Moving from Chile to Sweden (2026): Relocation Guide
Key takeaways
- Chileans are third-country nationals: you generally need a residence permit from the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) before you can be registered in the population system and receive a personnummer from the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket).
- Household goods can be imported duty- and VAT-free as flyttsaker (removal goods) through Swedish Customs (Tullverket) if you have lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months and have owned and used the items for at least 6 months.
- You can claim the relief retrospectively as long as you import the goods within one year of moving to Sweden.
- Pets are simple: Chile is an EU-listed third country, so no rabies antibody titration blood test is required. You need a microchip, a rabies vaccination given after the chip and at least 21 days before travel, and an EU animal health certificate, plus a SAG export certificate to leave Chile.
- Sea freight from San Antonio or Valparaíso to Gothenburg typically takes several weeks with a trans-shipment; the personnummer, once issued, is the key that unlocks banking, healthcare and most public services.
1. Leaving Chile: what to close out
Before departure, close the Chilean loose ends that are difficult to handle from abroad. Your RUT number stays with you, so keep it accessible for any future tax, pension or property matters. If you are ending Chilean tax residency, coordinate with the Servicio de Impuestos Internos, and settle utility bills, health-plan (isapre/Fonasa) contributions and any outstanding accounts. Renters should give notice and recover deposits; owners keeping a property should appoint an administrator or grant a power of attorney, because Chilean bureaucracy is slow to manage remotely.
For your belongings, personal effects leave Chile through the Servicio Nacional de Aduanas. Exporting household goods as personal effects is not a commercial export, but your mover still prepares the export documentation and a detailed inventory. Keep your passport, Chilean residence document and proof of your move (the Migrationsverket residence permit decision, an employment contract or admission letter) — the same evidence supports the Swedish customs relief when you arrive. Avoid closing Chilean bank accounts abruptly; a tidy wind-down prevents problems with later tax filings.
Build in time. The Pacific-to-North-Sea routing is long, so families usually begin packing decisions six to eight weeks out and book pet paperwork about a month ahead of the flight.
2. How your household goods ship to Sweden
Chile’s central-region container ports are San Antonio and Valparaíso, both near Santiago. From there, the natural gateway for Sweden is Gothenburg, the largest port in the Nordics. Direct sailings on this trade lane are scarce, so shipments almost always route via a trans-shipment hub — often Callao in Peru and then a European hub such as Rotterdam or Antwerp — before a feeder leg to Gothenburg. Realistically, plan on roughly four to six weeks port to port, plus one to three weeks either side for collection, export clearance, and Swedish delivery and customs release.
For a full home, a dedicated 20-foot or 40-foot container (FCL) is standard. Smaller volumes travel more cheaply as a shared container or part-load (LCL), at the cost of extra consolidation time. If you need essentials immediately, air freight from Santiago is quick but expensive; a practical compromise is to air-freight a small box of first-weeks items and send everything else by sea.
The signed inventory is the document that matters most. It supports the Swedish removal-goods relief, so make it accurate and complete, and keep alcohol, tobacco, weapons and restricted foodstuffs out of your consignment to avoid delays for the whole shipment.
3. Sweden customs & transfer-of-residence relief
Sweden allows duty- and VAT-free import of personal belongings — flyttsaker — when you move to Sweden from outside the EU. Swedish Customs (Tullverket) sets the conditions: you must intend to live in Sweden for at least one year, you must have lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months, and you must have owned and used the goods for at least 6 months. You can only get the relief if you bring the goods for your own continued use in Sweden.
Helpfully, the relief can be granted retrospectively: if you import the removal goods within one year of the date you moved to Sweden, you can still claim duty-free treatment. In practice your removal company prepares the customs declaration and the required inventory. Have your evidence ready — proof of at least 12 months outside the EU and proof of your move to Sweden — because that is what Tullverket checks. As with all EU moves, alcohol, tobacco and certain other categories are excluded from the relief and treated separately.
4. Arriving: registration, residence, driving, healthcare
The Swedish sequence is important and often trips people up. As a Chilean third-country national, you first need a residence permit from Migrationsverket — for work, study, family or another qualifying ground — and this must normally be granted before you travel. Only once you are in Sweden with a permit valid for at least one year can you register in the population register and be assigned a personnummer by Skatteverket. So the order is: Migrationsverket permit first, then Skatteverket personnummer. Chileans who also hold an EU nationality (for example through European ancestry) follow the far simpler EU free-movement route and can skip the national permit entirely — check your ancestry before assuming you need a permit.
You register in person at a Skatteverket office, bringing your passport, residence permit and documents proving your identity and, where relevant, family relationships. The personnummer is central to Swedish life: it unlocks banking, healthcare, an ID card, mobile contracts and dealings with the tax and benefit systems. Expect processing to take some weeks, so plan your first months around that wait.
