Fødselsnummer, MinID and BankID: the Norwegian chain
Norway has two registrations: the police are done while you stand there, but the fødselsnummer from Skatteetaten can take up to twenty-five weeks — and GP, bank and BankID wait for it. This is how the chain works, why the police's new ID card opens the bank door, and how MinID bridges the waiting time.
If you've just read the Swedish chapter, you need to switch gears: there the immigration registration has been abolished and you only wait for the tax agency. Norway has both counters — but divides the waiting exactly the other way round from what you'd expect.
Counter one: the police (fast)
Within three months of arrival you register as an EEA citizen: apply online with the UDI, then one visit to the police or an SUA office. Workers bring an employer's statement; whoever lives on their own means shows those means plus health cover. It's free, and with complete papers the registreringsbevis is issued on the spot — and never expires. This counter is the formality.
Counter two: Skatteetaten (slow, and everything waits for it)
If you stay longer than six months, you legally notify the move within eight days — in person, at one of the designated tax offices, with passport and proof of your residence and intention. After that begins the only real waiting time of the process: officially two to twenty-five weeks until the fødselsnummer is there.
That number is the Norwegian key to everything: the GP (fastlege), the bank, BankID, the ID card. Hence the most important lesson of this article: the eight-day notification is not a formality that can wait until after unpacking — every day of delay shifts the whole chain.
In the meantime you exist on a d-nummer: the temporary number that your employer or the bank, for instance, can apply for on your behalf. With it you can pay tax and (at some banks) open an account — but not choose a fastlege and not collect an ID card.
The bank door: the ID card that has existed since 2025
For years newcomers got stuck in a circle: the bank wanted a Norwegian proof of identity, and that didn't exist for foreigners. Since 2025 that circle has been broken: EEA citizens with a fødselsnummer can collect a national ID card from the police (NOK 840, not a travel document). Skatteetaten itself names it as the solution to the bank problem — the card gives banks "an identity to build on". So collect it as soon as your number is there; it's the cheapest accelerator of the whole process.
After that it's straightforward: open an account (the ID check is by law in person), and switch on BankID via internet banking — the digital key for Vipps, the government and every login screen.
The bridge: MinID
For the weeks before BankID there's MinID: the government's own eID, which already works with a d-nummer via an activation letter by post. Not a full BankID — but enough for the tax agency, your skattekort and most government services. Apply for it as soon as you have a number; the letter on its way is exactly the time you're waiting anyway.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey: the same chain, but as tickable steps for your situation — in your order and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Norway.
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.
- UDI — registration as an EEA worker — udi.no
- UDI — residence on your own funds (registration duty, funds and health cover) — udi.no
- Folkeregisterloven — the eight-day notification deadline — lovdata.no
- Skatteetaten — the ID check in person — skatteetaten.no
- Skatteetaten — fødselsnummer and d-nummer — skatteetaten.no
- Politiet — the national ID card for foreign citizens — politiet.no
- Skatteetaten — becoming an online user (MinID, BankID) — skatteetaten.no
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