Contents

1 Introduction to population registration

4 The extent of population registration

5 Personal identity number

7 Legal rules for population registration - overview

12 EDP systems in the population registration process

Introduction to population registrationThe significance ofpopulation registrationPopulation registration is the general registration ofthe Swedish population and involves the ongoingregistration of people living in the country and theirplace of residence.

Population registration is of major importance tothe individual. Many situations require a person toprovide proof of his or her name or marital statusand this can be done by means of an extract fromthe population registers. Registration is a pre-condition for entitlement to child benefit orsickness benefit.

A further reason for population registration is tosatisfy the needs of society with regard to basiccensus information. This basic information includesdetails of the identity, residence and family circum-stances of private individuals who are or have beenresident in Sweden. Together with other personaldetails, this information forms part of the popula-tion registration records. The details are forwardedto the personal registers at other authorities, forexample the Vehicle Registration Authority and theSwedish Population and Address Register (SPAR).

One mistake in the population registration processcan result in a mistake appearing in the registersmaintained by many other authorities and couldentail loss of an individual’s rights.

HistoryPopulation registration in Sweden dates back a longtime. From the beginning it was dealt with by theChurch. The earliest reference to the maintenanceof parish registers was in 1571 and Sweden’s oldestexisting parish register dates back to the beginningof the 17th century. The first national directiveconcerning parish registration came in 1686 whenthe priests were assigned the task of maintainingso-called catechetical interview records for thewhole population.

The 1946 population registration reform broughtabout the introduction of personal identitynumbers. The population registration processbecame a means of facilitating the collection oftaxes, checking tax returns, maintaining socialstatistics and regulating the labour market.

EDP was introduced into the population registra-tion process in the 1960s resulting in the personalidentity number as we know it today. On July 1,1991, the responsibility for population registrationwas transferred from the parish offices of theChurch of Sweden to the Tax Administration.

Population registration atthe Tax AdministrationAll day-to-day population registration is dealt withby the Tax Administration on a local level at eachtax office.

Most details are collected by means of the taxoffices receiving information from other authorities.Only in a small number of cases does a privateindividual need to submit information. When thishappens it is usually related to the names of newly-born children, certain changes of name, changes ofaddress or immigration and emigration.

In principle, population registration involves thefollowing:

details of a population registration case are sentto the local tax office

the details are received and allocated aregistration number

the matter is dealt with by a member of staff whodecides if the case can be registered in thepopulation register

the case is registered

information can be provided in the form of aregister extract or by notifying users out insociety.

A decision is made at the tax office within whosegeographical area of responsibility the personreferred to in the decision lives or, in the case of aperson who has died or moved abroad, where theywere registered most recently. In the case of achange of address, the decision is sent to the taxoffice in the area to which the person has moved.

Personal identity numberEach person registered in the population registermust have a personal identity number as a form ofidentification. The personal identity number has tendigits and the only details that can be deduced arethe person’s date of birth and sex.

1

Legal rules forpopulation registration - overview

GeneralPopulation registration is governed primarily bytwo laws that came into force on July 1, 1991. Oneof these is the Population Registration Act whichcontains rules concerning when and where a per-son should be registered, the obligation to reportdetails to the population register and the right ofappeal against population registration decisions.

The second act, the Population Register Act, con-tains rules about which EDP registers can bemaintained for population registration and whatthese may contain.

These laws have been supplemented by govern-ment ordinances. There are certain other ordi-nances issued by the National Tax Board whichcan also issue general recommendations to theauthorities. Such recommendations are not bindingand simply state how the Tax Authority can orshould act in certain cases.

Population registration is affected by a number ofother statutes. For example, Sweden has a specialName Act with rules concerning acquisition andloss of a name. Another example is the ComputerAct which includes rules concerning the obligationof the authorities to rectify incorrect information intheir registers. There is also the Secrecy Act andlegislation concerning a child’s origin, marriage,Swedish citizenship and death.

Details in the populationregisterCertain basic information is recorded for every per-son, i.e. name, date of birth (included in the per-sonal identity number), place of birth, citizenshipand marital status. There are also details of theparents, spouse, children and place of residence. Inthe case of children, there are also details of whohas legal custody and whether the child is adopted.Following death, details are also recorded of wherethe deceased person is buried.

RegistrationEach person who is resident in Sweden must beregistered. A person who moves to Sweden isregistered if he or she is contemplating residencein Sweden for at least one year. For a person who isa citizen of a non-Nordic country, it is also normallyrequired that he or she is in possession of a resi-dence permit. All children born in Sweden areregistered with the exception of the children offoreign diplomats and other persons in a similarposition.

A person who leaves Sweden to take up residenceabroad for at least one year is deregistered fromthe population register.

Place of registrationA person is registered at the property and in theparish in which he or she is resident. Under thePopulation Registration Act, a person is consideredto be resident at the property where he or she regu-larly sleeps or takes the equivalent period of rest.The law also specifies rules for where a personshould be considered to be resident in variousspecial situations, e.g. if due to work a person ispartially resident at a location other than with thefamily.

On request, the population register can record aseparate postal address in addition to the address atwhich the person is resident.

7

Change of addressverificationFor the population register to be able to fulfil itsfunction in society it is important that it has an up-to-date record of where people are living. The TaxAuthority is obliged to check that people are actu-ally registered where they are resident. To facilitatethis procedure, certain other authorities, e.g. theSocial Insurance Office and the EnforcementService, inform the Tax Authority when it comes totheir knowledge that a person can be considered tohave an address not recorded in the populationregister.

The Tax Authority is entitled to request informationfrom property owners and others involved in ren-ting or mediating residential property about thepeople living at the property or residence. Theauthorities also have the possibility, throughemployers or municipal bodies responsible forwater and refuse collection, to obtain details ofwhere a person is residing.

Normally the Tax Authority decides on a change ofa person’s population registration when that personsubmits details of a change of address. However,the authority can decide on a change without suchnotification if a check indicates that a person hasmoved. In such a situation the person must alwaysbe given the opportunity to submit an explanation.

BirthIn Sweden the majority of children are born at ahospital or a similar institution. The hospital orinstitution is obliged to report the birth to the Tax

Authority as soon as possible. The same obligationapplies to a midwife who assists at a birth in an-other location. A birth that takes place in anotherlocation without the involvement of a midwifeshould be reported by the child’s guardian withinone month.

Notification of the birth is sent to the Tax Authoritywithin whose area the mother is registered. If themother is not registered in Sweden, notification issent to the Tax Authority office in the area in whichthe child was born.

ParentsThe child’s mother is registered based on thenotification of the birth. If the mother is married,her husband is registered as the child’s father. Ifshe is not married, paternity must be legally estab-lished before the father can be registered. This canbe done by means of the father signing a writtenstatement confirming paternity, which should beapproved by the mother and the Social WelfareCommittee. The Social Welfare Committee thensends this confirmation to the Tax Authority.

Paternity can also be established through a deci-sion of the court. Notification of the decision is thensent by the court to the Tax Authority. The sameapplies if a court decides that the mother’s husbandis not the father of her child.

Custody of childrenIf the parents are married to each other they areboth registered automatically as the child’s guardi-ans. If the mother is not married, only the mother isregistered as the guardian. The parents can thenrequest that the Tax Authority registers joint cus-tody. Custody can then only be changed through acourt order. In the event of such, the court shouldinform the Tax Authority of the decision.

The child is in the custody of the parents until he orshe reaches the age of 18 or marries prior to this.

AdoptionAn adoption takes place in Sweden by means of adecision of the court. The court informs the TaxAuthority about the decision. The person who hasadopted the child is registered in the populationregister. However, details of the natural parentsstill remain.

8

NameIn Sweden, every person has a surname and one ormore forenames. In addition, there is sometimes amiddle name. In many cases a name is acquired orchanged by means of an application to the TaxAuthority.

The children of parents with the same surnameacquire this name automatically at birth. If theparents have different surnames, the child acquiresthe name reported by the parents within threemonths of the birth. If the parents do not submitsuch notification, the child acquires the mother’ssurname automatically, three months after birth.

A child who has acquired a surname which onlyone of the parents bears can retain the secondparent’s surname as a middle name.

The parents are obliged to report the name ornames of the child within three months of birth. Incertain cases the Tax Authority can refuse toapprove a forename, for example if the name couldbe an embarrassment to the child.

Those who marry should report the surname theyhave chosen at the wedding. They can state thehusband’s or the wife’s name as a joint surname orthey can each retain their former names. In thelatter case, one of the spouses can take the other’ssurname as a middle name. The one that changesto the spouse’s surname can have his or her pre-vious surname as a middle name.

Within certain limits a person can change his nameby applying to the Tax Authority. For example, aperson has one opportunity to remove or change allhis/her forenames, except one, or change his/hersurname to the surname of a parent.

