Arriving from the Horn of Africa to Visit Family in Sweden

Visitors from Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea generally need a Schengen visa to enter Sweden, applied for in advance through the relevant visa application centre or Swedish embassy covering your country. Requirements depend on the purpose of your visit and can change, so confirm the current process directly with the embassy or consulate rather than relying on a previous trip's experience.

Keep your passport, visa and any invitation letter or supporting documents in hand luggage, accessible rather than packed away — you may be asked for them at the border.

The EU has introduced a border registration system, generally referred to as the Entry/Exit System, which records biometric details — a photo and fingerprints — for non-EU visitors on their first crossings into the Schengen area. It applies at Arlanda as it does at other Schengen borders, and can add a little time to the process on a first registration compared to a routine passport stamp.

Because the system and its rollout have changed over time, check the current process on the official EU or Swedish border authority pages before you travel, rather than assuming what a previous trip involved.

Family visits from the Horn of Africa often involve more than the usual four travellers, with luggage to match — each vehicle category has a combined luggage budget covering all bags together, which makes planning for a group simpler than trying to match bags to seats individually.

• Standard, Electric or Business: 4 seats, a 6-unit luggage budget — at most 4 pieces, of which at most 2 large (2 large + 2 cabin, 1 large + 3 cabin, or 4 cabin).
• SUV / XL: 6 seats, a 10-unit luggage budget, at most 4 large.
• Minibus: 8 seats, an 18-unit luggage budget, at most 8 large, for a large family or two families travelling together.

By the time you land at Arlanda after two or more flights, the last thing you want is a decision to make about ground transport. Booking ahead means the price is fixed before you fly, your driver already has your flight number and adjusts the pickup to your actual landing time, and the whole family or group travels together in one car for one price.