Income Requirement

The requirement to financially support yourself applies to those between 18 and 67 years of age. You must have had a total income of at least 

 before tax in the last twelve months. This twelve-month period is counted backwards from the date you submitted your application to the police and met the other requirements for a permanent residence permit, such as the required period of residence.

You must have earned this income yourself. You cannot include money earned by your spouse or other family members, gifts, or money held in your bank account.

These Types of Income Are Accepted

You can have one or more of the following types of income:

• income from employment
• business income (from your own company)
• pension payments or permanent periodical benefits, for example, interest earned and regular income from insurance settlements, contractual pensions, personal pension schemes, life insurance payments, and rental income
• sickness benefit, pregnancy benefit, parental benefit, retirement pension, unemployment benefit, work assessment allowance, single parent’s benefit
• student loans or grants from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen)
• introduction benefits from the introduction programme

If your income originates from outside Norway, you are required to provide the necessary documentation yourself.

These Types of Income Are Not Accepted

Other types of income from NAV, such as qualification benefit, employment scheme benefits, survivor’s pension, housing support, child benefit, or lump-sum birth grants, are not considered valid income.

Exceptions to the Income Requirement

In some cases, you may be exempt from the requirement. To qualify for an exemption, you must, in the last twelve months or the last two school terms, have been in one of the following situations:

• You participated in primary or upper secondary education and are under 25 years of age or will turn 25 before 1 July this year. This also applies to apprentices who took part in upper secondary education before their apprenticeship.
• You participated in primary or upper secondary education as part of the introduction programme.
• You participated in upper secondary education as part of a labour market scheme organised by NAV. This also applies to apprentices who attended school before their apprenticeship. The scheme must be registered in accordance with the labour market initiatives regulations section 7-2 (“tiltaksforskriften”). (external website)
• You were a full-time student in higher education. The institution must be approved by the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) and qualify for student loans or grants.
• You were a full-time student in higher education as part of a NAV programme. The scheme must be registered in accordance with the labour market initiatives regulations section 7-2 (“tiltaksforskriften”) (external website).
• You received disability benefits from the NAV.
• You were granted an independent residence permit because you were abused by your spouse or cohabitant.
• You were wholly or partly unable to work due to illness or injury and could not work more than 50 per cent.
• You had a full-time job with the legal minimum wage for your profession.

UDI may grant further exemptions if you can document that it would be extremely unreasonable to require you to support yourself financially. These exemptions are rarely granted.

Changes After Submitting Your Application

When we process your application, we calculate your income in the last twelve months before you submitted it.

If you met the income requirement at the time you submitted your application to the police and fulfilled the other requirements for a permanent residence permit, changes in your income or situation after submission do not affect your application.

You Should Wait to Apply Until You Meet the Requirement

If you do not meet the requirement and are not eligible for an exemption, you should wait to apply for a permanent residence permit. You can apply to renew your current residence permit until you meet the requirements.

You may still apply for a permanent residence permit without meeting the income requirement, but your application may be rejected. In that case, UDI or the police may instead renew your current residence permit if you meet the criteria for renewal.