Compensation when participating in the Swedish Public Employment Service’s introduction programme
Newly arrived immigrants participating in the introduction programme can receive introduction benefit. If you have children, you can also receive supplementary introduction benefit. If you live alone in your own accommodation, you can receive introduction benefit for housing. Below, there is information about: applying; how much you receive; and, the rules when you are ill or absent.
The introduction programme is offered by the Swedish Public Employment Service. It comprises individually customised initiatives and support that combine with your job searches. The goal is that, as quickly as possible, you should learn Swedish, find a job and become self-sufficient.
You can participate in the introduction programme if you are 20 but not yet 65 years old and have recently received a residence permit as a “refugee”, “person in need of protection” or a “relative”.
The Swedish Public Employment Service helps you find a place in a programme. For the time you participate in your programme, you then apply to Försäkringskassan for money.
What happens when my introduction programme ends?
When your time in the introduction programme ends, you must speak with the Swedish Public Employment Service. You may be able to participate in a programme other than the introduction programme. The content of the programmes may be completely different, but you receive money from Försäkringskassan in roughly the same way as when you participated in the introduction programme.
How do I Apply?
Apply in the month after participating
You apply for money “in arrears”. In other words, you apply in the month after you participated in your programme. For example, if you participated in a programme in September, you apply for money in October. A blue button appears on My pages (Mina sidor) when you can apply.
Apply in time
There are two important things to remember when applying:
- Apply between the 1st and the 7th of the month. You then receive the money on the 26th of the same month.
You can apply later, but you then have to wait for the money until the 26th of the next month. - Apply no later than the last day of the month after you participated in your programme. If you apply too late, you may not receive any money at all. If you apply after the last day of the month following that in which you participated in the programme, you can only receive money if there are special reasons. In this case, you must apply on a paper form and explain why you are applying late.
Apply on My pages (Mina sidor)
If you do not have a bank ID, or if you are applying after the deadline, you must submit an application form 7114 Application for activity grant, development allowance and introduction benefit.
Disbursement
Bank account or payment notice
Your money is normally paid on the 26th of the month. Payment is made to a bank account. Give Försäkringskassan your account number details. The easiest way to do this is to log in to My pages (Mina sidor) and go to My profile (Min profil). If you cannot log in to My pages (Mina sidor), you can use this form:
5605 Account notification (in Swedish)
Pdf, 704 kB, opens in new window.
If you do not have a bank account, your money is paid via a payment notice. You can cash the payment notice in shops.
See your provisional disbursement
As soon as we have processed your application, you can see your provisional payment on My pages (Mina sidor). Your actual payment can be seen one banking day before the money arrives. You can choose to receive an SMS message about this.
Supplements for you in the introduction programme
Programme participants who have a child can receive supplementary introduction benefit. This is the case if:
- The child lives with you and is nationally registered at your address. Nationally registered means that the Swedish Tax Agency has registered both you and your child as living at the address.
- You are the child’s parent or have custody of the child.
- The child is less than 20 years old.
You can receive supplementary introduction benefit from the month before Försäkringskassan receives your application.
Maintenance support from Försäkringskassan
Maintenance support from Försäkringskassan can affect your right to supplementary introduction benefit:
- If you are receiving maintenance support from Försäkringskassan for three children, you can only receive supplementary introduction benefit for your two oldest children.
- If you are receiving maintenance support from Försäkringskassan for four or five children, you can only receive supplementary introduction benefit for one child (the eldest).
- If you are receiving maintenance support for more than five children, you cannot receive any supplementary introduction benefit.
Thus, if you are receiving maintenance support for one or two children, your supplementary introduction benefit is not affected.
How do I apply for supplementary introduction benefit?
You apply for supplementary introduction benefit on a form that you send to Försäkringskassan.
Apply using the form 7110 apply for supplementary introduction benefit. You then send the application to Försäkringskassan.
7110 Apply for supplementary introduction benefit (in Swedish) Pdf, 785 kB.
Payment
Supplementary introduction benefit is normally paid at the same time as introduction benefit. If we need more details to make a decision, it may take longer.
