The Swedish Sambo Visa in 2015 Part 7b: Application Date Statistics (updated about once every 3 months) - Last update: 30 January 2017

IMPORTANT UPDATE (15 September 2016):  In order for this spreadsheet to remain a relevant resource, I have de-linked the "bigger spreadsheet" where we used to track over 1,000 cases from various sources.  I still have that data if anyone ever wants it for their own research purposes, but due to time constraints I have been unable to continue updating it.

Instead, I have linked up to a new spreadsheet maintained by the I Väntan På Familjen facebook admins.  While that groups is somewhat small, it is very diverse and a good microcosm of the queue as a whole.  It is the spreadsheet that I now use for my sporadic updates of The Sambo Summary (see below for more info)

Below, you will find an embedded spreadsheet showing the (anonymized) application timelines of nearly a thousand ongoing cases (and counting!), with application submissions ranging from mid-2014 to present.

This information follows the tail of the Brief History of Swedish Migration I wrote (please refer to Part 7a), and where we all fit in, in context of the historical crisis Sweden is facing in terms of uncontrollable migrants flowing through the country.

Some notes about the spreadsheet below:

1. Scroll to the right in the table below to see interview locations as well as notes collected about each case. (I couldn't get the whole spreadsheet to fit into my blog window)
2. I do not have complete data for some application timelines because I could only mine what I found, or what people were willing to offer.
3. Currently, we are seeing decisions fluctuate broadly between 12 and 15 months.  .

Weekly Statistics Breakdown

I will be publishing The Sambo Summary sporadically (I am aiming for twice a month, currently), until I give birth this September.  The report breaks down the spreadsheet below into a quick summary of easily viewable statistics.

You can find recent and archived copies of all published reports on my blog by clicking here.

Here is a screenshot of the 15 September 2016 issue of the Sambo Summary:

Happy viewing!

It is important, as we wait, to bear in mind the severity of the immigration crisis in Sweden.  Unprecedented actions such as passport checks, border controls, and public declarations that there is no more room and no more living accommodations, have been aimed at arriving refugees.

With no end in sight, and an entire nation of people pouring through Sweden's borders, their eyes are surely more focused on maintaining public safety, processing incoming refugees to get them in and out of the system, and attempting to stabilize public order.  Migrationsverket workers are indeed under immense pressure, and it is important to remind ourselves that they are not the enemy.  Their job is dictated by the powers controlling the country we wish to become citizens of.  It is therefore a difficult balance to both respect our future host nation, but also allow ourselves the freedom to feel all the feelings we do about being stuck in a disastrous situation, although we ourselves are easily approved, with family and living accommodations waiting at the ready for us.  It is incredibly difficult to juggle the reality that it is SO EASY to give (most of) us the stamp of approval, and yet also accept the reality of the grave socioeconomic situation the nation is in.  

At the end of the day, at this point, they truly must put the refugees before us.  

One does not easily confess that.