Guidance Helsenorge
If you have any questions, please call Guidance Helsenorge: +47 23 32 70 00
Students outside the EU/EEA
When you are a full-time student outside of the EU/EEA, you might be entitled to reimbursement for expenses for healthcare services.
Illustration: Morten Rakke / Helfo
1
Who is entitled to reimbursement for healthcare services?
When you are a full-time student at a college or university outside of the EU/EEA and are a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, you are entitled to reimbursement for expenses for health care services.
To ensure you are a member, read more about this at NAV's website (in Norwegian).
You are not considered a full-time student if you intend to study for the examen philosophicum or examen facultatum overseas and take the exam in Norway, or if you intend to study at a Norwegian educational institution via the Internet. Therefore, the same rules that apply for tourists also apply for you.
Confirmation of healthcare entitlements
If you are a Norwegian citizen and receive support from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) to study abroad, you will automatically receive a document/letter from Helfo confirming your healthcare entitlements outside of Norway. The document will be sent to your address that is registered in the Norwegian National Registry. It takes approximately 15 working days from when the support is approved until you receive confirmation. During certain periods it may take somewhat longer before you receive confirmation.
If you are not a Norwegian citizen or do not receive support from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund and intend to study abroad for more than one year, you have to apply for voluntary membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme to be entitled to coverage of expenses for healthcare services. Read more about this at NAV's website.
Do you have dependent family members?
Benefits from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) are intended to support one person. As a student with a loan from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund, you are therefore considered to be the provider for your own children, but not your spouse.
Spouses and own children who, pursuant to the Norwegian National Insurance Act, do not have independent rights to benefits for health care services abroad, can apply to NAV for voluntary membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. With voluntary membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, family members also receive the right to coverage of expenses for healthcare services abroad.
A spouse is considered to be
- a person who has entered into marriage pursuant to the Norwegian Marriage Act or has entered into marriage abroad that is recognised in Norway
- a cohabitant where the cohabiting couple have or have had joint children, or were previously married to one another (children refers to people under the age of 18)
If the stay is intended to be for less than one year and the accompanying spouse is not working, the spouse shall retain membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme and will be considered a tourist. This means that the accompanying spouse is not entitled to coverage of expenses for health care services in the country of study and has to take out private insurance. The spouse is still entitled to health care services in Norway.
If you work
If you do any form of work while studying abroad, it might affect your membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, and thereby in your right to subsidisation for healthcare expenses from Helfo. You should contact NAV Social Insurance and Contributions to find out if you keep your membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
Student in Quebec
If you intend to study in Quebec in Canada, there are a few things you should be aware of. Read about what is special for you who will study in Québec.
Example
The cohabiting couple, Anders and Annette, are each studying for their bachelor's degrees in Australia. Both are full-time students and members of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. They have their nine-year-old daughter Sara with them who has the same rights as her parents. Neither Anders nor Annette work while they are studying. They therefore retain their membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
2
You have to pay for the treatment yourself
If you require healthcare services during your period of study, you have to pay for the treatment yourself and then afterwards apply to Helfo for reimbursement.
Your rights apply regardless of whether you choose to use the public or private healthcare system.
Example
Anders and Annette's daughter develops appendicitis while they are staying in Australia. They see a doctor and Sara is sent to a hospital. Anders and Annette pay for all consultations and treatments.
3
What can you be covered for?
For students outside the EU/EEA, the rules on extended benefits apply.
Read about what extended subsidisation cover during residence abroad.
Expenses for necessary hospital stays and hospital treatment are fully covered.
Coverage is provided for 75% of necessary expenses for:
- medical assistance
- radiological examination and treatmenttests and examinations by medical laboratories
- psychological assistance
- physical therapy
- dental assistance for illness – there are separate rules for orthodontic treatment
Example
In connection with their daughter's hospital stay, Anders and Annette have incurred expenses for medical assistance and the hospital treatment. Coverage is provided for 75 percent of the expenses for medical assistance and the hospital expenses are covered in full.
4
Remember documentation!
When the treatment is completed, you have to take home with you:
- the necessary documentation of your state of health, examinations and any treatment
- original receipts for all expenses
- documentation that the expenses have been paid
In order for Helfo to consider the claim and reach a decision, the documentation must be comprehensible. This means that all documentation must initially be in Norwegian, Danish, Swedish or English. You should therefore try to get the documentation issued in one of these languages. If the documents are in another language, Helfo can, if necessary, ask you to have them translated. You must pay for the translation yourself. If you send in a translated document, you must also send in the original.
Example
Anders and Annette make sure that they look after the documentation of the examinations and treatments carried out, as well as the discharge report, original receipts and documentation that the expenses have been paid. These must be sent to Helfo together with the application for reimbursement.
5
Travel expenses may be covered
Travel expenses are reimbursable under the same rules that apply in Norway.
As in Norway, the main rule is that your travel expenses are reimbursed at a standard rate per kilometre regardless of which means of transport you use. You must travel to the geographically closest location at which the health service can be provided.
If appropriate healthcare is not available where you are staying, this must be confirmed by a doctor at that location in order for travel and accommodation expenses connected with your treatment to be reimbursed. The confirmation must include information on the medical necessity of travelling to another town or another country, and the location of the nearest available appropriate healthcare.
If a companion is necessary for medical or treatment-related reasons, this person's travel expenses will also be reimbursable.
Children under the age of 18 have the right to have a travel companion with them when they are to receive treatment. The travel companion receives coverage for his/her travel expenses when travelling to and from the place of treatment. Other travel while the child is in hospital is not covered.
In order to be reimbursed, the journey must be longer than ten kilometres each way and cost more than the local minimum fare by scheduled public transport. You will have to pay a user fee per journey.
If you are applying for reimbursement of travel costs, use the same form as for claiming your healthcare expenses. The form is available at step 6.
Example
Anders and Annette rent an apartment on the outskirts of Melbourne. Their daughter Sara has received treatment at a private hospital in the centre of the city. This is the nearest place she can receive appropriate healthcare. They enter the travel expenses for Sara and a companion in the digital form that they use for claiming reimbursement for Sara's treatment. Sara's and the companion's travel expenses to the hospital are reimbursed.
6
Submit your application
Remember to send the application form together with the necessary documentation within 6 months.
For details regarding documentation requirements, see under «Remember documentation».
Deadline
The application form and documentation must be sent to Helfo within 6 months of each individual invoice date, i.e. the date on the invoice you receive. If you settle the treatment the same day you receive it, the time limit starts from this date.
Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet has proposed a change in the legislation regulating the application deadline for reimbursement for treatment received abroad. This means that if you have not settled on the spot, but received an invoice afterwards, the deadline is calculated from the invoice date instead of the treatment date.
Paper form
If you are unable to use our digital form, you can complete the following form instead:
Send the application to: Helfo, Postboks 2415, 3104 Tønsberg.
Example
Anders and Annette fill out the application form and send this together with all relevant documentation to Helfo within six months of the treatment date.
Send the application to: Helfo, Postboks 2415, 3104 Tønsberg, Norway
Guidance Helsenorge
If you have any questions, please call Guidance Helsenorge: +47 23 32 70 00
Section 5-24 of the Norwegian National Insurance Act (in Norwegian)
7
Power of attorney in connection with enquiries to Helfo
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.
Complete the power of attorney form and send it to Helfo as an attachment to a digital form, or send it by post to Helfo, PO Box 2415, 3104 Tønsberg. Remember to enclose a copy of valid identification for the person granting power of attorney.
Content provided by Helfo
Last updated Thursday, June 22, 2023