Norway Agreement and foreign pension information 106-04025000

In Norway, social security consists of a combination of compulsory public and occupational contribution schemes and additional voluntary insurance. The contributory schemes insure employees against all life events.

The legislation is the responsibility of the Norwegian government and contributions are managed through taxation, but administration and payment of pensions is the responsibility of the centralised insurance agency.

The Agreement with Norway started on 1 January 2007. There are no previous versions.

For Australia

Department of Social Services (DSS)

For Norway

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs - Arbeids og sosialdepartementet

For Australia

Services Australia

For Norway

Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration - (Ny) Arbeids og Velferdsforvaltning (NAV)

For Australia

International Services (CIS)

Note: the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is responsible for anything relating to Double coverage. See Double coverage/certificate of coverage.

For Norway

See Competent institutions.

Under the Agreement with Norway, information held about customers may be exchanged between the Liaison Agencies to determine entitlement to payments under the Agreement and under either country’s domestic legislation (Article 28.1).

For more information on bulk data exchange, see International Data Exchange Program and auto-indexation of foreign pensions.

The following liaison form is completed by International Services (CIS) and sent to Norway.

Australia/Norway Agreement on Social Security - Liaison Form (AUS187NO)

For help with creating and completing the liaison form, see Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information.

This form is completed by Norway or the customer and sent to International Services (CIS).

Transmittal/Request (N/AUS1)

• Personal data of the claimant: provides personal details of the person to whom the liaison relates
• Material attached: specifies the forms or information provided in addition to the liaison
• Information requested: specifies the Australian information required by the Norwegian institution
• Remarks: free text comments
• Date, signature and stamp: certification by the Norwegian institution

Under the Administrative Arrangements, existing domestic medical reports are acceptable. Medical examinations may also be undertaken upon request. There is no provision for reimbursement of costs.

Forms

For Australia

For Australian disability claims, Norway arrange for the International Medical Assessment Report (AUS175) to be completed and sent in addition to copies of Norwegian medical information.

For Norway

For Norwegian invalidity claims, International Services (CIS) send copies of existing Australian medical information. If necessary, a Job Capacity Assessment may be required. See Foreign pension medical assessments.

Any enquiries about Double coverage or certificates of coverage should be directed to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.

The Agreement with Norway includes Double coverage provisions. Certificates of coverage are used to confirm exceptions.

See Double coverage/certificates of coverage information in International Social Security Agreements.

Any queries about taxation of pensions or the requirement to lodge a tax return should be directed to:

• In the other country - the tax authority in the other country directly
• In Australia - the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website

For general information on taxation, including issuing Australian Payment Summaries, see the Taxation information in International Social Security Agreements.

Tax treaty

Australia has a double tax agreement with Norway. Pensions are only taxable in the country in which the person is resident. Any tax deductions from one country may be used as a credit against any tax payable in the other country.

Tax deductions

Norwegian pensions may be taxed at source (skattekort/skattetrekk).

The gross rate of Norwegian pension (before deductions) is maintained.

Note: customers may apply to the Norwegian tax authority (Skatteetaten) for an exemption from tax deductions. Customers will need to request a ‘Certificate of Residency’ from the ATO to go with the application for exemption.

Norwegian tax year

Norway generally uses the calendar year (1 Jan - 31 Dec) as the tax year.

Any queries about:

• Health insurance coverage in the other country - the customer should be directed to contact the health insurance authority in the other country, and
• Medicare coverage - should be directed to Medicare, see Medicare phone numbers

For general information on health insurance and Medicare coverage, see Health Insurance/Medicare information in International Social Security Agreements.

Australia has a reciprocal health agreement with Norway.

Pensioners in Norway may have a health insurance deduction taken out of their Norwegian pension.

The gross rate of Norwegian pension (before deductions) is maintained.

The official language of Norway is Norwegian.

Telephone country code is +47.

Street address

FirstName Surname [addressee]

Storgata 15 A [street + house number]

0161 Oslo [postcode + town/city]

NORWAY

Post Office Box address

FirstName Surname [addressee]

Postboks 533 [P O Box + number]

2304 Hamar [postcode + town/city]

NORWAY

Same-sex marriage has been legal since 1 January 2009.

