$1 = 5.9871 SEK
A lot of fluctuation lately
*And 6 flippin' complicated ones. That is what it's starting to feel like here. Just when we think we have everything figured out... they add another hurdle. Sweet. Here's a picture of the train station in Stockholm for your viewing pleasure, and yes that is a McDonald's at the very back.Previously on CougsinSwedeland...
We had received our personnummers, changed our status with our bank, began looking for mobile phones, told we had to get our id cards at the bank, told by the bank to get a form from the tax office that says we are married, go to bank, bring passport photos, get ID card.
Now...
Ragen took a half day off of work so we could go and get our id cards figured out. So we started at the tax office and expected a hassle. Fortunately there wasn't really a line and the women we met with was helpful. It helped that Ragen looked up the name of the form that we needed. So we were in and out of there in like 20 minutes. Not bad. We're feeling good. Going to the bank. People are pretty friendly. No problem.
We get to the bank. The young woman helping us goes through our paperwork, she says we have everything we need but seemed a little concerned. She got another person who we had met with before. That woman told us that, again, we have all the right paperwork and all we need now is our Swedish relative to verify that we are who we say we are. WHAT? We explained that we had brought a Swedish person to vouch for us when we opened the account and the guy that helped us at the bank that day said that we wouldn't need someone to vouch for us again. The woman said that she was very sorry but the rules are very specific and that we would need our Swedish relative or someone from Ragen's employer (SLU) if the employer banks with our bank, Swedbank, although that wouldn't help me out since I'm not employed by SLU and having have my spouse vouch for me wouldn't work. Ok that could work, but SLU banks with Nordea not Swedbank so that doesn't work. The woman said she was very sorry and wants us to stay customers with the bank but suggested that we might have to get an account with Nordea. (Banks can issue id cards but police cannot, although they used to, because the police cannot verify you... a comforting thought to say the least). Otherwise we may be out of luck. Ragen went to work and I went home... defeated and broken.
Ragen told her coworkers, they couldn't believe it, and her boss is trying to figure out what SLU do can for us. On her way home from work Ragen stopped by Nordea to see if she could open an account. They asked if she had a personnummer, she said yes. They then asked if she had a Swedish ID card and she said she didn't and that she was under the impression that she could get one from Nordea after becoming a customer. The person at the bank said she could not get an account without an ID card. Ragen reiterated that she is there to open an account so she could get an ID card. Catch 22 time everybody!! So at this point it looks like no ID cards for us, unless maybe SLU can open an account at Nordea for Ragen without an ID card and then she can get one. And when I go for job interviews I need to ask potential employers if they do their banking with Swedbank, which will be my determining factor when deciding which of the hundreds of job offers I'll be receiving to accept.
So where does that leave us now? Well we are without ID cards for the foreseeable future. Well you might ask what do you really need an ID card for anyway. I'd tell you that you need an ID card for going to the doctor (for exams and physicals, preventative type stuff not emergencies because although you technically need the ID card in the emergency room they tend to look the other way and accept passports), to open accounts at Nordea, to enter into contracts for cell phones and such, if we are ever in a car accident or questioned by the police, for tax help at the tax office apparently (although they have no problem withholding taxes without ID cards), and for the really important things like renting a DVD. Also that probably means I can't play for the 86'ers because I need a medical license (like a physical) that says I'm ok to play.
On the phone front...
We've been to several different stores and told that in order to get a contract, and thus cheaper phones, we need Swedish ID cards, or to be Swedish citizens, or to live in Sweden for two years with our personnummer and ID cards, one guy did offer to take Ragen's offer of employment and send it to the home office and they would decide if we were a flight risk or not. So how did we resolve this conundrum? We ordered some unlocked phones off of eBay in the states and they should be here in the next couple weeks. So there Swedish mobile phone companies. You'll get no business from these Americans! We'll spend our Capitalistic funds (converted from Socialist funds) back in the land of our birth and help spurn a sluggish economy rather than support the power hungry grab of the evil mobile phone conglomerates of Scandinavia. Word.
Stay Strong. Until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment