All EU/EEA nationals and their family members are covered by the EU/EEA regulations.

This applies both to family members who are EU/EEA citizens themselves and family members who are citizens of a country outside the EU/EEA.

By "Family members" we mean: 

• Spouses and registered partners
• Cohabitants
• Those who are getting married
• Children and grandchildren under the age of 21
• Children and grandchildren over the age of 21
• Children born in Norway
• Foster child under the age of 18
• Children under the age of 18 who have siblings in Norway
• Parents and grandparents who are moving to children/grandchildren in Norway
• Family members who need nursing and care

As an EU/EEA citizen, you are allowed to stay in Norway for up to three months after entry. This applies, for example, to visits and holidays.

To be able to stay in Norway for more than three months, you must be an employee, self-employed, service provider, student or have your own funds to support yourself. You have a right to reside as long as you can document that you meet one of these requirements. This is called exercising the right of residence.

As a family member of an EU/EEA citizen, you have a derived right of residence in Norway. This means that you have the right to reside in Norway if the EU/EEA citizen fulfills one of the requirements mentioned above, and the family relationship continues.

After five years of continuous legal residence in Norway, you and your family may be entitled to permanent residence.

The right to reside depends on whether the EU/EEA citizen exercises the right of residence. This means that the right to reside is dependent on the EU/EEA citizen actually working, being self-employed, a service provider or a student, or having their own funds to support themselves.

At all times, you are responsible for meeting the requirements for right of residence.

You have the right to stay in Norway as an EU/EEA national if you are an employee, self-employed, a service provider or you have the means to support yourself as well as obtain health insurance and you have a valid identity card or passport.

EU/EEA citizens do not need a residence permit to work in Norway.

No, an EU/EEA citizen can't apply to be in Norway for more than three months as a visitor or tourist. After three months you have to leave Norway.

Once you have left Norway, you can travel back to Norway immediately and start a new three-month stay as a visitor or tourist. There is no requirement for how long you should be outside Norway before you can come back.

When you are in Norway as a visitor or tourist, you are responsible for all your expenses during your stay here.

If you want to be in Norway for more than three months, you must exercise EU/EEA rights as an employee, self-employed person, service provider, student, have your own funds to support yourself or be a job seeker. Then you must also register according to the EU/EEA regulations.

If you have been in Norway for more than three months and do not exercise your EU/EEA rights, you can be notified by the police that you have to leave the country.

If you believe you have the right to reside, you must be able to document that the EU/EEA citizen is employed, self-employed, a service provider, a student, or has their own funds to support themselves.

If someone asks you to document that you have the right to reside, you can document this by showing employment contracts, assignment contracts, payslips, study certificates or the like.

As a family member, you must also provide documentation of the family relationship, for example a marriage certificate.

UDI cannot confirm your right to reside

UDI cannot confirm that the EU/EEA citizen is actually working, is self-employed, provides services or is a student, or has funds to support themselves. Therefore, UDI cannot give confirmation of the right to reside.

A registration certificate or a valid residence card is not a confirmation of the right to reside.

As a Norwegian citizen, you and your family members are covered by the EU/EEA regulations if:

• you have been living together in another EU/EEA country (other than Norway), and
• you have been employed, self-employed, had enough funds or been a student there, and
• you are now moving together to Norway or are reuniting in Norway

Yes, an EU/EEA citizen or their family member can lose their right to reside. This can happen, for example, if the EU/EEA citizen is no longer employed, or if the family relationship has changed. Please see below for examples of different situations.

You are an EU/EEA citizen and lose your job involuntarily

If you are an EU/EEA citizen and lose your job involuntarily, for example due to dismissal or bankruptcy, the following applies:

• You have worked in Norway for over a year: You still have right to reside, provided you register with NAV as a job seeker.
• You have worked in Norway for less than a year: You still have right to reside for six months, provided you register with NAV as a job seeker.

You are an EU/EEA citizen and resign from your job

If you quit your job, you lose your right to reside in Norway as an employee.

You are here as a family member, but have been separated

Until the divorce

If you have been married to an EU/EEA citizen, but are now separated, you still have a right to reside until the divorce, as long as the EU/EEA citizen still lives and has the right to reside in Norway. You do not need to apply for a new permit in the period up to the divorce.

After the divorce

After the divorce, you may have a right to reside in Norway.

You are an EU/EEA citizen

After the divorce, you have the right to reside if you exercise the right of residence as an EU/EEA citizen. This means that you must work, be self-employed, a service provider, a student, or have your own means to support yourself.

You are a citizen outside the EU/EEA

After the divorce, you have the right to reside if, at the time of the divorce:

• You are working, self-employed, provide services or have your own means to support yourself.
• Have been married for at least three years at the time of your separation. One of these years must have been in Norway.

It is important that you meet both of these requirements at the time of the divorce, and that you continue to meet the requirements after the divorce, otherwise you will lose the right to reside.

You do not have the right to reside in Norway as a student after the divorce, unless you also meet the above requirements.

You are here as a family member, but the EU/EEA citizen has moved from Norway

As a general rule, you lose the right to reside, unless you met the requirements for residence on an independent basis before the EU/EEA citizen moved.

If you have parental responsibility for a child in Norway, you and the child may have the right to reside as long as the child attends school here.

Residence permits for children who are born in Norway.

EU/EEA nationals must register if they are going to be in Norway for more than three months. EU/EEA nationals must have a reason to stay in Norway, meaning that they must be employed, self-employed, a posted worker, student, or have enough funds to support themselves.

Family members of EU/EEA nationals who are EU/EEA nationals themselves must use the registration scheme for EU/EEA nationals to register as family members.

