CIF Sweden runs a four-week professional exchange for social workers and other professionals working in the social field. Participants get an orientation to the Swedish welfare system, social policy and social work, then a field placement matched to their own area of practice.
CIF Sweden is a national branch of the Council of International Fellowship, founded in 1961, and held its first program in 1978. CIF is private, non-profit and independent of any party or religion. The program is coordinated by volunteers — former participants and friends of CIF.
The most recent edition ran from 10 April to 9 May 2026 and closed to applications on 2 November 2025. CIF International’s current program list marks the Sweden program as finished, and no next edition has been published yet.
Benefits & funding
- No program fee.
- Room and board covered by CIF Sweden for the four weeks.
- Domestic travel inside Sweden covered.
- Participants are hosted together in Stockholm for the opening weekend, then live with host families for the rest of the program.
- International travel, transfers to and from the airport, and medical insurance are the participant’s own cost.
- CIF International publishes a grant request form for applicants who need financial support; it goes in at the same time as the application.
Eligibility
- Social workers and other professionals working in the social field.
- At least two years of professional experience in social work.
- CIF International asks for an educational background in social work, social welfare, human services or a related field, and proficiency in the working language of the program. No minimum degree level is named.
- The flyer sets no Swedish-language requirement: field placements run through agency visits, observation and meetings with colleagues because of the language barrier.
- No nationality, residency, age or gender requirement is stated.
- Applications are routed through the CIF branch or contact person in the applicant’s own country; only applicants whose country has neither write to CIF Sweden directly.
- Four to six people take part in each edition.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Application process
- 1Download the CIF application form from CIF Sweden’s or CIF International’s website.
- 2Complete it and send it to the CIF national branch or contact person in your own country, not to CIF Sweden.
- 3Send it straight to CIF Sweden only if your country has no CIF branch and no contact person.
- 4Submit CIF’s grant request form at the same time if you need financial support.
- 5Expect a screening step at your own branch: CIF Sweden, for example, interviews its candidates and its board decides whom to recommend, and the host country makes the final acceptance decision by e-mail.
- 6Apply by the program’s deadline — 2 November 2025 for the April–May 2026 edition.
Program timeline
Application deadline for the 2026 edition
Nov 2, 2025
Program starts in Stockholm; the group is hosted together for the opening weekend, then moves to host families
Apr 10, 2026
Orientation in Stockholm — seminars, institutional visits and cultural events — then individually matched field placements in other parts of Sweden
2026-04 to 2026-05
Program ends in Stockholm with a final week of agency visits, an evaluation and a farewell party
May 9, 2026
Next edition
dates and deadline not yet published