Otherwise, changing a name is done by means ofan application to a special authority, the Patent andRegistration Office. When this authority has ap-proved a change of name, it notifies the TaxAuthority.

CitizenshipIn the case of a foreign citizen, the citizenship/citizenships of the person is/are registered. For aSwedish citizen, only the Swedish citizenship isregistered even if the person is also a citizen ofanother country.

When a foreigner has acquired Swedish citizen-ship, the authority that made the decision (theSwedish Immigration Board or the County Admin-istration Board) reports the decision to the TaxAuthority.

MarriageUnder Swedish law, the requirements for marriageare that the person has attained the age of 18 andthat he or she is not already married or closelyrelated to the prospective spouse (parent-child,sibling). A half-sister or half-brother can marryeach other with the consent of the government. Aperson under the age of 18 can enter into marriagefollowing approval by the County AdministrationBoard.

Prospective spouses should request a certificatefrom the Tax Authority certifying that there are noimpediments to their marriage. This certificate,which is issued after checking the populationregister, is valid for four months and should bepresented to the person conducting the marriage.The marriage can be conducted by a minister of theChurch of Sweden or of another denomination

9

entitled to conduct marriages. It can also beconducted by a judge or other person holding aposition that carries the right to conduct amarriage.

A person conducting the marriage ceremonyshould send notification of the marriage to theTax Authority.

When a court pronounces judgment in a divorce orannuls a marriage, the court sends notification ofthis to the Tax Authority.

DeathA death that occurs in Sweden must be registeredirrespective of whether the dead person was regis-tered in Sweden or not. A person who is registeredis deregistered from the population registerfollowing death.

For a death to be registered, a doctor must haveissued a death certificate. If the deceased person atthe time of death was admitted to a medical institu-tion or brought there following death, the institu-tion should submit a death certificate to the TaxAuthority. In other cases the death certificateshould be submitted by the issuing doctor.

The remains of the deceased person may not becremated or buried before the crematorium author-ities, or those responsible for cemetery administra-tion, have received a certificate from the TaxAuthority with details of the deceased person andthe time of death. Burial or cremation must takeplace within two months of death.

If the remains have been cremated, the burial musttake place within one year. Notification of burial or

cremation must be sent to the Tax Authority whichmust also check whether this has taken place with-in the prescribed time. In the event of a delay, theTax Authority should investigate the reason for thedelay and possibly inform the municipal authoritywhere the deceased person was last registered. Themunicipal authority must assume responsibility forburial or cremation of the deceased person if thereis no other person to do this.

Notification to thepopulation registerDecisions in population registration matters aremade by the Tax Authority within whose area theperson referred to in the decision is registered. Adecision concerning new registration after movingis made by the Tax Authority in the area to whichthe person has moved. Notification to the popula-tion register can be submitted to any Tax Authorityoffice which will then forward it to the officeresponsible.

Notification to the population register can also besubmitted to any Social Insurance Office which willthen forward it to the Tax Authority office makingthe decision. The Social Insurance Office has manylocal offices around the country and it is consideredgood service to also accept notifications and pro-vide assistance with completing the necessaryforms.

Notification concerning a change of address withinthe country can also be handed in to any post office,e.g. at the same time that the person movingrequests mail to be forwarded to the new address.

Notification to the population register must be inwriting.

10

If the prescribed notificationis not madeFailure to report to the Tax Authority somethingwhich a person is obliged to report, e.g. the nameof a child, can result in a fine.

Right to details from thepopulation registerIt has been natural for a long time in Sweden forthe authorities’ activities to be monitored anddebated by the people. This has been considered tobe so important and so basic to society that theright of the general public and the media to haveaccess to and an insight into the activities ofauthorities has been included in the Swedish con-stitution under the Freedom of the Press Act. Thisbasic right is known as the open access principle.

The open access principle means, among otherthings, that the general public is normally entitledto examine documents held by the authorities.However, in certain cases there must be exceptions

11

to this principle, such as with particularly sensitiveinformation. These exceptions are stated in aspecial Secrecy Act.

For the population registration authority the accessprinciple means that anyone normally has the rightto examine details recorded in the populationregister. The exceptions are stated in the SecrecyAct if it is considered that special reasons existwhere details would cause harm if they wererevealed. An example could be where the addressof someone who is being threatened or persecutedis revealed.

Right of appeal against a TaxAuthority decisionA person who is dissatisfied with a decision of theTax Authority, e.g. because he has been refusedregistration in a place where he considers himselfto be resident, can appeal against the decision.Depending on the background to the case, a deci-sion can be reviewed on three judicial levels, thehighest being the Supreme Administrative Court.