Family members of EU/EEA nationals who are from a country outside the EU/EEA, must apply for a residence card if they are going to stay in Norway for more than three months.

A registration certificate is a document that confirms that the police have registered you as an EU/EEA citizen living in Norway.

Norwegian authorities require you to register when you are an EU/EEA citizen living in Norway. The purpose of the registration is for Norwegian authorities to have an overview of how many EU/EEA citizens live in Norway.

The registration certificate does not serve as confirmation that you have the right to reside in Norway. If you need to document that you have a right of residence, you do so by presenting employment contracts, payslips, study certificates or the like.

If you have lost your registration certificate and need a copy, contact your local police district or an SUA office. Please note that your registration certificate cannot be used to confirm that you have the right to reside in Norway. If you need to document your right to reside, you can present employment contracts, payslips, study certificates or the like.

As an EU/EEA citizen, you can stay in Norway for 6 months to look for work, but you must register with the Norwegian police as a job seeker no later than 3 months after arriving. Information for job seekers who are EU/EEA nationals.

A residence permit in another EU/EEA country does not give you the right to work in Norway. If you do not have a passport from an EU/EEA country, you must apply for a work permit in order to work in Norway.

Instructions for employers seeking to hire a citizen of an EU/EEA country.

Have you had paid employment for more than 1 year?

If yes, then you will retain your status as an employee if you can document that you were made redundant and that you have registered as a job seeker with NAV.

Have you had paid employment for less than 1 year?

If so, then you will retain your status as an employee for 6 months if you can document that you were made redundant and that you have registered as a job seeker with NAV.

EU/EEA nationals must contact the Norwegian Tax Administration to be assigned a D number or a national identification number.

EU/EEA nationals are issued a Norwegian national identity number from the Norwegian Tax Administration when they report that they have moved to Norway after they have registered. You must report moving to the Norwegian Tax Administration (external website, opens in new window).

A national identification number is a permanent identity number (external website, opens in new window).

If an EU/EEA national wants to start working before he/she has registered, they have to apply for a tax deduction card via the Norwegian Tax Administration (external website, opens in new window). The Norwegian Tax Administration can then issue a D number (external website, opens in new window) which is a temporary identity number.

Change personal information in the National Population Register.

UDI is unable to answer questions about your rights in Norway. Helsenorge has information about healthcare rights as a foreigner in Norway (external website).

This depends on whether you meet the application requirements.

Information about residence cards for family members of EU/EEA nationals - UDI.

If you meet all the requirements described on the webpage, you are allowed to work while you wait for the police/UDI to process your application. You must check for yourself that you meet the requirements to obtain a residence card in Norway. You can be expelled from Norway if you work when you do not meet the requirements.

No, as a family member of an EU/EEA national, you are only allowed to work when the EEA citizen has started working.

If you are a family member of an EU/EEA national and have applied for a residence card / permanent residence card, you should not leave Norway until you have a valid residence card.

Travelling out of Norway without a valid residence card may cause problems when you enter, or are in transit in, another country. You should also be prepared to spend a long time in border control in Norway upon your return. UDI cannot answer questions about border control practices in Norway or other countries. Nor can we provide any confirmation for travel purposes or that airlines or authorities in other countries are sure to accept. Any travelling you undertake without a residence card is therefore at your own risk.

If you are from a country subject to visa requirements, and you do not have a valid residence card in Norway, you must have a visitor visa (Schengen visa) to return to Norway. When applying for a visitor visa, you must submit documentation showing your family relationship to the EU/EEA citizen and that they are an employee, self-employed, a service provider, or that they have sufficient funds or status as a student in Norway. You are entitled to a visa and priority processing of your visa application, and you do not have to pay a fee. You must check the visa waiting times at the relevant foreign service mission on their website. Information for those who want to apply to visit or have holiday in Norway.

If you are a family member of an EU/EEA citizen, you must contact the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) to be assigned a D number or a national identity number (fødselsnummer).

You will be assigned a national identity number from the Norwegian Tax Administration by reporting your move to Norway (external website) after registering or by being granted a residence card as a family member of an EU/EEA citizen.

A D number (external website) is a temporary identification number. A national identity number (external website) is permanent.

Suppose you want to start working before you have been registered as a family member to an EU/EEA citizen or granted a residence card as a family member to an EU/EEA citizen. In that case, you must apply to the Norwegian Tax Administration for a tax deduction card (external website). Before you start working, you must provide documentation showing that your family member has the right to reside in Norway. Having the right to reside means that the EU/EEA citizen is either an employee, self-employed, a student, has their own funds, or is employed by a foreign enterprise. Student and those in Norway on their own funds must have insurance.

If you have lived in Norway for 5 years straight, it is possible that you meet the requirements for the permanent right to reside in Norway. If eligible, you can apply for a permanent residence card. This applies even if your reference person has become a Norwegian citizen in the meantime. If you do not fulfil the requirements for the permanent right to reside in Norway and your reference person has become a Norwegian citizen, you will have to apply for a new residence permit in accordance with Norwegian legislation.

If you are only separated, you still have rights through your spouse, as long as your spouse works in Norway or otherwise exercises rights here.

If you are formally divorced, we recommend that you apply for a new residence card so that the police/UDI can assess whether you have the right to reside in Norway on an independent basis.

If you have lived in Norway for 5 years straight, it is possible that you meet the requirements for the permanent right to reside in Norway. If eligible, you can apply for a permanent residence card.

We recommend that you do not apply more than 3 months before you meet the conditions.

Information about the permanent right to reside.

No, there is no requirement for language courses. Information about the permanent right to reside.