Financial preparations

Funding opportunities

A stay abroad involves some additional costs. Here you will find links to funding opportunities.

• Foundations at UiB
• Fulbright
• The Norway-America Association
• Erasmus+ staff mobility for training
• Erasmus+ mobility for teaching
• Peder Sather Center
• Melzter
• Forskning i Frankrike
• Utvekslingsprogram- University of Washington og Memorial University of Newfoundland
• Marie Sklodowska-Curie - Postdoctoral Fellowships
• The research Council of Norway: Research Stays Abroad
• The Research Council of Norway: Portfolios
• NordForsk

Only for PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows:

• The Research council of Norway : Funding for Research Stays Abroad for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellows
• Erasmus+Studying abroad for PhD

Salary payment

Payments are made to the account number registered in the self-service portal. You can change this yourself if you open a bank account abroad. Salary is paid in Norwegian kroner, and this may incur transfer fees that you must cover yourself.

Tax liability

Tax liability varies depending on which country you go to and the length of your stay. Norway has entered into tax agreements with several countries to avoid double taxation. Contact the tax office as early as possible to find out what applies to you specifically.

Reporting address change or relocation

• Notification to UiB: You can enter your new address abroad through the self-service portal.
• Notification to the Tax Administration: You can report a change of address if you are staying abroad. You do this yourself on skatteetaten.no. If you are going to be outside Norway for more than six months, you must inform the Tax Administration of the address change or possible relocation. Also remember to report any changes of address if you move abroad.

Going to the USA?

The tax agreement with the USA, Article 15, allows for exemption from income tax for research stays in the USA for up to two years. The agreement allows you to apply for a reduction in income tax where you only pay social security contributions during your stay in the USA. Remember that wealth tax and other tax obligations are still calculated, and the entire tax year will be assessed if you are away for only part of the calendar year.

How to apply for tax exemption

You apply for tax exemption before you travel. There is no specific form for this, so the Tax Administration has recommended that you use the contact form on skatteetaten.no.

In the contact form, you must refer to the tax agreement between Norway and the USA, Article 15, and attach an invitation letter from the USA. The invitation letter must include a brief description of what you will be doing, the period you will be there, and it must be signed.

You will receive a response to this inquiry via your inbox on min skatt or altinn.no. If your application is approved, you will also be issued a new tax card with approximately 10% tax deduction.

Remember, this is a pre-approval for the tax reduction. The final tax exemption must be claimed in the tax return by requesting a tax reduction.

When you leave the USA, you must change your tax card back to the usual deduction yourself. You do this on skatteetaten.no. If you do not do this, you will have a 10% tax rate and risk a large residual tax.

How to request a tax reduction in the tax return

When you receive your tax return, there must be a post with salary earned in the USA for you to request the tax reduction.

You must amend the tax return to request the tax reduction by going to “see all the information you can add.” You will then get the option - “Necessary information and documentation for claims for reduced tax or social security contributions.” In the menu, select “claim for tax reduction under the tax agreement.”

Here you fill in the dates of your stay and submit the changes.

If there is no specific post with “salary earned in the USA” in your tax return, you must contact the payroll section via hjelp.uib.no.

Benefits from NAV

• Child benefit
• Parental pay abroad
• Unemployment benefit (dagpenger) outside Norway