For Australia, the Agreement with Norway (Article 2.1) covers:

• Age Pension
• Disability Support Pension (DSP)

Notes:

• Only severely disabled DSP customers may be granted under the Agreement outside Australia (Article 15.2). Non-severely disabled customers may be granted only if they are an Australian resident and in Australia. See Lodgement rules and start day.
• Only severely disabled DSP customers can transfer to the Agreement for extended portability in Norway (Article 5.3). See Portability
• Additional child amounts, also known as Overseas Child Component and Additional Child Payment, are included in the proportional rate calculation

Claims for Australian payments under agreements use the same methods and processes as domestic claims. See Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements.

Forms to claim an Australian payment in Norway can be obtained by contacting the Norwegian authorities or International Services (CIS). Forms can also be downloaded from the Services Australia website. See the Resources page for a link.

Forms required

All claims

For all payments:

• AUS140NO - Australian pension claim - Agreement with Norway
• Mod(iA)NO - Income and assets - Norwegian

Additional medical forms:

• DSP:
• AUS142 - Work Capacity - Customer Information
• AUS109 - Treating Doctor's Report, outside Australia

Forms can be lodged at any Norwegian Social Security office.

Under the Administrative Arrangements, the Norwegian Liaison Agency will verify the customer’s identity and send the claim to CIS specifying insurance periods in Norway. See the Exchange of information and liaison forms on the General information tab for the Norwegian liaison form.

If a person is not an Australian resident and in Australia on the date the claim is made, they may use the Agreement to meet the residence rules for claims if, on that date, they are:

• an Australian resident or residing in Norway or another agreement country that accepts claims for Australian pension under another agreement (Article 15.1(a)), and
• physically present in Australia or Norway (Article 15.1(b))

Note: only severely disabled DSP customers can be granted under the Agreement in Norway (Article 15.2). Non-severely disabled DSP can only be granted under the Agreement to customers who are an Australian resident and in Australia.

Date the claim is ‘made’ and start day + Read more ...

Third country lodgement + Read more ...

The Agreement allows:

• totalisation of periods of qualifying Australian residence (any) and periods of coverage in Norway to meet any minimum periods to qualify for an Australian pension ,for example, 10 years for Age Pension (Article 16.1)
• the total of any non-continuous Norwegian insurance periods to be considered to be continuous to meet any continuous residence requirement to claim an Australian pension (Article 16.2)

Notes:

• Overlapping periods are only counted once (Article 16.3)
• Policy advice is that adjoining periods of Australian qualifying residence and Norwegian periods of insurance can be considered to be continuous

Norwegian periods of coverage means a period of insurance in Norway where a person has made contributions to the Norwegian social security scheme, or a period of residence as defined by Norwegian legislation.

To be able to use the totalisation provisions, a person who is not an Australian resident at the date of lodgement must have at least 12 months Australian working life residence (WLR) (of which 6 months must be continuous (Article 16.4(a)).

Note: unlike WLR for rate, this period cannot be rounded.

No minimum WLR is required if the person is an Australian resident at the date of lodgement (Article 16.4(b)).

The Agreement allows the ongoing residence requirement for DSP to be met if the customer continues to reside in Norway (Article 5).

The Agreement with Norway (Article 17.3) refers to the overall rate calculation contained in the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999 (S12(1)).

This means:

• customers paid under the Agreement who are outside Australia are paid a proportional rate according to their Australian working life residence (WLR)
• the Rate Limiter/Limited Rate applies, and
• additional child amounts are included in the proportional rate. These amounts are paid automatically as a component of the Australian pension if the customer is qualified (S14A, SS(IA) 1999)

The proportional rate also includes the proportionalisation of the Norwegian pension (Randisi concession) for use in the income test (Article 17.3). The rate of foreign pension used in the income test is the customer’s Australian WLR divided by 300. The Agreement determines the Randisi proportion (300 months). This is different to the legislation that is used to determine the proportional rate (420 months in most cases).

Autonomous customers who are paid a proportional rate and in receipt of a Norwegian pension will also have the Randisi concession applied to their Norwegian pension (Article 17.5).

Although a person may be qualified for an Australian payment or portable outside Australia, if the customer has no WLR the rate of payment outside Australia will be nil.

Note: in some circumstances their partner’s WLR may be used. See Working Life Residence (WLR).

When a person is paid a proportional rate under an agreement, Rent Assistance (RA) cannot be paid. Other add-ons such as Energy Supplement and Pension Supplement are payable under normal add-ons portability rules. See Portability of Add-ons.

Examples of when a customer is paid a proportional rate includes (but not limited to):

• permanently overseas
• temporarily overseas longer than 26 weeks for age pension
• former resident transferring to the agreement for portability
• resident in Australia and paid a proportional rate due to the comparison rate

Returns to Australia

The proportional rate continues to apply for the first 26 weeks of a temporary return to Australia (Article 17.4).

