How to immigrate and work in Sweden as a dentist?

Dentist salaries in Sweden

Your salary as a dentist in Sweden depends on many factors:

• Education
• Work experience
• The position you have
• The clinic you work with
• Tasks and responsibilities.
• Etc.

Various sources have mentioned different figures for your salary.

According to Salary Explorer, the average salary of a dentist in Sweden is about 69,200 SEK. it says the lowest salary is about 23,500 SEK, while the highest figure is about 131,000 SEK

Average Salary Survey says that a dentist in Sweden earns about 713,692 SEK ($66,083).

According to Glassdoor, the average salary is about SEK 36,473 per month.

As explained, your position is a determining factor. Look at these positions and the average income to get a better understanding of your income in Sweden:

Sweden visa for immigrant dentists

If you are from an EU country, you do not need a visa to work or enter Sweden as a dentist. But if you are from a non-EU country and need a visa, this section brings you the visa options. Each one of them serves a different purpose and helps you at a particular stage.

Sweden work visa

If you are a non-EU national, you need a work visa to work in Sweden. You must get your dental license and then begin looking for a job in Sweden. It’s necessary to find a Swedish employer who needs your skill and abilities. You must look for a job through the websites that advertise job positions or visit hospitals or clinics to find a job.

Then, you must sign an employment contract with the employer and he/she applies for a work permit. After the work permit is issued, you can apply for a work visa.

You can learn more about a Sweden work visa from the Visa Library article or watch the related video on our YouTube channel.

Sweden student visa

There is another way to immigrate to Sweden as a dentist. It’s to study for a dental degree in a Swedish university or school.

First, you must find a school or university that offers a dental degree to international students. Then, you must determine the admission requirements and fulfill them. After getting an admission letter, you must gather the student visa supporting documents and submit them to Swedish officials.

You can learn more about a Sweden student visa from the Visa Library article or watch the related video on our YouTube channel.

How to immigrate to Sweden as a dentist?

If you get your dental degree in a foreign country and not in Sweden, you must follow a procedure to get a license. Every dentist who wants to work in Sweden needs a license. You must follow a different procedure, and it depends on the country you get your degree: in Sweden, in the EU/EEA, or outside of the EU. This section will bring you the steps you must follow.

Dentists from the EU/EAA

If you get your dental degree in the EU/EEA member states, you must follow this procedure to practice dentistry in Sweden. You must send your degree to Swedish officials for recognition. You also need language proficiency; Swedish, Danish, or Norwegian. Your nationality doesn’t matter, and you must be fluent in one of these languages. If you have not started learning a language, you’d better begin learning Swedish.

Gather the supporting documents.

You must gather this list of supporting documents and send them to the Swedish officials. The National Board of Health and Welfare is responsible for evaluating your degree and documents. This is a list of the documents you must gather:

1. An image of a screenshot of the paid application fee of SEK 870 to Bankgiro 790-3750. If you want to pay the fee from a foreign country and in foreign currency, you can pay it with this SWIFT code: IBAN: SE3612000000012810104980, SWIFT: DABASESX.
2. A copy of your ID card or first passport page.
3. If you have changed your name, a copy of the certificate showing the name change is needed.
4. A copy of your language fluency skills.

You can submit

• Swedish at Level C1 in accordance with CEFR.
• Swedish, level 3

A healthcare provider can check your language fluency and verify that you meet the requirements to work as a dentist in Sweden.

5. Your dental diploma.
6. A Certificate of Good Standing or Certificate of Current Professional Status that shows you have the right to work as a dentist in your home country or the country you got your degree, and you are not prohibited from the right to practice dentistry. It can not be older than 3 months ago at the time of application. You must contact the competent authority in the EU/EEA country where you got your degree to receive this certificate.
7. A certificate that confirms that you fulfill the requirements in the following under the articles of EU directive 2005/36/EC (pdf):

• 37
• 34
• 23

8. Document from your dental school or university that you passed the training and describe the courses you completed. It must also state the content and duration.
9. Complete the online application form.

