Who we are and what we do

The British Club in Gothenburg is a social club offering ‘the best of British’ in the West of Sweden. Membership is open to people with some connection to Britain, regardless of their nationality.

Our membership base of over 150 families continues to thrive, and new applications are always welcome.

The club is run on a voluntary basis and enjoys, as the mainstay of its activities, a series of social events for members and their guests to meet in a friendly and traditonal British atmosphere. It also hosts occasional outings and special events, such as a treasure hunt in the park.

Please see the Past events page for more details and the Coming events page for both future club events and external events in English in Gothenburg.

Items of interest to Brits

Dual British citizens entering UK need a British passport

If you are a British citizen by birth but also have Swedish citizenship, you can no longer travel to the UK on a Swedish passport (as you might have done up to now). Non-Brits have to get an ETA on their passport, but if you try to apply for that, you will be asked to declare any other nationalities, and lying about your Britishness in order to enter the UK may lead to problems at the border and at worst open up the possibility of being prosecuted.

The British Embassy in Stockholm states:
“As a British citizen, you are exempt from needing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to enter the UK and cannot apply for it online. You will need to show a valid British passport when you travel to the UK to prove this exemption.”

And the GOV.UK website 'Dual citizenship' page states, "As a dual national, you can travel to the UK using EITHER a valid UK passport (or Irish passport) OR a certificate of entitlement." (NOTE: A "certificate of entitlement" costs £589 and is not intended for citizens who were born in the UK.)

So this forces you to ensure you have a valid British passport for travel to the UK (as well as your Swedish passport or a permanent residence permit to avoid problems getting back into Sweden - See "Entering Sweden on a British passport" below).

You can get your British passport online for £108 until 8 April 2026. (After that an adult passport will cost £116.)

In a crisis you might, at the airline's discretion, be allowed to travel with an expired UK passport and a valid Swedish passport with an ETA, or an emergency travel document, but no one recommends it. The bottom line is still:
"The UK government strongly advises dual British citizens to make sure they have a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement, to avoid problems like being denied boarding when travelling to the UK from 25 February 2026." See: No permission, no travel (GOV.UK)

EES: EU Entry/Exit System

From 12 October 2025, the EU has a new digital border called the Entry/Exit System (EES). This requires non-EU nationals, including UK nationals, visiting the EU to create a digital record and provide their biometric data (fingerprints and facial image) at the border when they enter the EU’s Schengen Zone. So this affects any friends or relatives visiting you here if they are coming from the UK.
See the GOV.UK website 'Sweden entry requirements' page

UK nationals who are legally resident in Sweden will be exempt from registration in EES, provided they hold the correct documentation.
See the GOV.UK website 'Passports and travel' page

More information from the European Union website.

Entering Sweden on a British passport

If you present a British passport at the border control coming into Sweden, the border guard may decide to stamp your passport to limit your stay to 90 days in a 180-day period (the usual rule for non-EU citizens). But this rule does not apply to Brits, as long as you followed all the Withdrawal Agreement procedures for getting a permanent residence permit ("permanent uppehållstillstånd", PUT) before 31 Dec 2021. You should proactively present this permit at the border as well as your British passport to avoid getting the stamp.

More information at the GOV.UK Living in Sweden page. (click on "Passports and travel".)

Note that, if you have Swedish citizenship ("svenskt medborgarskap"), then instead of a residence permit you should present either a Swedish passport or your Swedish certificate of citizenship at the border. (Your ordinary Swedish ID card doesn't show your citizenship, so the border guard may not be satisfied with that.)

If you can't find your certificate of citizenship, you can request a copy by filling out a form on the Migration Agency website (you just pay the postage).

Application for Swedish citizenship

Swedish citizenship gives you the right to vote in Swedish elections and to live in Sweden permanently. It costs 1500 Swedish kronor and you apply to the Swedish immigration agency, Migrationsverket.
More details on who qualifies for citizenship and how to apply.

You may be asked to send in your British passport with your application or it may state that they will contact you if and when they need to see it. Please follow whichever instruction you are given. (If you don't send all requested documents, this can slow down your application.) Note that you will not lose your British citizenship.

British Ambassador to Sweden

The current British Ambassador to Sweden is Samantha Job. You can read about her here.