Sweden’s healthcare is region-based and largely tax-funded; once you are registered you access subsidised care through your region, though you should confirm your coverage from day one. On driving, a Chilean licence can be used for a limited period after you become resident, but licences issued outside the EEA are generally not exchangeable — most third-country drivers eventually need to take Swedish theory and driving tests. Check the Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) rules for your situation early.
5. Pets
Bringing a dog or cat from Chile to Sweden is refreshingly simple, because Chile is a country the EU lists as a third country with controlled rabies status (Annex II of the EU pet-travel rules). That listing means your pet does NOT need a rabies antibody titration blood test, and there is no three-month waiting period that owners from unlisted countries have to endure. This is the detail most people over-worry about, and in your case it simply does not apply.
The correct order is: (1) microchip first; (2) rabies vaccination after the microchip — the vaccine date must not precede the chip date; and (3) travel no sooner than 21 days after the vaccination is completed. Your pet must be at least 12 weeks old before its first rabies shot. Shortly before travel, an official veterinarian issues the EU animal health certificate confirming the microchip and valid vaccination.
To leave Chile you also need a SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero) export certificate — the Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación — requested through SAG (started online at cerofilas.sag.gob.cl or at a SAG office), backed by a vet health check within 10 days of travel and current vaccinations; SAG usually issues it within about three business days. Because the SAG timing and the 21-day rabies rule must align, begin the pet paperwork roughly a month before you fly. Enter the EU through a designated traveller entry point and confirm your airline’s animal-transport conditions in advance.
6. Money, banking & tax basics
Opening a Swedish bank account is far easier once you have a personnummer, and some services (like BankID, the near-universal digital ID) effectively depend on it. Until then, a fee-free multi-currency account can bridge the gap and handle converting Chilean pesos to Swedish kronor; moving a lump sum through a specialist currency provider generally beats a standard bank wire. Keep evidence of the source of your funds, as Swedish banks routinely ask.
On tax, once you are registered and resident, Sweden taxes worldwide income. New arrivals in qualifying senior or specialist roles may be eligible for “expert tax relief” on part of their income for a limited period — check the current conditions, as thresholds change. Coordinate the exit side too: confirm with Chile’s Servicio de Impuestos Internos when your Chilean tax residency ends, so you are not taxed as resident in both countries for the same period. For the year of the move, cross-border tax advice is usually worth the cost.
How Flyto handles your Chile to Sweden move
Flyto Relocation operates its own hubs across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, so a Chile-to-Sweden move is run as one coordinated project rather than a chain of disconnected handovers. We organise collection and export clearance in Chile, book the San Antonio or Valparaíso sailing to Gothenburg, prepare the Swedish flyttsaker relief declaration and inventory, and manage delivery and customs release at destination. We also help you sequence the immigration steps and the pet paperwork — SAG export certificate, microchip, rabies timing and EU animal health certificate — so the pieces line up. Get a quote and we will build your timeline back from your Swedish arrival date.
Frequently asked questions
Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to enter Sweden from Chile?
No. Chile is an EU-listed third country, so no rabies antibody titration test is required. You need a microchip, a rabies vaccination given after the chip and at least 21 days before travel, and an EU animal health certificate. See European Commission — bringing a pet into the EU.
How long must I have lived outside the EU to import my goods duty-free?
At least 12 consecutive months, and you must have owned and used the goods for at least 6 months and intend to live in Sweden for at least a year. See Tullverket — Moving to and from Sweden.
Can I claim the removal-goods relief after I have already moved?
Yes. You can get duty relief retrospectively if you import the removal goods within one year of the date you moved to Sweden. See Tullverket — FAQ on customs exemption for personal belongings.
Do Chileans need a residence permit for Sweden, and what comes first?
Yes. You need a Migrationsverket residence permit first; only then can you register with Skatteverket and get a personnummer. See Migrationsverket — Private individuals.
What is a personnummer and why does it matter?
It is your Swedish personal identity number, issued by Skatteverket after you register in the population system; it unlocks banking, healthcare and most public services. See Skatteverket — Moving to Sweden.
How long does shipping from Chile to Sweden take?
Sea freight from San Antonio or Valparaíso to Gothenburg typically takes roughly four to six weeks with a trans-shipment, plus collection and clearance time. See Tullverket — Moving to and from Sweden.
Sources
- Swedish Customs (Tullverket) — Moving to and from Sweden
- Tullverket — FAQ on customs exemption for personal belongings
- Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) — Private individuals
- Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) — Moving to Sweden
- European Commission — Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country
- SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero) — Salida de mascotas de Chile (perros y gatos)
- SAG — Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación for dogs and cats
- Transportstyrelsen — Foreign driving licences in Sweden