If you apply offline, you must submit this paper application form.

Note: if you wish to apply for proof of specialist competence, you must submit these documents.

1. Proof of paid application fee.
2. A certified copy plus translation of your specialist qualification.
3. A certificate plus the translation that confirms you fulfill the following under the articles of EU directive 2005/36/EC (pdf) number 23 and 35.
4. Documents for your specialist training that describe the course you completed, its duration, and content.

Translation: Your documents must be in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, or English. If not, a verified translation office must translate them into Swedish or English.

If you apply offline, you must mail your application and paper documents to this postal address:

Socialstyrelsen

Behörighet

106 30 Stockholm

If you complete the online application form, you must submit the scanned form of your documents.

 Assessment by Swedish officials and results.

After you submit your application and Swedish officials receive them, they will email you the confirmation. They might ask for further supporting documents, or one part might be missing.

The processing of your application takes about 4 weeks, but it could take longer. The Swedish officials will inform you of the result through your email address, so you should check it regularly.

You might receive different results. First, your application is rejected, and you may not work as a dentist in Sweden. The second one is that your application is approved, and you get the license to work in Sweden. Your information will appear on the National Board of Health and Welfare’s (Socialstyrelsens) register of licensed healthcare professionals, HOSP. Swedish employers can see your license in this portal and that you are a licensed dentist.

Also, you might have to pass an aptitude test or a training period in Sweden; If so, you must pass them and submit the certificate to the National Board of Health and Welfare to receive your dental license.

Swedish officials will send you the instructions to pass the aptitude test or training period.

Dentists from the non-EU/EEA (way 1)

If you get your dental degree from a non-EU/EEA country, you must pass the recognition process and get a license to work in Sweden. There are two ways to apply for a license, and this section will explain both of them.

Gathering the supporting documents.

The first step is to gather the supporting documents and send them to the National Board of Health and Welfare. This is the list of the documents that you must gather and send;

1. The application form.
2. A copy of the first page of your passport or Swedish ID card if you have it.
3. A copy of the completed education certificate.
4. A copy of your syllabus or the certificate that lists the courses you have taken.
5. Certificate of name change if applicable.

Translation: All of your documents must be translated into Swedish or English by a verified translation office.

After you have gathered the documents, you must mail them to this postal address;

Socialstyrelsen

Behörighet

106 30 Stockholm

You can also email the scanned form of the documents to this email address:

[email protected]

Take the language test.

After the Swedish offices assess our application and approve it, you must take a language test. You must be fluent in Swedish to take the language test and pass it. You do not have to submit a language proficiency test in your application, but you must be fluent to pass the test.

You must take the language test with the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and they are responsible for conducting it. The test consists of a theoretical part and a practical part. You must pass the theoretical part to be qualified to pass the practical part.

You must sign up for the test at Karolinska institutet website. You will find the available dates and more information about the test. Then you must take it on the booked date. The university will send the result to the National Board of Health and Welfare. Only after you pass the language test, you may move to the next stage.

You have 5 attempts to pass the theoretical part and 3 attempts to pass the practical part. If you pass the theoretical part, you have 5 years to complete the practical part of the exam.

Take the Swedish laws and regulations course.

After you pass the test and the university sends the result to the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, they will email you to confirm it.

Now you must take a course in Swedish laws and regulations. It is to get familiar with the Swedish healthcare system, and you do not have to pay for it as it’s free. You must register for the course at the Umeå University website. The university will inform you of the available dates to take the course.

You can only take the course after the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare confirms you have passed the language test. If you do not pass the course, you may not continue the rest of the stages.

Pass the clinical training in Sweden

After you pass the language test and Umeå University informs the National Board of Health and Welfare, you must take the clinical training in Sweden. You must find a clinic or center yourself to pass your training with them. You must pass the training for at least six months. There is no way to skip the clinical training and you must pass it even if you have worked for a year as a dentist. You must pass the clinical training with one employer and in a center or clinic. You may not take it with more than one employer.