Register to vote if you're living abroad

If you're a British citizen living here, you can apply to be an overseas voter in UK Parliamentary elections. (The law was amended to remove the rule that you had to have been a resident in the UK in the last 15 years.)

First, you need to register here to vote.

After you’ve registered you can apply online for a postal vote. Alternatively, you can vote by proxy if someone you trust in the UK agrees to vote in person on your behalf.

Embassy guidance on UK pensions

The British Embassy recommends this GOV.UK link: Benefits and pensions for UK nationals in the EU, EEA or Switzerland.

Also this link: Living in Sweden - Pensions, where you will find information on how to claim a UK State pension, and how to contact the International Pension Centre for advice or information about pensions and benefits if you live abroad or have lived abroad.

But please note that Swedish pensions are a matter for the Swedish pension authority, Pensionsmyndigheten, which is best placed to advise on all pension matters for people living in Sweden. A tip for those who prefer to meet a person face to face is to book an appointment at one of the Swedish government's service offices. They have staff available on weekdays who can answer questions about your pension. To book an appointment at one of the offices, see Visit a service office.

If Pensionsmyndigheten and/or the International Pension centre can’t help, a local lawyer might be best placed to advise further. Here is the Embassy's list of English-speaking lawyers. (Please note their disclaimer.)

British citizens overseas can sign petitions to the UK government

Did you know that you are eligible to start or sign petitions to the UK government or Parliament? The Petitions Committee is set up by the House of Commons. It follows up the issues raised in the most popular petitions, and it has the power to press for action from government or Parliament. If a petition gets over 100,000 votes it is considered for debate in Parliament, so it is a way to make your voice heard in the UK.

See the most popular petitions here, and sign any that you feel strongly about.

Guidance for Brits returning to the UK

If you are a UK national considering returning to the UK permanently, here is the latest information about some of the actions you may need to take.

The RBL Poppy Appeal

The British Club supports the Royal British Legion (RBL) Poppy Appeal, which was founded in the aftermath of the carnage of WWI. The British Legion has been a constant presence for the British Armed Forces community for over a century, giving serving personnel, injured veterans, families and the bereaved somewhere to turn to, whatever the need, whenever it is needed. You can buy paper poppies and pins in Gothenburg during the Poppy Appeal season (from mid-October to 11th November, Remembrance Day) from St Andrews church, the British Shop, and the Paddington pub, but you can also donate any amount you can afford, at any time, to support this cause. Make your donation, large or small, to our dedicated Poppy Appeal account (giving your name as the message):

• SWISH: 123 073 61 73
• Bank giro: 100-0819

Members are also welcome to attend the joint wreath-laying ceremony on Remembrance Sunday each year, in which representatives of the British, German and Gothenburg communities come together to lay wreaths at both the German war graves and the British and Commonwealth war graves at Kviberg Cemetery. Read more about the history here.

There is a similar joint ceremony on 25th April every year, Anzac Day, to commemorate war fatalities from Australia and New Zealand buried at the same site.

Archive posts

Brits in Gothenburg in national magazine (2022)

The English-language magazine The Local published a feature article entitled Why is Gothenburg known as Sweden's 'Little London'? The article was written by Alex Maxia, who has worked for Sveriges Radio P3 Dokumentär and as a freelance journalist reporting from Oslo and Utøya for the BBC World Service, among others.

The British Club gets a mention in his piece, and if you have a subscription to The Local, you can read the full article here. (If you are a fast reader you can read the first paragraph for free ...)

The British Council - archive NHS films

In appreciation of the work of the NHS, the British Council has presented a collection of fascinating archive films:

A Celebration of Health Services on Film.

"We've been digging through our collection of 100+ short documentaries made during the 1940s, designed to show the world how Britain lived, worked and played - and have found some real treasures exploring our health services. Since its inception [in 1948], the National Health Service has provided medical care “free at the point of use” based on need not income. During these strange times, as Covid-19 makes the world feel very different, it’s more important than ever to celebrate the wonderful work being done in hospitals and clinics across the country."

Brits in Gothenburg featured in local press (2019)

The local newspaper, Göteborgs-Posten, did a feature article on Brits in Gothenburg (a city once known as "Lilla London" because there were so many Brits here). The British Club gets a mention.

Read the article here (in Swedish)