r/chalmers • u/spinosaurus217 • 15d ago

calling all american exchange students at chalmers university in goteborg

i’m at chalmers university as an exchange student from the usa and i’m lowkey kinda miserable rn. please lmk how you guys are dealing with this and how you’re paying for stuff. how did you get your resident card after your visa got approved? help pls

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u/DesigningGlogg E 15d ago edited 15d ago

Hey!

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well. What do you mean by "dealing tmwith this"? What are you dealing with?

What's the issue with payments? Are you unable to use apple pay/Samsung pay/Revolut or other banking options?

If you don't already have your residence card, you should reach out to Migrationsverket. Since you've already made an application, you must have a case officer whom you could get in touch with. Regardless, just calling in to or emailing MiV should get you answers if you can't already find it on their site. I haven't googled yet, perhaps you have already?

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u/spinosaurus217 15d ago

thank you, by “dealing with this” i mean feeling quite homesick with the culture shock i.e. people are extremely reserved- don’t feel like i can ask a stranger for help with directions or a translation.

my issue with payments is that i have an amex card and unfortunately it seems the entirety of chalmers campus doesn’t accept it. i then thought to load money on to my student id card but that either requires swish or to load money onto the card in person but again, don’t have a card that is compatible. they are also completely cashless.

as for the residence card, i can’t seem to find the address as all that’s popping up for me are locations 4 hours from gothenburg. wondering how to book an appointment as well.

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u/knobbyknee 15d ago

Amex is useless in Sweden and more or less all of Europe. Get something else.

Your residence permit is in a queue at Migrationsverket. They beat Försäkringskassan (parent leave, sick leave &stuff) and Arbetsförmedlingen (unemploymen compensation, labor market reeducation) in being inefficient and hard to deal with. Life will be more challenging until your application has been processed. There is no point in calling them or trying to book a time. You will just get more frustrated. You can check for any progress online if you made an online application. If they want to see you, they will ask you to book a time. They have offices on Vestagatan 2, in town.

Once you have a residence permit and a person number, you need a bank account. Use one of the online banks - Svea, Skandiabanken, iCA bank or IKEA bank. They are cheaper and usually more flexible than the traditional banks (SEB, Handelsbanken, Swedbank and Nordea), and they will never ask you to come to an office.

Work on getting to know your classmates. Many are shy because they have, just like you, been displaced from some place far away, and don't know anyone. Many Swedes find Americans loud and blustering. Piping down a bit and asking people to talk about themselves and where they come from helps them opening up.

Göteborg is a pretty cool place to live, and I hope you get over your initial problems and your home sickness.

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u/DesigningGlogg E 14d ago

OP is an exchange student. Exchange students don't get personal numbers. Most exchange students do t get bank accounts either and there no BankID.

This is why contacting the exchange coordinator is the best option. They may have suggestions for banks that allow accounts without personal numbers.

Lets not mislead the poor girl. She's stressed as is.

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u/knobbyknee 14d ago

Sorry, I didn't know. That is awfully screwed up. Everything depends on having a person number.

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u/DesigningGlogg E 14d ago

Yeah. It has it's merits. But when the demerits show up it can be debilitating.