You can reach clinics or search for a job on websites that advertise job positions in Sweden. It’s your responsibility to persuade an employer to hire you as an intern.

After you find the employer, he/she must apply for a permission or authorization. This is the application form that your employer must complete to apply for authorization. It holds detailed information that both the employer and employee must read it. It’s helpful along the way.

After you have completed the training with the Swedish clinic, the employer and supervisor must complete this certificate. You, as the trainer, must sign the certificate as well.

You must apply for a license after completing the training and submit the certificate completed by your employer.

Apply for a dental license

After you complete your clinical training, you must apply for a license from the National Board of Health and Welfare. You must pass all of the above stages and gather the required documents to apply for a license.

1. Application form.
2. Receipt of paid application fee. SEK 870 to the bank giro account 790-3750. You must include your Swedish personal identity no. (yyyymmddxxxx) in the message box without any hyphens or spaces.
3. A copy of your first page of the passport.
4. a copy of your certificate of Swedish proficiency
5. The certificate that you have passed the clinical training.

You must mail your application to this postal address.

Socialstyrelsen

Behörighet

106 30 Stockholm

The processing time is about 2-4 weekends, and the Swedish officials will inform you of the results. After you get your license, you can work as a dentist in Sweden.

Sweden tourist/visitor visa

You must pass the recognition process to immigrate to Sweden as a dentist. Part of the process is done in Sweden, and you might have to visit the country. If you are a non-EU national and not among the visa-waived countries whose nationals can visit Sweden with their passport, you need a tourist or visitor visa to enter Sweden.

You must gather a list of supporting documents and apply to the Swedish embassy/consulate in your home country.

You can learn more about a Sweden tourist visa from the Visa Library article or watch the related video on our YouTube channel.

The best cities to immigrate and work as a dentist in Sweden

You should find some information about the country you are moving to. As a dentist, you’d better know about the Swedish cities, the culture, salary, visa options, rules, regulations, etc. You will find answers to some of your questions and the information you need on this page.

In this section, you will learn about the best Swedish cities where you can find a job as a dentist.

There are always higher job positions in larger cities. The population living there needs more facilities, and it brings jobs. So it is with dental clinics. You can find the best and largest ones in large cities. This is the list of the largest cities in Sweden. You might be able to find a job in them better, and if you want to live in large cities and live the hustle and bustle of large cities, these are your options:

• Stockholm.
• Gothenburg.
• Malmö.
• Uppsala.
• Upplands Väsby.
• Örebro.
• Linköping.
• Helsingborg.

There is another list that you should know about. It’s the most popular Swedish city to live in and visit. People like these cities for a few reasons, and you can learn why. It’s not a coincidence that they have earned the title of the best cities in Sweden. You can find more information about them and determine whether you like living in them or not or if they have the features you want.

• Stockholm
• Gamla Stan
• Norrmalm
• Östermalm
• Södermalm
• Gothenburg
• Karlskrona
• Malmö
• Linköping

Related jobs for an immigrant dentist in Sweden

Skilled workers are needed in Sweden, and employers are looking for them to bring to the country. If you have the qualifications and work experience, it’s likely to get a job in Sweden.

There are other positions for a dentist in Sweden. This section brings you some of them. Try to keep a keen eye on these job positions.

Determine the requirements if you are interested in one of them and try to fulfill them.

Let’s sum up…

The Visa Library team brought you how to immigrate and work in Sweden as a dentist through this article. You learned about the procedure you must follow and the requirements. There is detailed information about each step. This is a comprehensive guideline for becoming a dentist in Sweden.

If you have any sort of questions, write them down in the comment section. The Visa Library team will answer them.

How to become a dentist in Sweden?

You can apply for recognition if you get your dental degree from a foreign country. You must send your degree plus supporting documents to the Swedish officials, and they will determine whether you are eligible.

The other way is to study for a dental degree in Sweden. You must find a university, get admission and apply for a Sweden student visa.

See the article for more details.

Frequently asked questions about immigration to Sweden as a dentist.