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  • If you are participating in an introduction programme through the Public Employment Service
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If you are participating in an introduction programme through the Public Employment Service

If you are participating in an introduction programme through the Public Employment Service, you can receive introduction benefit. If you have children or live alone in your own residence, you can also receive supplementary introduction benefit or introduction benefit for housing. Here, you can read about how much money you can receive and how to apply.

What is the introduction programme?

The introduction programme is a special programme through the Public Employment Service that is intended to help new arrivals become part of Swedish society. Within the introduction programme, you can, for example, study Swedish for Immigrants (SFI), look for work, or do an apprenticeship at a workplace.

Being a new arrival means that you have

  • a residence permit as a refugee, quota refugee or person in need of protection
  • a residence permit based on a tie to a person granted a residence permit as a refugee, quota refugee or person in need of protection.

The Public Employment Service is responsible for helping you find a spot in the programme. Once you have started your programme, you apply for compensation from Försäkringskassan. It is also Försäkringskassan that pays out your money.

How much money will I get?

When you participate in your programme, you receive a specific amount per day (daily amount) for maximum five days a week.

You receive money for these days

You receive money for each day you participate in your programme. You can also receive money for days you cannot participate, for example if you are sick and reported your sickness to the Public Employment Service on the first day, or if you need to stay home to care for a child who is sick.

But, if you are absent without an approved reason, you will not receive money for that day. You can read more under Frequently asked questions.

How much you receive per day

  • If you are participating in the introduction programme full time, you receive SEK 308 per day.
  • If you are participating in the work to map out and draw up an individual action plan before your programme starts, you receive SEK 231 per day.

The compensation is tax-free. You will receive the entire amount. The amount per day could be less in some cases, for example

  • if you work and receive pay the same day
  • if your programme is not full time
  • if you receive other compensation from Försäkringskassan, like parental benefit.

Read more about what can reduce your compensation under Frequently asked questions.

If you live alone or have children, you could receive extra money

If you live alone in your own residence or have children living with you, you can also receive extra money. Read more about this at the bottom of the page.

How do I apply for introduction benefit?

Once you are registered in an introduction programme through the Public Employment Service, you can apply for compensation from Försäkringskassan. You apply for one month at a time retrospectively.

1. Apply by no later than the 7th each month

You apply for a month during the subsequent month. If we receive your application by no later than the 7th, you will receive the money on the 26th of the same month. For example, you apply for March by no later than 7 April to receive your money on 26 April.

If we receive your application between the 8th and the last day of the month, the money will be paid on the 26th of the subsequent month. If you fail to meet this deadline, you cannot receive any money with the exception of special circumstances.

You apply on My pages (Mina sidor).

Once you have logged in to My pages (Mina sidor), an administrator can give you personal assistance in filling out your application through a personal web meeting, where you can chat with an administrator.

3 minutes

Instruction video for the e-service “Application for activity grant, development allowance or introduction benefit”.

 

2. Disbursement

If we receive your application by no later than the 7th of the month and your application is complete, you will receive your money on the 26th of the same month. If we receive your application after the 7th, the money will be paid on the 26th of the subsequent month.

We will contact you if we need more information for your application or must investigate something. You can see all of your disbursements by logging in to My pages (Mina sidor).

When will the disbursement appear on My pages (Mina sidor)?

On My pages (Mina sidor), you can see the disbursement under Disbursements (Utbetalningar) 1 bank day before the money arrives.

 

If the 26th is a Saturday, you will receive the money on Friday.
If the 26th is a Sunday or public holiday, you will receive the money on Monday or the next day.

Disbursement normally scheduled for 24, 25 and 26 December will be paid out on 21 December 2018.

 

Other forms of compensation for introduction programme participants

 

If you are registered in the introduction programme and have a child/children living with you, you may be eligible for extra money referred to as supplementary introduction benefit.

The child/children must

  • be under 20 years old
  • live with you and be registered in the Population Register under your address
  • be or have been in your custody
  • not be supporting themselves.

How much do I get?

You receive

  • SEK 800 a month for children under age 11
  • SEK 1,500 a month for children age 11 through (but not including) 20.

You can receive supplementary introduction benefit for no more than 3 children, which means that the maximum amount is SEK 4,500. This amount might be smaller if you are receiving maintenance support for any of the children.

How do I apply for supplementary introduction benefit?

You can apply for supplementary introduction benefit once the Public Employment Service has registered you in the introduction programme.

Apply using the form. You then send the application to Försäkringskassan.

7110 Application - Supplementary introduction benefit

You can receive supplementary introduction benefit for no earlier than the month before your application is received by Försäkringskassan.

When is the money paid out to introduction programme participants?

The money is paid out one month retrospectively on the 26th of each month. If the 26th is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the money will be paid out the closest bank day.

When will the disbursement appear on My pages (Mina sidor)?

On My pages (Mina sidor), you can see the disbursement under Disbursements (Utbetalningar) no later than 3 bank days before the money arrives.

Report changes

You must notify Försäkringskassan if anything changes that may be of significance to your supplementary introduction benefit. We must receive information about changes within no more than 14 days.

Report, for example, if a child moves out of the house or begins working.

 

 

If you are registered in the introduction programme and live alone in your own residence, you can receive help paying your rent or monthly fee. This is called introduction benefit for housing.

