State pension – Norwegian pension
If you have worked in Norway for at least 5 years and paid social security contributions during that time, you may be entitled to a Norwegian pension. To receive it, you must be 67 years old (or 62 in some cases). This means that after retirement you can receive a regular income.
1. Basic information
You earn the right to a pension by working and living in Norway.
The social security pension is a lifelong benefit.
You can work and receive a pension at the same time.
1.1 Pillars of the Norwegian pension
The Norwegian pension consists of 3 pillars. These are the social, earnings-related and supplementary pension.
Pillar 1 – social, applies to anyone who has been a member of the Norwegian social security system for at least 5 years (this may be work or a benefit period).
Pillar 2 – earnings-related, is a calculation of what we have earned, so the basis for calculation is what we have accumulated up to retirement.
Pillar 3 – everything we have additionally, e.g. our private insurance or AFP, so this is the sum of voluntary contributions.
2. Who is entitled to a Norwegian pension?
A pension from Norway is available to anyone who has lived or worked in Norway. You can receive a pension from the first month after turning 67.
If you earn enough, you can receive a pension from the month after you turn 62. “Enough” means that your earned pension must be at least as high as the minimum pension applicable to your age group. Please note that this may result in a significantly lower monthly pension. Taking it early means spreading your pension over several years, so you will receive a smaller pension payment each year.
It is also worth mentioning that the assessment rules also differ depending on your year of birth, with three age groups applying – people born before 1954, people born between 1954 and 1963, and people born after 1963.
3. How much is the pension in Norway?
How much is the pension in Norway?
As in Poland, this depends on many factors, including:
– Whether the person takes up work while receiving the benefit
– Number of membership years in Folketrygden in Norway,
– Contribution period – i.e. how many years you paid social security contributions,
– Periods of contribution payments in countries other than Norway,
– Pensjonsgivende inntekt, i.e. the amount of income that forms the pension basis,
– Family situation
– Other pension provisions – e.g. having the second and third pension pillars,
– Year of birth – for the Norwegian pension, the calculation rules depend on the year in which the person entitled to the benefit was born
The rules for accruing, calculating and uprating the pension also differ depending on when you were born and from when you receive the pension.
In the calculator available on the NAV website you can see what pension you are currently entitled to. You can also calculate how much your pension will increase if you wait one or two years. You can also see how your pension will be affected if you choose a graded payment between 20 and 80 percent of the pension instead of 100 percent.
Before carrying out the service, we do not make calculations using the calculator available on the website, due to the margin of error.
4. What are the criteria for receiving a pension in Norway?
To receive a pension in Norway, you must meet these conditions:
- You have worked in Norway for more than 5 years
- We must reach retirement age (normally 67 years old; with sufficiently high earnings, 62 years old is enough)
- We must pay contributions in Norway for at least 40 years (if we want to receive the full pension amount)
5. When should you apply?
The retirement age in Norway is 67.
In theory, you can apply for an early, partial pension from the age of 62, but if you choose it too early, you may use up all your contributions before reaching retirement age.
6. Required documentation
To carry out the service, the following will be necessary:
- a certificate from ZUS confirming the pension capital accumulated in Poland; if we have also worked in other countries, similar certificates from the countries where we paid contributions will be needed,
- documentation confirming periods of work outside Norway – e.g. in Poland (if we do not have this, e.g. due to difficulties obtaining confirmation, our declaration should be sufficient),
- a copy of an identity document,
- depending on the individual situation, additional documentation may also be required.
NOTE: LOGGING IN WITH BANK ID OR BUYPASS IS REQUIRED.
7. What does the service include?
The service includes:
- Contact regarding the pension
- Logging in to the authority’s website
- Submitting the application
- Information about the waiting time and further procedure
- Help if there are problems with the application
NOTE: The decision on whether to grant the pension is made by NAV in Norway. The service only covers mediation between you and the authority.
8. Waiting time
The standard processing times for pension applications by NAV are:
- 1 week if you live in Norway,
- 4 months if you previously lived in Norway and currently live in another EEA country or a country covered by an agreement,
- 8 months if you live in a country outside the EEA or not covered by an agreement.
These periods may be extended if we do not provide all the required documents immediately.