The reference person is a student who is a Norwegian or Nordic citizen or holds a permanent residence permit

If the reference person has achieved 60 credits or more the last year

If you, as reference person, have achieved at least 60 credits, or taken a full-time study programme at a technical college, in the last tax year or study year, you must have a total income of at least 

. If you do not have a high income, but you have an income of at least NOK 351 432 per year pre-tax, UDI will normally make an exception to the income requirement because the ordinary requirement may be difficult for students to meet. An exception will not be made in an application from a spouse if UDI believes there is suspicion that the marriage is a forced marriage.

It must be likely that you will have this income for at least one year from the time UDI processes your application. UDI will check that the income requirement has been met during the first year of residence in Norway.

Your income can for example come from student loans, grants, income from employment or a combination of these.

There is no requirement that you had any income last year.

If you are going to continue your studies, and the applicant has a job offer in Norway, the applicant’s income can be included in order to meet the requirement.

Examples of what counts as achieving 60 credits the last year:

• You took 60 credits in 2025.
• You finished your studies in the summer of 2025, and took 60 credits in the last year of your studies (autumn 2024 + spring 2025).
• You took a full-time study programme at a technical college in 2025.
• You took a full-time study programme at a technical college in the last academic year (autumn 2024 + spring 2025) and finished your study programme at the technical college in the summer of 2025.

If the reference person has achieved less than 60 credits the last year

If you, as reference person, have not studied full time in the last tax year or academic year, there are other requirements for your income.

Examples of what counts as achieving less than 60 credits the last year:

• You took 50 credits in 2025.
• You took 30 credits in 2025 and worked part time.
• You took a part-time study programme at a technical college in 2025.

If your study programme gives you an uneven amount of achieved credits per academic year, we can consider if you on average achieve 60 credits per year or not.

As reference person, you must have a total income of at least 

. It must be probable that you are going to continue having this income for at least another year. You may later be asked to document that you had this income the first year your family member was in Norway.

In addition, there are requirements for your income last year. 

You must have had a total income of at least 

.

This must be income that your employer has reported to the Tax Administration and that corresponds to what is stated in your payslips. When your tax settlement is ready for the last year, it must show an income of at least the amount shown above. If we do not have the information about your income from last year, the previous year will apply.

If you have an income of at least 

, and an income last year of at least NOK 345 914, UDI will normally make an exception to the income requirement because the ordinary requirement may be difficult for students to meet. An exception will not be made in an application from a spouse if UDI believes there is suspicion that the marriage is a forced marriage.

Types of income counting towards the reference person’s future income

As reference person, you can have one or more of the types of income below:

• income from employment
• sickness benefit, pregnancy benefit, parental support, disability benefit or retirement pension from the National Insurance Scheme (folketrygden)
• other permanent pensions or periodical benefits (insurance payments or similar)
• loans or grants received in connection with studies

If the applicant is already in lawful employment in Norway, the applicant's income can be included in order to meet the requirement.

Types of income not counting towards the reference person’s future income

• financial assistance from NAV (økonomisk sosialhjelp)
• housing support
• unemployment benefit and work assessment allowance (Arbeidsavklarings­penger (AAP))
• any benefits you receive because you have children
• lump sum grant in connection with birth
• own funds (money in an account)