List of exemptions

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you are a citizen of an EU or EEA country or Switzerland. 

You must submit:

• Copy of your passport or national ID card

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you have a permanent residence permit in Norway.

You must submit:

• Copy of your passport or national ID card
• Copy of your residence card (both sides)
• Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) or police

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you have residence (asylum) in Norway due to protection, strong humanitarian considerations or a special connection to Norway.

You must submit:

• Copy of your passport or national ID card
• Copy of your residence card (both sides)
• Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) or police

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you have a residence permit as family member of an EU/EEA citizen. The EU/EEA citizen must have grounds for residence in Norway other than studying.

You must submit:

• Copy of your passport or national ID card
• Copy of your residence card (both sides)
• Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) or police
• Copy of the registration certificate for your family member

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you have a residence permit due to family immigration. The person with whom you have been reunited must either be a Norwegian citizen or a foreign national with a reason for residence in Norway other than studying.

Furthermore, you do not have to pay tuition fees if you have gained a continued residence permit on an independent basis due to the Norwegian immigration act § 53.

You must submit:

• Copy of your passport or national ID card
• Copy of your residence card
• Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) or police
• Copy of the residence card or registration certificate for your family member

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you are cohabiting with and have children with a Norwegian citizen. Both you and your cohabiting person must live in Norway.

You must submit:

• Copy of your passport or national ID card
• Copy of your residence card (both sides)
• Copy of the residence certificate (bostedsattest) for you, your cohabitating person and your child. You can get a residence certificate at The Norwegian Tax Administration
• Copy of your spouse passport or national ID card
• Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) or police

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you are married to a Norwegian citizen or are the legal partner of a Norwegian citizen. Both you and your spouse or legal partner must live in Norway.

With legal partner we mean a person with whom you are married or have an equivalent official relation.

You must submit:

• Copy of your passport or national ID card
• Copy of your residence card (both sides)
• Copy of your marriage certificate from the Norwegian Tax Administration or from the foreign authority who officiated the wedding
• Copy of the residence certificate (bostedsattest) for you and your spouse/legal partner. You can get a residence certificate at The Norwegian Tax Administration
• Copy of your spouse passport ot national ID card
• Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) or police

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you during a qualifying period of at least 24 months have had continuous full-time work in Norway, have been resident in and paid tax to Norway. 

You must have had a residence permit as an employee during the accrual period. There must be no gap during the accrual period. In addition, there must be no gap between the accrual period and further studies. However, exceptions can be made for stays of up to 1 year in the event of illness or childbirth.

Au-pair work is not considered full-time employment. 

You must submit:

• Copy of your passport or national ID card
• Copy of your residence card (both sides)
• Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) or police
• Certificate from your employer, printout of the determination of income tax, salary and deduction statements, payslips or corresponding documentation. The documentation must show that you have paid tax in Norway for the last 24 months immediately prior to commencing studies.

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you during an accrual period of at least 36 months have lived in and been in education in Norway and passed education equivalent to 3 years of full-time education (180 ECTS credits).

There must be no gap during the accrual period. In addition, there must be no gap between the accrual period and further studies. However, exceptions can be made for stays of up to 1 year in the event of illness or childbirth. 

During the qualifying period, you cannot have received loans or grants for education from Lånekassen, public support schemes in other countries (e.g. Centrala studiestödsnämnden and Uddannelsesstyrelsen), or from Norwegian public support schemes for development, e.g. Norad, the Norwegian Programme for Development, Research and Education (NUFU), the Norwegian Programme for Capacity development in Higher Education and research for Development (NORHED).

You must submit:

• Copy of your passport or national ID card
• Copy of your residence card (both sides)
• Copy of transcripts of records or diplomas for education completed in Norway
• Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI)
• A signed self-declaration that you have not received student aid from Lånekassen, or another country's equivalent public student aid scheme

During a transitional period that lasted until 2020, the United Kingdom was to be treated as if it were still a member of the EU and the EEA.

If you are a citizen of the United Kingdom, who were entitled to reside in Norway in accordance with the EEA agreement before the end of the transition period (31.12.2020), you are exempt to pay tuition fees. You must also have stayed in Norway.

If you came to Norway on 1 January 2021 or later, you are not exempt from paying tuition fees.

You must submit:

• Copy of your passport or national ID card
• Copy of your residence card (both sides) or registration certificate
• Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) or police showing that you had a valid residence permit in Norway before 31 december 2020
• Documentation that you have been residing in Norway since before 31 December 2020