You must report changes
You must notify Försäkringskassan if there are changes in anything that may affect your supplementary introduction benefit. For example, if a child:
- moves in or out of your accommodation
- starts working and receives pay.
You can receive introduction benefit for housing if you live alone in your own accommodation and satisfy the following conditions:
- You have a lease as a tenant or subtenant, or you own your accommodation. If you are a subtenant, the lease must be in writing. Your landlord, tenant-owner association or rent tribunal must have approved your subtenancy.
- You are nationally registered at the accommodation. Nationally registered means that the Swedish Tax Agency has registered that you live at the address. Your name must be on the door or the letterbox.
- You live alone in the accommodation. If you share the accommodation or rent a room in someone else’s accommodation, you cannot receive introduction benefit for housing.
How do I apply for introduction benefit for housing?
You apply using form 7112 apply for introduction benefit for housing that you then send in to Försäkringskassan.
7112 Apply for introduction benefit for housing (in Swedish) Pdf, 738 kB.
When will the money be paid?
Introduction benefit for housing is normally paid at the same time as introduction benefit. If we need more details to make a decision, it may take longer.
You can receive introduction benefit for housing no earlier than from the month in which Försäkringskassan receives your application.
You must report changes
You must notify Försäkringskassan if there are changes in anything that may affect your introduction benefit for housing. For example, if:
- you move to other accommodation,
- another person moves into your accommodation,
- you have a child,
- your accommodation costs change.
If you fall ill
On the first day you are ill, notify the Swedish Public Employment Service. You can then keep your introduction benefit.
Notifying absence when you are ill (arbetsformedlingen.se)
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When you apply for money, enter which days you participated in your programme and which days you were ill. Your first day of illness is a qualifying day for which there is no money. For the time you are absent owing to illness, you can then keep your money.
Ill longer than seven days
To keep your money if you are ill for more than seven days, you or your doctor must submit a medical certificate to the Swedish Public Employment Service. Tell your doctor that you are participating in a programme and ask him/her to complete the Swedish Public Employment Service’s medical certificate for participants in labour market policy programmes.
If you have to take care of your child (VAB)
You can keep your introduction benefit if you cannot participate in your programme because one or more of your children are ill and you have to take care of them. If this happens, always notify the Swedish Public Employment Service.
When you apply for money, enter which days you participated in your programme and which days you were absent to take care of your child.
Other absence from your programme
You can keep your introduction benefit in certain other circumstances (see below). In your application, enter which days you were absent and whether this was owing to a circumstance approved by the Swedish Public Employment Service.
- Private matter. Examples include moving house or attending a funeral. Absence may be no more than three days.
- Care of someone who is close to you and seriously ill. If a family member or a near relation is seriously ill and may be near to death.
- Temporary interruption in a training programme or similar. The Swedish Public Employment Service must be notified of the interruption.
Incomes that affect money from Försäkringskassan
If you work and receive pay
If you work and receive pay for a day when you are also participating in a programme, your programme money has to be reduced.
- If your programme is full-time, your money is reduced by exactly how much you received in pay. If your pay is higher than the programme money, you receive no money for the day(s) in question.
- If your programme is part-time, your money is reduced if your working hours together with your programme are more than full-time.
Inconvenient working hours payment and commission are also regarded as paid work.
Thus, to receive the right money, it is important that, in your application, you enter how much you earned and how long you worked. This is also the case if you worked any evening or night after a programme day.
Other incomes that can reduce programme money
So that you receive the right money, you may have to inform Försäkringskassan if you have other incomes. Click the types of income below to read more about the rules for each one.
Försäkringskassan checks that you receive the right compensation
Before making payment, we sometimes check your application details to ensure that you are receiving the right money. If we find that something has gone wrong, we may also check earlier applications.
If you discover that you have received too much money, you can report this via My pages (Mina sidor) or by telephoning 0771 524 524.
If you receive too much money, you may have to repay it. If you submit incorrect details on purpose and receive money to which you are not entitled, we can report this to the police. Anyone submitting incorrect details to receive more money can be sentenced to fines or imprisonment.
