If you work in Norway and live in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you will normally be covered for your healthcare in both Norway and the country in which you live.
Illustration: Morten Rakke / Helfo
If you are an employee and you carry out your work in Norway and are a resident of another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you will normally need to be a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
You will then be covered for essential expenses for healthcare services provided by the national health service and you will have to pay user fees for any treatment you receive.
If you have any questions about membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, visit the NAV (Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration) website.
The web portal «Work in Norway – The Official Guide», which is a collaboration between NAV, the Norwegian Tax Administration, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority and the Norwegian Police, also contains a lot of useful information for people who plan to work in Norway.
Piotr from Poland has accepted a job as a carpenter at a Norwegian carpentry firm. He has thereby become a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. When Piotr later breaks his leg while skiing, he goes to the emergency ward in Kongsberg for treatment. He must pay the same user fee as Norwegians for his treatment.
You will also be entitled to receive healthcare services in your country of residence. You will normally be considered to be resident where your immediate family (your spouse, cohabiting partner and/or children) live. You can be considered to be resident in another EU/EEA country even if you are registered as being resident in Norway.
To document your rights, you must take certificate S1 (formerly form E106) which you obtain from Helfo with you. You must submit this certificate to the National Insurance authorities in the country in which you live.
The certificate will not be valid until Helfo has received feedback from the National Insurance authorities in your country of residence.
Certificate S1 documents your entitlement to essential health services provided by the national health service in the same way as citizens of your own country of residence. It is the legislation in the country in which you live which determines the proportion of your expenses that will be covered. You will therefore have to pay the same contributions towards your expenses as other inhabitants of the country.
If you have dependent family members in your country of residence, they must contact the National Insurance authorities there in order to find out their rights.
It is not necessary to apply for certificate S1 within the Nordic region. This document is not used between the Nordic countries. If you work in Norway and are resident in another Nordic country, you will have the same health rights as citizens of the country without having certificate S1. Contact the National Insurance authorities in the country in which you are living in order to get more information about your rights and which documentation you need.
Piotr is at home in Poland and needs a follow-up check on his leg. He therefore uses the healthcare services there. He has a valid S1 certificate and only has to pay the same user fee as everyone else in his country of residence.
The United Kingdom left the European Union on January 31. 2020. All health care rights will remain throughout a transition period, preliminarily until December 31. 2020.
Read more about the consequences of Brexit on Helsedirektoratet's website (in Norwegian)
If you have any questions, please call Veiledning helsenorge.no (user service): +47 23 32 70 00
You have rights if you receive certain benefits from NAV.
If you receive sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, parental benefit, work assessment allowance, maternity benefit, care benefit, training allowance or attendance allowance and live in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you will have the same rights as people who work in Norway but live in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland.
You therefore have rights both in Norway and in your country of residence. (Read more in step 1 and 2.) To document your rights in your country of residence, you must present certificate S1 (formerly E106) which is issued by Helfo.
Piotr is on sick-leave for a while after breaking his leg. If he fulfills the conditions for sickness benefits from NAV, he retains the same rights to healthcare as when he was working.
You, or someone you give power of attorney, must apply to Helfo in order to obtain an S1 certificate.
You can apply for an S1 certificate using a digital form in Altinn. To log in to Altinn you need electronic ID. If you do not have one, consider giving power of attorney to someone who has electronic ID – for example your employer. A person with power of attorney and electronic ID can log in and submit applications on your behalf.
Altinn displays in Norwegian by default. Here is a guide on how to change the page to English.
If you are working, you must ensure that you enclose the following:
Please note the following:
You will find useful information about submitting the digital form here (in Norwegian).
Certificate S1 is valid for the duration of the employment contract with your Norwegian employer. If the employment contract does not stipulate the duration of the employment, the document will be valid for two years. If the employment lasts more than two years, you will have to apply for a new S1.
If you are unable to use our digital form, you can fill in and submit the following form instead:
Send your application to: Helfo, P.O. Box 2415, 3104 Tønsberg.
Piotr applies digitally to Helfo for certificate S1 because his old one has expired. He attaches a copy of his employment contract and a confirmation from his employer that he is still employed by the joinery company.
If you contact Helfo on behalf of anyone else, you must have power of attorney for them.
Parents/guardians must also have power of attorney from any children aged 18 or over. In the case of health information, you must have power of attorney from any children aged 16 or over. This is because the age of majority under health law is 16.
Health information is sensitive information and should not be sent by e-mail. You should therefore send the power of attorney to Helfo as an attachment to a digital form, or by letter post to Helfo, Postboks 2415, 3104 Tønsberg. Remember to enclose a copy of valid identification.