Published: 24.06.2021 - Last changed: 18.02.2022

What does this mean for you?

• The requirement for residence time according to the main rule in the Citizenship Act is raised from seven of the last ten years to eight of the last eleven years.
• Applicants who have been granted asylum in Norway will still be required to have resided in Norway seven out of the last ten years.
• Applicants with sufficient income in the last year, with a fixed tax settlement, are required to have resided in Norway six out of the last ten years (this also applies to refugees with sufficient income).
• Applicants who are researchers associated with a Norwegian research institution and who have a leading professional role in a research group with extensive international collaboration are required to have resided in Norway for six years out of the last twelve years. The same exception applies to the spouse, registered partner or cohabitant of a person who obtains Norwegian citizenship as a researcher with a requirement for a shorter period of residence.

What is meant by sufficient income?

Sufficient income means that during a year you have received income and benefits that are included in the ordinary income in the tax settlement, which amounts to at least 3 times the basic amount in the National Insurance Scheme (3G).

How you can check if you have sufficient income:

1. Log in to the Tax Administration's pages and open the latest available tax settlement (external website)
2. Check the amount stated on «Total income» («Sum inntekter») on page 3.
3. If the last tax settlement is from 2020 and the amount is NOK 304,053 or higher, you are covered by the exception of shorter residence time.

Which income is included?

What is to be taken into account is the sum of the income that is included in the calculation of ordinary income in the tax assessment, before deduction. The UDI collects this directly from the Tax Administration. In your tax assessment, the amount is written on page 3 as «Total income» («Sum inntekter»). This amount represents your total income before deductions.

Only income listed in this field in your tax return is counted. If you have received a new tax settlement after you have submitted your application, we will use the last tax settlement if it is to your advantage. If not, we will use the last tax settlement that was available with the Tax Administration when you applied for citizenship.

If you have income that is not listed in the field called «Total income» in your tax settlement, we cannot include this when we assess whether you have sufficient income. This means that we cannot include income you have had in 2021 before you have received the tax settlement for 2021 from the Tax Administration.

How high must the income be?

The basic amount in the National Insurance Scheme (1G) changes every year. Since 1G was NOK 101,351 in the tax settlement for 2020, the amount in the tax settlement for 2020 must be at least 3 times this amount: NOK 304,053.

As of 1 May 2021, 3G amounts to NOK 319,197. If you apply for citizenship after you have received the tax settlement for 2021, your income stated in this tax settlement must be more than NOK 319,197.

Which kinds of income and benefits are included in ordinary income?

Income and benefits that are included in ordinary income in the tax settlement include earned income, business income, sickness benefits, maternity benefits, parental benefits and work assessment benefits, pensions, disability benefits and unemployment benefits. Care allowance (pleie- og omsorgspenger) and education allowance (opplæringspenger), with reference to folketrygdloven chapter 9 (external website), are also included. Furthermore, profits from business, interest income, taxable gains and dividends from shares, as well as dividends from businesses assessed as partnerships will be included. Certain capital gains, such as gains on the sale of real estate, are also included.

Loans and scholarships are not considered income and are therefore not included.

If you are unsure whether you have sufficient income, you must look in your tax return and find the amount on page 3 under «total income». You do not need to submit information about what income you have to UDI because we collect the information about income that is included in your ordinary income in the previous tax settlement directly from the Tax Administration.