Originally Posted by GUWonder
I know Americans, Australians, Indians, Chinese, Thais, Malaysians and New Zealanders who have the Swedish PUT-bevis -- permanent residency -- and don't speak any Swedish more than "hamburger", "apple" and other words of that sort. Nor are they what I would identify as "rich" and certainly not famous.
I have done a quick review of what appears on the web regarding the requirements of Sweden on permanent residency status (and citizenship as well), and indeed, they do not require Swedish language skills as a requirement. That said, I am now curious. Are these people that you know primarily the spouses/significant others of Swedes or did they simply decide to move to Sweden? The government websites sugggest that while you can get permanent residency through employment, it is not easy to get employment approval because Swedes and EU/EEA citizens are in front of you in line (so to speak). Also, I would assume that most employers would want you to speak Swedish (although I know that there are some careers where this is unnecessary).