In this context, having your own residence means that you have a direct lease, are subletting, or have tenant-owned housing. If you are renting a room in someone else’s home or are sharing a residence with someone else, you cannot receive introduction benefit for housing.

You must be registered in the Population Register under the address of your residence. This means that the Swedish Tax Agency must have this listed as your official address. If you do not have the right address, we cannot pay out any money to you. If is important for your name to be listed on the door or the mailbox.

How much do I get?

You can receive introduction benefit for housing for housing costs over SEK 1,800 and up to SEK 5,700 per month. In other words, the maximum amount is SEK 3,900. It may be less than this if you are receiving housing allowance or housing supplement.

How do I apply for introduction benefit for housing?

Apply using the form. You then send the application to Försäkringskassan.

7112 Application - Housing allowance

You can receive introduction benefit for housing no earlier than the month before your application is received by Försäkringskassan. For example, if you move in to a residence in September and submit an application in November, you can receive introduction benefit for housing beginning in October.

When is the money paid out to introduction programme participants?

The money is paid out one month retrospectively on the 26th of each month. If the 26th is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the money will be paid out the closest bank day.

When will the disbursement appear on My pages (Mina sidor)?

On My pages (Mina sidor), you can see the disbursement under Disbursements (Utbetalningar) no later than 3 bank days before the money arrives.

Report changes

You must notify Försäkringskassan if anything changes that may be of significance to your introduction benefit for housing. We must receive information about changes within no more than 14 days.

Report, for example, if you move out of the residence, another person moves into the residence, or you receive housing allowance.

 

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Frequently asked questions

If you get sick, you must report your sickness to the Public Employment Service the very first day you are absent. If you are sick for more than seven days, you must also send a doctor's certificate to Försäkringskassan.

When you apply for compensation, you specify which days you were sick. You will receive compensation for days you were sick if you reported it to the Public Employment Service on the first day, with a deduction for one qualifying day.

If you apply for introduction benefit for a day where you also earned a salary, we will reduce your compensation for that day by the amount you earned. You enter in your application how much you earned.

Your compensation is not affected if you work on days when you do not have your programme.

Custody is a legal term. The person with custody of the child is in charge of making decisions on matters related to the child. A child is in someone’s custody up until their 18th birthday.

When Försäkringskassan decides you can receive compensation, the money is normally paid into a bank account. You must therefore visit a bank and open an account. To open an account, you must be able to prove your identity. To do this, you must have an ID card (identification card).

Once you have opened a bank account, you register the account number with Försäkringskassan.

If there is no bank account, the money is paid out with a payment notice.

An e-identification is like an ID card on the internet. You can read more on the page about e-identification:

About e-identification

Notify the Public Employment Service if you are staying home with a sick child and cannot participate in your programme. When you apply for compensation, you indicate that you were absent for temporary care of a child on the relevant days.

You receive compensation for days you were home to care for a sick child.

Talk to the Public Employment Service about why you need to be absent. In addition to being sick or taking care of a sick child, there are additional reasons for not participating in your programme that will still enable you to receive money. But, you must usually make arrangements about this with the Public Employment Service. When you apply for compensation, you fill in the reason for your absence on the relevant days.

If you are absent without an approved reason, you will not receive money for that day.

If you apply for introduction benefit for days that you are receiving parental benefit or rehabilitation benefit for, we will reduce your compensation for that day by the amount you receive in parental benefit or rehabilitation benefit.

If you are receiving sickness compensation, activity compensation, general old age pension or occupational pension while participating in your programme, we will divide the monthly amount by 22 and deduct this from your introduction benefit per day.

If you are receiving financial aid or study start aid from CSN while participating in an introduction programme, you cannot receive introduction benefit for the programme at the same time.

If, for example, you are receiving financial aid 50%, we will cut the introduction benefit you receive for participating in your programme in half. If you are receiving financial aid 100%, you cannot receive any compensation.

If you are participating in a programme part-time, we reduce your introduction benefit so it corresponds to the scope of your programme. If you are participating in a programme 50%, you receive half as much money as if you were going full time. In other words, you receive SEK 154 per day.

The Public Employment Service may decide that you are not entitled to compensation for a number of days, for example if you did not participate in your programme like you should have. If this is the case, the Public Employment Service will send their decision to both you and Försäkringskassan. Försäkringskassan will then decide which days you will not receive money for.

A child is considered self-supporting if they have an income from work or assets, such as money in the bank. Child allowance, financial aid and maintenance support are not considered income.

Yes, but you must have a written lease agreement and the landlord, tenant-owner’s association or rent tribunal must have approved the sublet.

No, you must live alone. If a person lives or moves in with you, it counts as you living with someone else even if that person does not have a residence permit. You must therefore report a change like that to Försäkringskassan.

Notify the Public Employment Service if you are staying home with a sick child and cannot participate in your programme. When you apply for compensation, you indicate that you were absent for temporary care of a child on the relevant days.

You receive compensation for days you were home to care for a sick child.

If you work while participating in your programme

If you must care for a sick child while both working and participating in a programme, different rules apply for the time when you are away from the programme and from your job. The time when you should have been working is subject to the rules for care of a sick child (VAB) for employees and you must apply for temporary parental benefit separately. You can read more on the page about care of a sick child.

Care of a sick child