EDP systems in the populationregistration process

BackgroundEDP technology was first used for population regis-tration in 1966. The original system was modifiedin 1980. This subsystem is still being used (1993) inthe overall population registration system for thedistribution of information to external users. OnJuly 1, 1991, a completely new EDP system wasintroduced.

The introduction of computerised population regis-tration meant that the tax administration couldwork more effectively as the tax system was thefirst to receive information from the automatedpopulation register. However, more and more offi-cial registers were updated relatively quickly withaddresses and information about marital status.Personal identity numbers were used more andbecame the most common means of identifying aperson both in official and non-official registers.

Having the population register as a source of infor-mation from which other authorities can obtaindetails is a powerful administrative tool. It offersexcellent opportunities for making administrativesavings as well as offering a high level of securityfor those functions in society that affect a person’srights and obligations.

Transfer to automaticregistration in 1991Prior to July 1, 1991, the parish office recorded allpopulation registration matters for each person in amanual register in a so-called personal file. A per-sonal file followed the person throughout his or herlife and moved to the new parish office if the personmoved. The switch from these manual files to thenew automated files entailed extensive registrationwork in autumn 1990 and spring 1991. All personalfiles, approximately 9 million, were copied. Roughlysix million of these were then processed by popula-tion registration experts. The personal files pre-pared, which on average contained 350 characters,were finally registered in the computer. Theremaining tiles were gradually registered by thepopulation registration staff after July 1, 1991.

UseThe EDP system that existed up to July 1, 1991could only be used to a limited extent as support inthe handling process and was used primarily tocirculate population registration information toother users in society.

The system introduced on July 1, 1991 is used to

l interactively support the handling of cases

l register and store all population registrationinformation

l circulate population registration information toother users in society.

The new computer system provides limited supportwhen making legal interpretations. Decisions andthe final interpretation must be made by the personhandling the case.

Register contentsThe population register contains the followinginformation:

l personal identity numberl namel addressl county, municipal area, parish, propertyl marital status and datel parents, children, spousesl place of birthl citizenshipl secrecyl immigration and emigration.

System structureThe population registration system in 1993 consistsof the following:

Local registersThere are 131 different registers, one at each localtax office. The registers are spread out over 39 hostcomputers located at the Tax Authority offices.Each Tax Authority office has at least one hostcomputer.

12

Tax AuthorityThere is a central tax register at the National TaxBoard which contains the names of all peopleregistered in Sweden. All Tax Authority officeshave terminal access to this register. The NationalTax Board is notified each week of changes in thepopulation registration circumstances to allow theregister to be updated.

Police authoritiesThe National Police Board is notified each week ofchanges in population registration information toallow the police systems and the judicial informa-tion system to be updated. They can also retrievebasic information for the passport system by meansof terminals linked to SPAR (see below).

Central Property Data BoardChanges in population registration information forproperty owners are reported to the Central Prop-erty Data Committee each week.

National Road AdministrationThe National Road Administration maintains aregister of car-owners and holders of drivinglicences. All registered changes of name andaddress are reported each week for updating.

Statistics SwedenAll changes in the population register are reportedeach week to the Central Statistics Office.

National Social Insurance BoardEntitlement to child benefit, sickness benefit andretirement pension is based in principle on thedetails in the population register. The National TaxBoard is notified each week of changes to allow theregisters to be updated.

Swedish Population and AddressRegisterA separate register with a limited selection ofpopulation registers was created in 1976 to satisfycommercial and other non-official needs for popula-tion registration information. This register wascreated for reasons of integrity and to limit thenumber of personal registers used for these pur-poses. The register is used by many companies andorganisations for direct advertising campaigns andto update customer registers. SPAR is notifiedeach week of changes in the population register.

National Service AdministrationAll changes in the population registration informa-tion for people with a separate code for the NationalService Administration are reported each week.The National Service Administration forwards suchinformation to the National Civil Defence andRescue Services Board.

Swedish Immigration BoardAll immigration of foreign citizens and changes inthe population registration details for non-Nordiccitizens are reported each week to the SwedishImmigration Board.

The National Maritime AdministrationChanges in the population register for those per-sons registered as seamen are reported each weekto the National Maritime Administration.

Church of SwedenAll changes in the population register details arereported each week to allow the parish registers ofthe Church of Sweden to be updated.

16