgement

One of the parents, or both together, can apply to the district court for a change to the custody of the child. Custody then usually applies from the day on which the district court's decision becomes legally binding. However, some decisions from the district court might apply from the date on which the decision is made. The Tax Agency is always informed when the district court has made a decision concerning the custody of a child.

Custody in international relationships

If parents have a foreign decision concerning custody, this can be shown to the Tax Agency in order to prove custody. Under certain conditions, foreign custody decisions also apply here in Sweden. If a foreign decision is not valid in Sweden, i.e. it is not covered by the regulations applicable here, you can instead turn to the social welfare board in your municipality or to the district court in order to establish custody.

Paternity

If the parents are married when the child is born, the husband is presumed to be the child's father. If the parents are not married, paternity must be established separately by notifying the Tax Agency via our e-service “Digital confirmation of parenthood” or by the social welfare board in the municipality in which the child is registered. In conjunction with the establishment of paternity, you may also register that you want to have joint custody.

• Notify us that you have become a parent (Digital confirmation of parenthood)

Parenthood

Instead of paternity, parenthood can, in accordance with Chapter 1, Section 9 of the Children and Parents Code, be established for a woman who is a wife, registered partner or cohabitee of the child's mother. The woman is then registered as a parent, though not as mother, in the population register. Parenthood is established by notifying the Tax Agency via our e-service “Digital confirmation of parenthood” or by the social welfare board in the municipality in which the child is registered.

• Notify us that you have become a parent (Digital confirmation of parenthood)

Children's citizenship

When a child is registered in the population register, the Tax Agency makes an assessment of what citizenship the child has acquired. A child becomes a Swedish citizen from birth if

• a parent of the child is a Swedish citizen, or
• a deceased parent of the child was a Swedish citizen at the time of their death.
  

Children born before 1 April 2015 receive Swedish citizenship at birth if

• the mother was a Swedish citizen or
• the father was a Swedish citizen and married to the child's mother or
• the father is a Swedish citizen, is not married to the child's mother and the child was born in Sweden or
• the father was deceased, but at the time of his death was a Swedish citizen and the child was born in Sweden or
• the father was deceased, but at the time of his death was a Swedish citizen and was married to the child's mother.
  

If neither parent of the child is a Swedish citizen, the Tax Agency makes an assessment of the child's citizenship based on the parents’ citizenship and the legislation of their respective countries of origin.

Adoption

If you and your wife, husband or registered partner adopt a child, the adoption is registered in the population registration information concerning the child, you, the child's other adoptive parent and the child's biological parents. The corresponding applies if you have adopted the child alone. If a Swedish court has made a decision regarding the adoption, the court will notify the Tax Agency.

If the adoption has taken place abroad, the adoptive parents must register the child's move to Sweden with the Tax Agency. This is done by means of a personal visit to a Tax Agency office. When registering the move, it is important to append all documents that verify the adoption.