Your first weeks in Norway: eight days, three months and the wait for a number
The first weeks in Norway revolve around two counters and one waiting time. Within eight days you report in person to Skatteetaten, within three months to the police, and after that you wait two to twenty-five weeks for the fødselsnummer that the GP, the ID card and the bank are waiting for. Which clocks are running, what you can already do with a d-nummer, and where the money goes in those weeks.
Your first weeks in Norway are mostly waiting, and the waiting only starts once you report. The law gives you eight days after arrival to report in person to the tax office, with your passport, if you are settling in a Norwegian municipality. After that Skatteetaten gives a processing time of two to twenty-five weeks for a move to Norway. Only once that report is approved do you get a fødselsnummer, and the GP, the ID card and the bank are waiting for it. The trap is therefore delay: whoever lets the eight days slip until the boxes are unpacked, pushes everything that follows back too.
Which clocks are running?
| Clock | Deadline | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting to Skatteetaten | within 8 days of arrival | in person, with passport, at one of the 42 offices with ID checks |
| The fødselsnummer | 2 to 25 weeks | the processing time Skatteetaten gives; the answer comes by post |
| Registration with the police | within 3 months of arrival | you get the registration certificate on the spot if your papers are complete |
| Tax deduction card | only after the ID check | until then your employer withholds 50 per cent |
| Car on Dutch plates | up to 30 days after clearance | after that only on Norwegian or temporary plates |
| BPM refund in the Netherlands | Norwegian registration within 13 weeks | counted from the export status at the RDW |
The last two only apply if the car comes along; how that sum works is in your car to Norway.
What can I already do without a fødselsnummer?
More than you think, and less than you want. If you need a tax deduction card and have no Norwegian number yet, Skatteetaten creates a d-nummer for you. With it you can work and pay tax, and you can apply for MinID with it: an activation letter by post, after which you log in to most public services. What is not possible: a regular GP. Helsenorge is clear about that: whoever has only a d-nummer has no right to a fastlege, but does have the right to necessary care via the municipality. And the police's national ID card requires a full fødselsnummer. How that chain continues is in the Norwegian chain and in banking and paying.
What does happen by itself: the national insurance. Whoever moves to Norway to stay at least twelve months is, according to NAV, a member of the folketrygd from the day of arrival, and whoever works there is a compulsory member. You do not have to apply for anything.
Where does the money go in the first weeks?
Three items coincide, and they all fall early.
The deposit. A landlord may ask up to six months' rent as a deposit, in a separate account in your name. What the tenancy law further arranges is in renting in Norway.
The emergency rate. Without a tax deduction card your employer must withhold 50 per cent, and Skatteetaten only issues the card after the ID check. Whoever is at the tax office in week one prevents the first payslip arriving halved.
The missing holiday pay. Holiday in Norway is essentially time off without pay; the holiday pay you built up in the previous year makes up for it. If you did not work last year, you have built up no holiday pay. You do have the right to holiday, but your first summer is a tight one. That is worked out in working in Norway.
The eight days are a legal deadline, and also your fastest route to a full payslip. The tax deduction card only comes after the ID check, and the wait for the fødselsnummer only starts with your report. So go in your first week, with your passport, to one of the offices that do the ID check. Every week later is a week longer on the emergency rate and a week later for a GP.
What do I notice at the GP?
As soon as your fødselsnummer is there and you are in the Population Register as a resident, you have the right to a fastlege. The municipality must make sure you get one, but Helsenorge honestly adds that some municipalities have too few GPs. You may also choose a GP in another municipality; in a municipality with a big shortage a practice in the neighbouring one is sometimes quicker. Children under 16 automatically get the same GP as their mother, if the parents share custody and live at the same address. What a visit costs and when you pay nothing more is in healthcare in Norway.
How do I keep hold of the order?
By not seeing the waiting time as standing still. The two to twenty-five weeks are the time in which you rent, work on your d-nummer, activate MinID and register for school and barnehage. Which step comes when for you is in the step-by-step plan for Norway.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Norway or go straight to step 4.2 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change — when in doubt the source is leading, not this article.
- Population Register Act § 6-2 — report in person to the tax office within eight days of arrival — lovdata.no
- Skatteetaten — the ID check in person, at 42 tax offices — skatteetaten.no
- Skatteetaten — processing times, moving to Norway two to twenty-five weeks — skatteetaten.no
- Skatteetaten — no tax deduction card before the ID check, and then 50 per cent withholding — skatteetaten.no
- Immigration Act § 117 — registration as an EEA citizen within three months — lovdata.no
- Helsenorge — the right to a fastlege, and why a d-nummer is not enough — helsenorge.no
- NAV — membership of the national insurance scheme from the day of arrival — nav.no
- Skatteetaten — importing a vehicle, thirty days on foreign plates after clearance — skatteetaten.no
- Belastingdienst — BPM refund on export, registration in Norway within 13 weeks — belastingdienst.nl
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