If there is no change to the country of residence, any movement is considered temporary and a review is set to automatically change the rate after a continuous period of 26 weeks. If a delegate determines that a person has changed their country of residence, coding the information on the Country of Residence (CRES) screen will automatically apply the correct rate calculation.

For returns to Australia before 9 June 2018, manually code Temporary Return to Aust Ind on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen.

Customers in Australia under the Agreement are paid a direct deduction rate (Article 17.6). That is, all Norwegian payments covered by the Agreement, including social welfare payments, are not assessed as income but will be deducted dollar-for-dollar from the maximum rate of the Australian payment before the application of the income or assets test.

The Agreement includes a Comparison Rate in Australia, that is, the higher of direct deduction or proportional rate is paid (Article 17.8).

Note: it is important to remember that if a person is paid a proportional rate inside Australia they can be paid all components of the Pension Supplement, the Energy Supplement but not other add-ons such as Rent Assistance. However, all other parts of the agreement proportional rate calculation apply such as additional child amounts and the proportionalisation of the foreign pension in the income test.

Note: customers on a Comparison Rate who are accruing Australian WLR, for example, DSP, should be reviewed every 12 months from the date of lodgement.

Customers inside Australia and receiving a Comparison Rate on 1 July 2004 are 'saved' (grandfathered) from the 1 July 2014 AWLR changes and have their rate calculated using:

• their partner's AWLR (if applicable), and
• 300 month denominator until either they:
• leave Australia, or
• move to an Inside Australia (direct deduction) rate, or
• transfer to an autonomous assessment, or
• lose entitlement

Customers receiving the Comparison Rate and saved from the 1 July 2014 AWLR changes must have this assessment made manually on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen.

Customers who were in receipt of payment under the Comparison Rate at implementation of the 1 July 2014 AWLR changes can continue to:

• use their partner's AWLR (if applicable), and
• use the 300 month denominator until either they:
• leave Australia
• lose entitlement, or
• transfer to an autonomous assessment

Customers receiving the Comparisons Rate and saved from the 1 July 2014 AWLR changes must have this assessment made manually on the RSS screen.

The rate paid from grant of a new claim is based on where the customer is present, even if resident in the other country.

For example, a person who is resident in Norway lodges a claim while temporarily in Australia:

• If granted from a date when they were or are still in Australia, they will be paid the inside Australia rate from grant. The rate will swap to the proportional rate from the date they leave Australia
• If granted from a date when they were again outside Australia, for example, early claim, they will be paid the proportional rate immediately

Departures from Australia

The inside Australia rate continues to be paid for the first 26 weeks of a temporary departure from Australia (Article 17.7).

The Agreement with Norway specifies the rate calculation that applies ‘where an Australian pension is payable whether by virtue of this Agreement or otherwise to a person who is outside Australia’ (Article 17.3). See Outside Australia in Rate calculation.

Note: ‘or otherwise’ refers to autonomous customers.

Payment’s exempt under the Agreement are generally exempt for autonomous customers (section 8(8)(zc) Social Security Act 1991).

See Assessment and exempt payments on the Norwegian payments tab.

Under the Agreement, provided the customer remains qualified, Australian payments are payable indefinitely in both countries, that is, for temporary or permanent absences (Article 5.1).

Note: this only applies to severely disabled Disability Support Pension (DSP) customers (Article 5.3). Policy advice is that non-severely disabled DSP paid under the Agreement with Norway is portable to Norway only for the same period as an autonomous DSP customer departing Australia. See Portability of payments.

There is no portability to third countries for a customer paid under the Agreement.

If necessary, a customer in receipt of an autonomous payment covered by the Agreement may be able to transfer to the Agreement if they are in Norway when their normal portability period expires. The portability under the Agreement then applies, see Portability.

Note: the customer must meet the transfer requirements and satisfy any payment specific requirements under the Agreement, for example, being severely disabled for DSP.

Once a customer transfers to the Agreement, they are then considered to be paid by virtue of the Agreement and all provisions of the agreement apply, including rate of payment. See Rate calculation.

See Transfers to international social security agreements.

A person who has sufficient Australian qualifying residence (or an exemption) can only transfer from the Agreement to autonomous if they are an Australian resident and in Australia.

On return to Australia, system processing will automatically transfer from the Agreement to autonomous if the person is an Australian resident who has only used the Agreement to extend their portability while outside Australia.

