If you receive an AFP pension and have moved to another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you will no longer be a compulsory member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
You can check with NAV to see whether you can acquire voluntary membership of the National Insurance Scheme before leaving Norway. As a voluntary member of the National Insurance Scheme, you will retain your rights to healthcare services in Norway. This means you can also choose to return to Norway in order to receive treatment, but you will then have to cover your travel expenses yourself.
With voluntary membership, you may also be entitled to subsidies for treatment abroad. This means that you can claim some of the expenses you incur for certain healthcare services. We recommend that you also take out a private insurance policy: The amounts you can claim from Helfo are limited.
Read more about voluntary membership of the National Insurance Scheme at nav.no (in Norwegian).
Do you receive a private contractual pension as well as an old age pension from the National Insurance Scheme?
If you receive a private contractual pension at the same time as an old age pension from the National Insurance Scheme, you will be considered an old age pensioner. You can then apply for an S1 certificate. Read about this on the page entitled ‘Pensioners in the EU/EEA and Switzerland’.
Submit your claim to Helfo
Anyone with voluntary membership of the National Insurance Scheme can apply for reimbursement of their healthcare expenses in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland using this digital form:
Deadline for submitting an application
Forms and documentation must be submitted to Helfo within six months from the date of treatment. If you have not paid for treatment on the spot, but received an invoice afterwards, we will calculate the deadline from the date on the invoice instead of the date of treatment. In this context, ‘invoice’ means the first payment request/first demand for payment sent by the treatment provider.
Paper form
If you are unable to use our digital form, you can use the paper form instead. Fill out the following form and send it to Helfo, Postboks 2415, 3104 Tønsberg:
Example
Bjørn is an AFP pensioner and has moved to Spain. He has applied for and been granted voluntary membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. When Bjørn breaks his hip and is admitted to hospital in Benidorm, he must pay for the treatment. He applies to Helfo for reimbursement by submitting a digital form, along with receipts and documentation to prove that the treatment has been provided. He makes sure he does this within six months of the treatment date. Bjørn is reimbursed for some of his treatment expenses.
