16. April 2024.
Obtaining a work license for radiology engineers in Sweden is easier than ever, especially if you come from the European Union – that is, if you got your education within the EU or have adequate work experience in some of the member states.
If you’re coming from outside the EU, you can still obtain a work license, but the process will involve more steps. We’ll explain it in detail for both cases, but we’ll mainly focus on the EU healthcare workers.
So, without further ado – here’s everything you need to know about obtaining a work license for radiology engineers in Sweden.
Here are 3 useful things to know about radiology engineers in Sweden before we get to the license-obtaining process:
There are 3 basic prerequisites for obtaining a work license for radiology engineers in Sweden:
adequate education,
C1 level of Swedish, and
work experience (sometimes).
The first criterion is that the applicant has graduated from a faculty for radiology engineers. If you don’t meet this prerequisite, you can’t obtain a work license in Sweden (or in other EU countries).
The second important prerequisite is having at least C1-level knowledge of Swedish. You’ll have to prove this by submitting a copy of a certificate or a diploma that confirms this.
Knowing Norwegian or Danish at a C1 level can be accepted as a substitute for Swedish since the three languages are very similar (like, for example, Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian).
💡 The opposite is true as well! If you want to work in Norway or Denmark, a C1 level of Swedish can also be considered an adequate substitute.
If you want to start learning Swedish on time and with a proven teacher, we suggest Zrinka’s Swedish School.
In this article, we are mainly focusing on radiology engineers who got their education within the EU. However, if you got your education outside the EU, you’ll need a minimum of 3 years of relevant work experience in one of the member states to obtain a work license in Sweden.
For example, let’s say you are a Swiss citizen and you got your education there. In the last 3+ years, however, you have worked in Denmark as a radiology engineer. Because of that, you are actually considered and treated as an EU healthcare worker. You can apply for a work license in Sweden the same way as your colleagues from the EU.
You may also be interested in: Medical Specialist Training in Sweden – Everything You Need to Know
What does living and working in Sweden as a radiology engineer look like, really? Instead of giving you our opinion, we’ll relay what real radiology engineers have to say. We checked in with Željko and Tatjana Despotović who we helped move to Sweden a while ago.
Here’s what they shared with us:
😎 EASIER EVERYDAY WORK: “The working conditions in Sweden are certainly better than in Croatia. (…) Colleagues in Croatia improvise more because the limited resources force them to. This is not ideal, but it does help develop an intelligent approach to work. On the other hand, since everything – literally everything – is available in Sweden, people strictly rely on written routines and rules. They’re not as prone to improvisation.”
🤝 ASSISTANCE: “…apart from the standard handling of medical equipment and imaging, we also sometimes need to assist doctors in fluoroscopy and some interventional procedures. We are also in charge of booking check-ups on the modalities we’re working on that day.”
Here are some more thoughts on working and living in Sweden shared by our other candidates:
🗄️ ORGANIZATION: “After a year and a half of already being in Sweden, I can say that I am more or less satisfied with everything. Every institution, including here in Sweden, has problems in the organization of work, but it is far from the problems we encounter in Croatia. Employers and workers are working much harder to improve their work.” – Dijana
😅 LESS STRESS: “Life in Sweden is simply different – everything is more organized, there is not so much stress and problems, everyone is equal and the whole family enjoys this environment. The hospital helped us when we arrived and the communication throughout the process was up to par.” – Igor Šegec
To obtain a license, radiology engineers must submit the following documents:
1. A filled-out application form (available on the Swedish Medical Chamber website)
2. A copy of a valid identity card or passport
3. Extract from the register of marriages translated into English or Swedish by a court interpreter (if the applicant has a different surname compared to the one on the documents)
4. Copy of certificate of passing C1 in the Swedish language
5. Diploma from a radiology engineering faculty translated into Swedish or English by a court interpreter
6. Certificate from the Chamber of Radiology Engineers in the home country, which states that the person has not committed professional mistakes and that they are allowed to practice their profession in the home country (‘Certificate of Good Standing’)
– must be translated into Swedish or English by a court interpreter
– the certificate is valid for 3 months; a new one must be obtained if the applicant doesn’t submit all necessary documents within 3 months to the Swedish Chamber
7. Certificate from the authorized chamber, for example, the Chamber of Radiology Engineers
– the so-called EU certificate stating how the education of the person applying for the license was obtained in accordance with Article 11 of the EU Directive 2005/36/EG
8. College certificate listing the courses the person took during education (diploma supplement) – also translated into Swedish or English by a court interpreter
9. Confirmation of the paid fee for document processing of SEK 870.00 (amount valid on April 15, 2024)
Zrinka’s Swedish School will help you complete the C1 language level and prepare to move to Sweden. You’ll get support every step of the way from Zrinka, our HR consultant and lecturer with 13+ years of experience.
As part of your course, you also get additional resources, assignments, and free consultation about working and moving to Sweden. Zrinka has rich experience in finding jobs in Sweden, helping candidates obtain their licenses, and everything else that comes with moving.
Here’s what ex-students say about Zrinka’s courses:
“With the Swedish language course I attended from Zrinka, I managed to work and live normally all the time. The whole course lasted approximately 1.5 years and we passed everything necessary from A1 to C1 level of language proficiency. We were adjusting a lot around the appointments, Zrinka is flexible in that regard at your service. When I passed the C1 level, the team from INCOR helped me and instructed me on how I could get a work license in Sweden, helped me organize my CV, explained what documentation is needed and how everything needs to be prepared.” – Iris Đipalo Juretić
“The Swedish course went very smoothly and it was not hard for me to learn a new language, it was easy to click on everything with Zrinka. We had lectures twice a week for 1.5 hours at the initial levels of the course, and later more often, so in a total of 1 year and 3 months, I managed to learn and pass the Swedish language at the C1 level required to apply to the medical chamber. (…) Zrinka prepared us really well, the courses via Skype were ideal for me and I managed to study and work at the same time. When I was nearing the end she additionally assisted with information about sending the documentation and advice regarding CV and applications to job openings.”– Lucia Španjol Pandelo
A1-B2 courses are held both in real time via Skype or Zoom as well as via pre-recorded videos you can watch in your free time. C1-C2 courses are held exclusively in real time. Once you finish your course, you get a certificate.
Learn more about Zrinka’s Swedish School here.
You can enroll in Zrinka’s Swedish School if you already have a job (in which case the hospital pays for the courses), but also if you want to become more competitive in the labor market and find a job with better conditions more easily.
Start working on it now! Choose the desired course here and get started.
This blog post is a part of our series on obtaining work licenses in Sweden. Read the other parts:
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Incor’s CEO, Zrinka Stanić, has been teaching Swedish language for over 15 years. She recently published an article listing the exact steps you need to take to learn Swedish on […]
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After graduating from medical school and nearly completing her specialization in family medicine in Croatia, Dr. Kristina Mećava made an important life decision: to try working and living abroad. Although […]
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