Customers who transfer to autonomous may be affected by the former resident provisions if the leave Australia again with 2 years of becoming an Australian resident. See Former resident provisions.

For Australian payments made into bank accounts outside Australia. See Overseas Bank Account Details (OBAD).

• Alderspensjon - Old Age Pension (AGE)
• Uførepensjon - Disability Pension (INV)
• Arbeidsavklaringspenger - Rehabilitation benefits (REB)
• Gjenlevendepensjon - Survivor Pensions (SUR)
• Gjenlevende ektefelle - Widow/er
• Barnepensjon - Orphan

Note: AGE/INV include basic (grunnpensjon) and special supplement (særtillegg/ tilleggspensjon) and minimum pensions (minstepensjon) apply.

• forsørgingstillegg - Supplement for spouse/child

Note: Norwegian occupational benefits (Tjenestepensjoner) are not covered by the Agreement. See Foreign income and assets.

The requirement to claim Norwegian pensions applies to Norwegian AGE, INV and SUR.

Note: the requirement to claim SUR does not apply to Orphans. Customers may voluntarily claim using the SUR claim pack. See Claim forms and processes.

Contributions paid through taxation. Includes deemed periods for care, military service, unemployment and disability.

The Eligibility and coding tab contains detailed information on Norwegian payments that are subject to CFP legislation.

Claim packs for Norwegian payments can be issued through the Foreign Pension System (FPS).

Claim packs available: AGE, INV and SUR.

Specific requirements for Norwegian claims

The customer is to complete and provide the following:

AGE claims:

• Application for retirement pension (NAV 19-01.05)

INV claims:

• Claim for disability pension (NAV 12-06.05)
• Attachment to Norwegian claim form (old age pension, disability pension): Periods of residence and work in Norway (N/AUS3)

SUR claims:

• Application for benefits for surviving spouse/partner/cohabitant and surviving child(ren) (NAV 17-01.05)

Requests for additional information

Where information provided with the claim for Norwegian pension is incomplete, Norway will send requests for information in Norwegian direct to customers.

Return of foreign pension claim

Under the Administrative Arrangements, Norwegian forms can be lodged in Australia at any service centre.

• All foreign pension claims and supporting documents must be scanned, and
• The original foreign claim form and (copies of) supporting documents must be sent in paper form by internal mail to International Services. See Processing a foreign pension claim

International Services (CIS) only

CIS will complete the following and attach to the foreign pension claim to send to the agreement country. See Agreement Liaison Detail (ALD) for method of transmission.

All claims:

• Australia/Norway Agreement on Social Security - Liaison Form (AUS187NO)

For assistance with creating and completing the liaison form, see Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information.

Verification of working life residence and/or employment in Australia (AUS180). For Australian liaison forms, see the Exchange of information and liaison forms on the General information tab.

INV claims:

• Copies of Australian medical information, including Job Capacity Assessment Report. See Foreign pension medical assessments.

Enquiries regarding claims for Norwegian payments in Norway or a third country should be directed to the Norwegian social security authorities. See the Authorities, Institutions and Liaison Agencies on the General information tab.

Norwegian payments are paid by direct deposit into either Norwegian or Australian bank accounts.

Note: any queries about the non-payment of Norwegian pension should be directed to the Norwegian pension authorities, see the Authorities, Institutions and Liaison Agencies on the General information tab.

Customers receive 12 monthly payments per year. There are no bonus payments. Coded as Freq: 'MTH'.

Payments into Australia are paid in Australian (AU) dollars. All foreign pensions must be recorded in the source currency - Norwegian Krone (NOK). Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Note: amounts recorded in source currency on the FPD screen must not be changed to the AU dollar amount.

Norwegian payments are increased in May each year but payment and notices are not actually received until July.

For more information on the date of event to use for coding, see Foreign pension coding.

For more information on bulk exchanges of information with other countries, see International Data Exchange Program and auto-indexation of foreign pensions.

Norwegian AGE/INV/SUR/REB are:

• proportionalised according to the customer’s WLR before being included in the income test where the Australian rate is proportional, including Agreement and autonomous customers (Article 17.3), and
• ordinary income in Australia for autonomous customers and direct deduction if paid under the Agreement (Article 17.6)

Note: a Comparison Rate applies inside Australia. See the Rate calculation on the Australian payments tab.

Each member of a couple is deemed to receive half of the total amount received by the couple (Article 17.9).

Supplement for spouse/child (forsørgingstillegg) and other means tested reimbursements or social assistance payments are exempt for customers residing in Norway (Article 17.1). See Exempt Payments under the Income Test below.

