Parental leave and periods spent abroad

What must you document if you apply to bring time accumulated from another country with you when you apply for parental benefit in Norway?

Time accumulated from an EU/EEA country

The provisions in the EEA rules regarding adding periods together mean that you can take work in Norway before the birth and/or add this period to a previous period or previous periods of work that you have had in other EEA countries during the ten months prior to the start of the benefit period. You can thus be entitled to parental benefit under Norwegian rules even if you have not worked in Norway during the entire accrual period. The fact that you are currently working in Norway makes you eligible to apply the provisions for adding periods together.

If an employee comes from an EU/EEA country and wishes to add the accrual periods together, he or she must fill in the form E 104. This certifies the addition of periods of national insurance, work or residence. If you are abroad when you fill in the form, it must be submitted to NAV International – the international office of NAV. If you are in Norway, the form must be submitted to the local NAV office.

Time accumulated from a country outside EU/EEA

For persons who come from countries other than those included in the EU/EEA, the national insurance coverage will vary depending on the type of national insurance agreements Norway has with the country in question. For example some agreements state that you can only transfer accumulated time to the retirement pension, while in other cases you can add accumulated time to parental leave. The rights will thus depend on the individual agreement. Such agreements take precedence over other regulatory measures in the Norwegian National Insurance Act, and employees must contact NAV and the UiO for a detailed clarification of the type of entitlements they have.

If the child is born in a country other than Norway, does this have any effect on the right to parental benefit?

Children born in an EU/EEA country

In general the parental benefit is not affected. The important factor is that you meet the requirements in the National Insurance Act or national insurance agreements. As a main rule, this will not depend on where the child was born.

Children born outside the EU/EEA

In general the parental benefit is not affected. The important factor is that you meet the requirements in the National Insurance Act or national insurance agreements. As a main rule, this will not depend on where the child is born.

What opportunity does Norwegian legislation provide for stays in countries other than Norway while you are taking parental leave/receiving parental benefit?

It is possible to receive parental benefit even though you are spending a period abroad during your parental leave. Members of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme are entitled to parental benefit from Norway from the date the right to this benefit has been accrued, as stated in the National Insurance Act. Even if you move from Norway before the payments or the birth, you are basically entitled to parental benefit from Norway.

However, a distinction must be made among different situations with regard to the country you are residing in while you are taking parental leave:

Moving to an EU/EEA country

When you are spending time in an EU/EEA country you will be able to retain your parental benefit payments if you are already receiving them. This results from the principle that people’s previously accrued rights must not be interrupted because they move internally in the EU/EEA. The prerequisite for continuing to receive payments is that you do not take new work in the country you move to.

If you have not commenced the parental benefit period, you will be able to receive the benefit during the period spend abroad as long as you have accrued the right to the benefit from Norway before the birth in line with the general conditions for entitlement to parental leave. In this case it is a prerequisite that you do not take work in the country you move to before the birth.

Moving to countries outside the EU/EEA

You are entitled to receive benefit payments during periods spent abroad if you are still a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. Temporary stays abroad will thus not normally result in loss of entitlement to parental benefit. However, the prerequisite is that you are not in work. You must inform the UiO about which country you are going to and how long the stay is to be. You must also notify us if the stay lasts longer than planned

If you are going to stay in a country outside the EU/EEA, the type of national insurance agreement Norway has with the country in question will also play a role. The regulations in each individual agreement determine whether you will receive the benefit during your stay abroad.

When do you lose the right to child benefit in the event of periods spent abroad?

Child benefit: periods spent in another EU/EEA country

The basic requirement is that a child must be resident in Norway for the parents to be entitled to child benefit. A temporary stay abroad for the child of up to six months will not annul residence in Norway.

Due to the EEA agreement, child benefit must be paid by the country of employment of the parent who provides for the child, even if the child does not live in that country. If this parent moves from Norway and no longer works in Norway, the entitlement to child benefit will therefore be annulled.

