Child Benefit in Norway (Barnetrygd): Expat Guide 2026

Norwegian child benefit (barnetrygd) is NOK 2,012 a month per child aged 0 to 18, from 1 February 2026, paid by NAV. No tax is deducted from it (nav.no).

For children born in Norway, the mother usually receives it automatically. Families who move to Norway with children must apply, and the timing matters: NAV can only pay back 3 months before your application date. This guide covers who qualifies, the 12-month rule, EEA rules, documents and processing times.

Who can get barnetrygd

The child's mother or father can receive child benefit. Foster parents, other caregivers or child welfare institutions can also qualify if the child lives with them beyond three months (nav.no).

The core condition is that the child lives in Norway. NAV counts a child as living in Norway if the child stays here for a continuous period of at least 12 months.

Foreign workers and their families

NAV describes several situations (nav.no):

• The whole family lives in Norway. If you will be living here for more than 12 months, you may qualify. This applies to all foreign nationals who are resident in Norway, registered in the National Population Register (Folkeregisteret), and have a residence permit or other legal residence. If you have not registered yet, see our Folkeregisteret guide.
• You are an EEA citizen (or the family member of one) working in Norway. You may qualify even if your stay in Norway will be shorter than 12 months. NAV notes that the Nordic convention and some social security agreements can bring some non-EEA citizens under the same EEA rules.
• You are an EEA citizen working in Norway and your family lives in another EEA country. If the other parent works there (or receives a benefit treated as work) and has a right to child benefit there, NAV pays the difference between the Norwegian benefit and the other country's. If the other parent does not work and receives no such benefit, you are entitled to full payment from Norway.
• You were posted to Norway by an employer in another EEA country, or in a country outside the EEA that Norway has a social security agreement with. You are not entitled to Norwegian child benefit, because you are still a member of the social insurance scheme in the other country. Your spouse or partner may be, for example if they take up work in Norway and so become a member of the Norwegian national insurance scheme.

How much you get

From 1 February 2026, these monthly rates apply (nav.no):

The Finnmark and Svalbard supplement applies if both you and the child live on Svalbard, in Finnmark, or in one of these Nord-Troms municipalities: Karlsøy, Kvænangen, Kåfjord, Lyngen, Nordreisa, Skjervøy or Storfjord. It is granted automatically based on your registered address.

The previous rate, from 1 October 2025 to 31 January 2026, was NOK 1,968. NAV notes that the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) decides the rates each year.

No tax is deducted from child benefit, and it does not earn holiday pay.

Shared and extended child benefit

• Shared: if both parents live with the child part of the time and agree on shared permanent residence, you can share the benefit. You must include the written agreement.
• Extended (utvidet barnetrygd): if you are fully or partly alone in caring for a child, you may also be entitled to extended child benefit. You must apply for it.

Do you need to apply?

Usually not, if the child was born in Norway: child benefit is then usually paid automatically to the child's mother, starting no later than two months after the birth. Otherwise you must apply. NAV's list includes when (nav.no):

• the child was not born in Norway,
• the child's mother is not registered as a resident in Norway,
• the child is older than six months when the right to child benefit begins,
• the EEA Agreement or another social security agreement applies to your situation,
• the parents want the benefit paid to the father instead, or have a written agreement on shared permanent residence and want to share it.

If your child was born before you moved to Norway, the first of these applies.

Apply early: back pay is limited

Child benefit runs from the month after you meet the conditions. But NAV can pay back at most 3 months from the date of application, and only if the conditions were met and the benefit was not paid to someone else. Payment for up to three years back is possible only in exceptional cases, for example if NAV gave you incorrect information (nav.no). A late application can therefore cost you months of benefit.

Documents to include

NAV lists what to include (nav.no):

• If you or your child is a foreign national: documentation of legal residence.
• If you are a foreign employee and your child is not registered in the National Population Register: a birth certificate from the population register or another competent authority in your home country, confirming you are the parent.
• In that case also: ID numbers and addresses in your home country for you, the child and the other parent, and a copy of your employment contract.
• If you are self-employed: order confirmations and invoices for the period before VAT registration, a ledger overview for the period after, and a registration certificate for your business from the Brønnøysund Register Centre.
• If a parent works or lives in another EEA country, or the child lives in one: NAV's supplementary EEA form.

How long it takes

NAV's expected processing times (nav.no):

EEA cases take longer because NAV has to collect documents from authorities in the other country. You get a written decision when the application has been processed.

Payment dates

Child benefit is paid monthly. NAV's guaranteed payment dates for 2026 are 30 January, 27 February, 31 March, 30 April, 29 May, 30 June, 31 July, 31 August, 30 September, 30 October, 30 November and 16 December. The money can arrive in the afternoon or evening of the payment date, depending on your bank (nav.no).

It is paid through the month before the child turns 18, then stops automatically for that child.

Common problems and fixes

• "Our child was born abroad and nothing is arriving." Payment is usually automatic only for children born in Norway. Apply to NAV.
• "We applied late." NAV can pay back at most 3 months before the application date, except in exceptional cases.
• "Our EEA case is taking months." NAV's expected time for an EEA application is 9 months, because it collects documents from the other country.
• "We are going abroad for a while." On a holiday outside the EEA you normally keep the benefit if the trip does not exceed 3 months. For a longer stay you must always notify NAV, which decides whether you keep it. If it is unclear whether the stay will exceed 3 months, the benefit stops from the month after you leave and can be paid back later if the stay turns out shorter (nav.no).
• "I lost my job and need income support." That is a separate NAV benefit. See our guide to unemployment benefits from NAV.

Your next step

If you have moved to Norway with children, apply for barnetrygd on nav.no as soon as you can after arriving, with proof of legal residence and, if your child is not yet registered, a birth certificate from your home country.