Norwegian Funeral benefit (Gravferdsstønad) may be exempt from the income test if payable to the person who incurred expenses associated with the bereavement. Otherwise is assessable over 12 months from date of receipt (s1073 Social Security Act 1991) but treated the same as AGE/INV/SUR/REB for the period maintained (see above)

See Other known payments.

Amounts that are treated as a direct deduction under an agreement are exempt from the income test (section 8(8)(zc) Social Security Act 1991).

Note: payments that are exempt from the income test are included in a direct deduction rate, for example, under an agreement rate calculation or for Special Benefit.

Norwegian means tested “benefits and supplements” and reimbursements and social assistance payments are exempt from the income test for customers residing in Norway (Article 17.1):

• Special supplement (særtillegg/tilleggspensjon)

Policy advice is that Norwegian Funeral benefit (Gravferdsstønad) may be exempt if paid to the person responsible for expenses associated with the bereavement.

Norwegian War Injury Pensions (Krigsinvalidepensjon) (NWI) are exempt in all circumstances including direct deduction if paid to the partner of a person who does not receive an Australian social security pension or a DVA Service Pension (Article 17.2(a)).

Norwegian payments for medical and dental treatment made to recipients of NWI are exempt in all circumstances including direct deduction (Article 17.2(b)).

See Other known payments.

These exemptions also apply to autonomous customers covered by the Agreement.

The Eligibility and coding tab contains detailed information on the coding of Norwegian payments covered by the Agreement.

Supplement for spouse/child (forsørgingstillegg) are coded in the Spouse/Child Supp field in the main payment.

Other means tested reimbursement or social assistance are:

• coded in the Social Welfare Amt field with the main payment, if paid with the main payment, or
• coded as Type: 'SOC' on the Foreign Pension Details (FPD) screen in Social Welfare Amt field if paid separately

If exempt, not coded but details should be recorded on a DOC.

If assessable, Norwegian Funeral benefit (Gravferdsstønad) is coded as Type: 'SUR' in the Basic Amount field.

Note: a review must be set to zero the amount at the end of the 12 month assessment period. In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

• Service Reason: customer's payment type
• Review Reason: OSR (Overseas)
• Due Date: 12 months from date of receipt of Norwegian Funeral Benefit
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Norwegian Funeral Benefit received xx/xx/xxxx. Zero payment on FPD.'
• Keywords: IATREV
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: leave blank

The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action.

The Agreement includes indirect embargo provisions (Article 26.2) but they are not used.

Arrears debts for customers and partners are raised under s1228A Social Security Act 1991 and recovered by normal methods. See Comparable foreign payment lump sum arrears debts.

Note: where an arrears period is not provided, the end date can be assumed to be the end of the month prior to the date on the official notice or liaison form.

A contravention debt may also occur if the customer does not advise of the grant of their foreign pension within their notification period. See Foreign pension coding.

Life certificates (Leveattest) are issued by Norway each year. Forms are multilingual.

Norwegian life certificates can be certified by an officer of Services Australia.

For general information about helping customers with life certificates, see Assisting customers to maintain an existing foreign pension.

Customers in Australia are sent notices at grant and will generally receive monthly pension certificates and an annual statement each year.

Payments into Australia are paid in Australian (AU) dollars. All foreign pensions must be recorded in the source currency - Norwegian Krone (NOK). Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Note: amounts recorded in source currency on the FPD screen must not be changed to the AU dollar amount.

Includes payments under:

• War Pension Act of 1946 for members of the Resistance Movement and Civilians
• War Pension Act of 1946 for Military Personnel
• Amendment Act, of 1968
• Amendment Act 1951, Chapter IV

Assessment

• War injury pensions are exempt from the income test for autonomous or Norwegian Agreement customers in all circumstances including direct deduction rates if paid to their partner who does not also receive an Australian social security pension or DVA pension. Otherwise ordinary income in all circumstances
• Allowances for medical and dental treatment paid to recipients of Norwegian war injury pensions are exempt from the income test for autonomous and Norwegian Agreement customers in all circumstances including direct deduction rates. Otherwise ordinary income in all circumstances

Coding

Coded as Type: 'NWI' on the Foreign Pension Details (FPD) screen.

War injury pensions are coded in the Basic Amount field.

Allowances for medical and dental treatment are coded in the Social/Welfare Amt field.

For assistance with coding:

• other generic benefits paid by the Norwegian Government (including by funds not covered by the Agreement), see Foreign pension coding
• any other income received from Norway, see Foreign income and assets