Published: 27.09.2021

As of 1 October 2021, there is a change in what we can count as income when assessing whether the income requirement is met in applications for family immigration. Introduction benefits no longer count as future income in applications handed in on 1 October 2021 or later. "Handed in" means that you have attended the appointment with the police/embassy/VFS application centre to hand in the documents on the checklist. If you have an appointment to hand in the documents on 1 October or later, this change will apply to you. 

If you apply for family immigration with a refugee, you may be exempt from the income requirement if you apply before specific deadlines. 

Types of income we count as the reference person’s future income:

• income from employment 
• sickness benefit, pregnancy benefit, parental support, disability benefit or retirement pension from the National Insurance scheme 
• 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. 

The reference person can have one or more of these types of income. 

Types of income we do not count as the reference person’s future income: 

• financial assistance from NAV (økonomisk sosialhjelp) 
• housing support 
• unemployment benefit and work assessment allowance (this is also the case if you have been temporarily laid off (permittert) due to the corona situation. We will publish information here if the rules regarding this change.) 
• any benefits you receive because you have children 
• introduction benefits according to the Integration Act 
• lump sum grant in connection with birth 
• own funds (money in an account) 

What does this mean for how UDI calculates the reference person’s previous income? 

The amendment also affects how we count previous income if the reference person received introduction benefits after 1 October 2021. We do not include introduction benefits received from 1 October 2021 or later when we assess whether the requirement for previous income has been met. 

The required amount of income is the same as before. Here you can see the requirements for income in family immigration cases. We do not include introduction benefits for October, November and December 2021 or later when we assess the total income. 

Example:
You have a case waiting in line at UDI, which will not be processed until 2022. When UDI assesses the case, we will look at the income in 2021 as the previous income. If the reference person received introduction benefits in October, November, December 2021 or later, gross introduction benefits will be deducted from the income. This means that the amount of introduction benefits before tax is not counted as income. The reference person must meet the income requirement for the entire period until UDI makes the decision. 

What do I do if this change means that the reference person does not have enough income? 

For applications that have already been submitted to the embassy/VFS application centre abroad or to the police in Norway before 1 October 2021, the rules for future income are unchanged. Introduction benefits can in these cases be counted as future income. This applies even if UDI assesses the application after 1 October 2021.

The requirement for previous income will, on the other hand, be affected if the reference person receives introduction benefits after 1 October 2021, even if the application was handed in earlier. Introduction benefits received after 1 October 2021 will then be deducted from the taxable income. 

If the reference person does not have enough income when the introduction benefit is deducted, we recommend that you wait to apply for family immigration until the income requirement is met. 

If your application is already registered in the Application Portal and you have paid the fee, but you have not yet handed the documents on the checklist, you can request to withdraw the application and have the fee refunded. You do this by contacting the embassy or police district to which you sent the application electronically.