If parents and child move abroad for a longer period of time, both the child and the person the child lives with permanently must be members of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme or must meet the requirements for being members given in the National Insurance Act Section 2-5 and Section 2-8 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian) (rules relating to compulsory and voluntary membership for persons outside Norway).

If the child lives abroad with both parents, the child and both parents must be members of the National Insurance Scheme or must meet the requirements for being members given in the National Insurance Act Section 2-5 and Section 2-8 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian).

Child benefit: periods spent in a country outside the EU/EEA

In countries without a national insurance agreement

A temporary stay abroad for the child of up to six months will not normally interrupt the right to child benefit provided that the other conditions in the Act are complied with.

If you move abroad for a longer period of time, both the child and the person the child lives with permanently must be members of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme or must meet the requirements for being members given in the National Insurance Act Section 2-5 and Section 2-8 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian) (rules relating to compulsory and voluntary membership for persons outside Norway).

If the child lives abroad with both parents, the child and both parents must be members of the National Insurance Scheme or must meet the requirements for being members given in the National Insurance Act Section 2-5 and Section 2-8 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian).

In countries with a national insurance agreement

A temporary stay in which your child is outside of Norway for up to six months will not normally terminate the right to child benefit, provided that the other conditions stated in the Act are in place.

If you move abroad for a longer period, both the child and the person with whom the child permanently resides must be members of the National Insurance Scheme, or fulfil the conditions for membership of the National Insurance Scheme, pursuant to the National Insurance Act Section 2-5 and Section 2-8 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian) (the rules on compulsory and voluntary membership for persons outside of Norway).

In such cases it is the specific national insurance agreement between Norway and the country in question that determines whether the family are included in the agreement and whether in this case you are entitled to child benefit.

When do you lose the right to cash benefit in the event of periods spent abroad?

Cash benefit: periods spent in another EU/EEA country

Cash benefit is in general only granted for children who are resident in the country and are members of the National Insurance Scheme. The main rule is that the person who receives the benefit must be resident in Norway.

A temporary stay abroad when the child is outside Norway for up to three consecutive months will not interrupt the child’s residence in Norway.

Legal practice laid down by the Court of Justice of the EU states that children who live in a member state other than the one that pays their benefit can also be entitled to the cash benefit on condition that one of the parents is working in Norway.

 Children will be entitled to the benefit paid in their country of residence if the other conditions are fulfilled. Cash benefit is thus paid to your children resident abroad if the parent who provides for the child is working in Norway. If the parents move from Norway and will not be working here, the right to the cash benefit will thus be annulled.

If one of the parents is still working in Norway, the cash benefit payment can continue.

Cash benefit: periods spent in a country outside the EU/EEA

In countries without a national insurance agreement

In general you can retain the cash benefit if the child is temporarily outside Norway for up to three months and the other conditions are fulfilled. If the period abroad lasts more than three months, the cash benefit will not be granted.

In countries with a national insurance agreement

In general you can retain the cash benefit if the child is temporarily outside Norway for up to three consecutive months. If the period abroad lasts more than three months, the cash benefit will not be granted.

However, in such cases the entitlement to the cash benefit will depend on the type of agreement that exists between Norway and the country in question.

When is a period abroad regarded as permanent?

With regard to the National Insurance Scheme

In accordance with the provisions in the National Insurance Scheme, which also regulate pension rights, you are deemed to have moved out of Norway permanently from the day you leave the country if the period abroad is intended to last more than 12 months. However, in certain cases you can retain membership in the National Insurance Scheme through voluntary or compulsory membership.

Members of the scheme must pay national insurance contributions, and the obligation to pay corresponds accordingly with membership in the scheme. When you pay taxes to Norway, the tax office determines and assesses tax on national insurance contributions. If you do not pay taxes to Norway, NAV must collect the contributions if you are still a member of the National Insurance Scheme. NAV International also collects your national insurance contribution if you have voluntary membership in the scheme.

With regard to tax

To be deemed no longer resident in Norway under tax law, the three following conditions must be fulfilled:

1. You must have permanent residence abroad.
2. You must not be in Norway for one or more periods that exceed 61 days in the income year.
3. Neither the person in question nor his/her close family (spouse, partner or children under 18) must have a residence at their disposal in Norway.

