New in Norway
Norway relocation essentials
The practical things every newcomer needs: medical emergency numbers, electronic ID, health care, driving licence, Norwegian lessons, work and family benefits, checked against official Norwegian sources.
Updated 5 November 2026
Medical emergency numbers
Save these numbers on your phone the day you arrive (source: helsenorge.no).
Medical emergency: accidents, serious illness or danger to lifeOut-of-hours emergency clinic (legevakt), when your GP is unavailable and help cannot wait
Help with your GP and health services
- Helsenorge help line, for example to find or change your regular GP+47 23 32 70 00
BankID, MinID, Vipps and your phone
- BankID is issued by your bank. You need a national identity number or D-number, must visit the bank in person with your passport and must be at least 12. BankID on mobile is being phased out.
- MinID is the public electronic ID. It also needs a national identity number or D-number: you order an activation letter, posted to your address in the National Population Register.
- Vipps (users over 15) needs BankID, a national identity number or D-number, a Norwegian mobile number, a registered Norwegian address, a Norwegian Visa or Mastercard and an account with a Norwegian bank.
- Mobile phone: for a subscription you show a valid passport, national ID card or Norwegian driving licence, or use BankID. A Norwegian identity number is not required, but providers may ask for one for a credit check.
Health care
- If you move to Norway for at least 12 months, you are as a rule a member of the National Insurance Scheme (folketrygden) from the date you arrive; if you work here, normally from your first working day.
- Everyone registered as resident in a Norwegian municipality has the right to a regular GP (fastlege); people with a D-number normally do not. Choose or change your GP on helsenorge.no.
- Once you have paid more than NOK 3,278 in approved user fees in 2026, you get an exemption card (frikort) automatically. Most dental costs do not count. From 1 August 2026, everyone under 18 is exempt from user fees for the services the exemption card covers.
- Everyone living in Norway is entitled to emergency health care. Visitors from the EU/EEA, Switzerland and the UK need a valid physical European Health Insurance Card (EHIC); digital cards are not accepted.
Driving licence
- A valid EU/EEA licence can be used in Norway and exchanged without new tests. UK and Swiss licences have the same rights.
- A licence from outside the EU/EEA can be used for three months from the date you are registered as resident (on a temporary stay with a residence permit and a job contract for more than three months, up to six months).
- Licences from Australia, Canada, Israel, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, South Korea and the USA can be exchanged after a theory test and a practical test; Japanese and Greenlandic licences can also be exchanged. Other licences cannot: you need a Norwegian licence through the normal training and tests.
Bringing pets
- Bringing a dog, cat or other pet? This guide does not cover the entry rules for animals. Check the official requirements for your animal and the country you travel from well before you move, and ask us if you are unsure where to start.
Norwegian lessons
- Family immigrants whose permit can lead to permanent residence, and participants in the introduction programme, have a right and a duty to free Norwegian training (Integration Act, integreringsloven; ages 18 to 67).
- Work immigrants from outside the EEA and their reunited family have a duty but no right to free training: the municipality must offer it but may charge, until you reach the Norwegian goal or have used 225 hours. EU/EEA citizens and students have neither, but may be offered training.
- Norskprøven gives a result from A1 to B2 for each part. You register through a test centre, usually your municipality; the test cannot be taken abroad, and prices vary. With a right and duty to training, you can take every part free of charge once.
Work and pay
- Your employer must give you a written contract at the latest seven days after you start, if the job lasts more than one month. Normal hours are at most 9 a day and 40 a week, and overtime is paid at least 40 percent extra (Working Environment Act, arbeidsmiljøloven).
- Holiday: at least 25 working days a year, with holiday pay of at least 10.2 percent of last year's pay (Holiday Act, ferieloven).
- Statutory minimum wages exist only in nine industries, such as construction and cleaning. The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet) answers questions on contracts, pay, overtime and holidays, also at the Service Centres for Foreign Workers (SUA).
Family benefits
- Child benefit (barnetrygd) from NAV: NOK 2,012 per child per month for ages 0 to 18 (from 1 February 2026), plus NOK 512 a month in Finnmark, on Svalbard and in seven Nord-Troms municipalities. You need to apply, for example, if your child was not born in Norway.
- Kindergarten: a child who turns one by the end of November in the year you apply has the right to a place. The national maximum fee is NOK 1,200 a month for a full-time place (from 1 August 2025), and no household pays more than 6 percent of its income per child.
- Parental benefit (foreldrepenger) requires income in at least 6 of the 10 months before the leave, at least NOK 68,275 a year (half of G), and membership of the National Insurance Scheme.
Housing
- A deposit may be at most six months' rent and must be paid into a deposit account in your name, never in cash or into the landlord's own account (Tenancy Act, husleieloven).
- A lease with an end date must as a rule run for at least three years. Disputes go to the Rent Disputes Tribunal (Husleietvistutvalget, HTU), part of Husbanken since 1 January 2026.
- Renting, buying and letting out property: see our Property page.
More guides for newcomers
Cities in Norway
Population, universities, airports, public transport and rents in Norway's main cities for newcomers.
International schools in Norway
IB, Cambridge and French curricula in Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim, with free public options in Oslo.
National identity number and D-number
Who gets which number, when to report a move, the ID check, what to bring and what comes next.
Want one plan for all of it?
We line up registration, your identity number, tax deduction card, bank, GP, school and housing in the right order, and follow every step in the client portal.
Official sources
Emergencies and health
Electronic ID and driving