Sweden green lights scheme to facilitate migrant integration

Sweden wants to speed up the process for migrants to establish themselves in the country and save resources by improving collaboration between key authorities, the Swedish cabinet office said Thursday.

It has decided to extend a pilot program that was carried out at various locations around Sweden. The aim was to develop a tailored service for newly-arrived migrants in order to help them start working or studying more quickly.

The pilot project involved Sweden's National Employment Agency, the Social Insurance Agency, the Swedish Pensions Agency and the Tax Agency.

The results were positive, according to a project evaluation cited by the cabinet office. It said that newly arrived migrants have benefited from the chance to meet with cross-disciplinary teams of professionals.

Migrants in their initial establishment process usually wait an average three to four weeks before meeting with state authorities. Under the pilot scheme, the waiting time was reduced to an average four hours.

The evaluation also showed that the scheme has led to significant savings in public resources.

Against that background, the government has green-lighted an extension of the work until Dec. 31, 2017, tasking the authorities involved with continuing to simplify and streamline establishment processes for newly arrived migrants in Sweden. Enditem