Special rules for persons who have lived in Norway for more than ten years

When a person has lived in Norway for a total of ten years or more before the income year in which he or she establishes permanent residence abroad, the obligation to pay tax to Norway will not cease until the end of the third income year after the year he or she established permanent residence in another country. This means that a taxpayer who established permanent residence abroad in year 1 will still be resident in Norway for tax purposes in years 2, 3 and 4. Norwegian residence will not cease until the fifth year.

Will whether or not you retain a residential address in Norway make any difference?

In general this will make no difference. It is the actual circumstances that are decisive, and whether or not you are registered in the Norwegian national register makes no difference.

What must be done to be granted voluntary membership in the National Insurance Scheme? When are employees recommended to apply for this?

There are rules for voluntary membership, for both persons in Norway and persons outside the country. Applying for voluntary membership is recommended if you are uncertain about whether you have adequate rights or if you otherwise will not have satisfactory social insurance.

Voluntary membership for persons in Norway

Cases may arise where a person is in Norway but is nonetheless not a member of the National Insurance Scheme. In such cases it is possible to apply to enrol in the scheme. Applications for voluntary membership are submitted to the local NAV office at the place the person in question is staying or living. A discretionary judgement will be made regarding whether he or she will be enrolled into the National Insurance Scheme.

When assessing the question of whether a person is to be enrolled as a voluntary member, emphasis will be placed on the following:

• Whether the applicant has previously been a member of the scheme
• Whether the applicant is a member of a foreign insurance scheme
• Whether the applicant’s spouse is a member of the scheme
• How long the applicant has stayed in Norway
• How long the applicant intends to stay in Norway
• How strong the applicant’s affiliation to Norwegian society is otherwise

Voluntary membership for persons outside Norway

In some cases it is possible to be granted voluntary membership in the National Insurance Scheme even though you are not resident in Norway.

However, a condition for membership in the National Insurance Scheme in this situation is that the person concerned has been a member for at least three of the five calendar years prior to the date of application, and that he or she has a close affiliation to Norwegian society.

In addition, the applicant must belong to one of various specified personal categories. Voluntary membership is only granted if the applicant:

• Is employed abroad and works in an enterprise that has its headquarters in Norway
• Is studying at a university or university college abroad and does not receive support from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund
• Has a government assignment or a grant abroad
• Is a pensioner with a long period of residence in Norway

If an applicant is not included in any of the above categories, he or she can apply to become a voluntary member when special grounds make this reasonable. However, this is still conditional on membership in the scheme for three of the last five calendar years and a close affiliation to Norway.

Whether or not it is reasonable to grant membership will in such special cases specifically depend on the situation of the individual applicant. An assessment will be made as to whether the person involved has such a strong affiliation to Norway during the period abroad that it is reasonable to grant membership in the National Insurance Scheme.

Applications for membership must be submitted to NAV International. In principle membership will not commence until the date NAV International received the application. The applicant can nonetheless be enrolled as a member of the scheme from an earlier date if the other conditions for entitlement to a benefit from the scheme are not yet fulfilled and if it is deemed reasonable.

When can the mother's and father’s/co-mother’s leave be covered by different countries?

Which country is to regulate the parental leave will vary according to the individual country’s internal legislation. Although as a general rule the EEA regulations state that only one country’s rules of law are to regulate welfare benefits, there are examples of countries with legislation that overlaps the established rules. However, you must not receive “double” welfare benefits.

If the parental benefit period is postponed due to work during a stay abroad (remote office), does this affect the entitlement to parental benefit?

This will depend on when you make the move. An established principle in the EEA rules is that rights that have already been accrued cannot be annulled if the rights holder moves to another EEA country. If you have already accrued the right to parental benefit according to Norwegian rules, and are still a member of the National Insurance Scheme, you will not lose your benefit merely because you move to another EU/EEA country. However, you will lose your entitlement if you take other employment in the EU/EEA country, but you will then be covered by the national insurance in the country to which you have moved.