Monday, July 23, 2012

Why you shouldn't be a foreigner in Norway

This is similar to another post. I thought this one had been lost due to a PC failure ... if you read the other post and think this is too similar, sorry to waste your time .....

OK, let's simplify this ... apart from the fact that foreigners are rarely welcome unless they're tourists spending money (you're always going to be seen as a foreigner taking a native's job ... unless you are unique ... like Bruce Springsteen ...) how will you actually be administered, even somewhere like Norway.

1. You work in Norway and have national insurance contributions deducted from your income which entitles you to benefits when you are ill or out of work ... ahh, no ... not in Norway because ...

" . A person is deemed to be resident if his/her stay in Norway is intended or has lasted for at least 12 months. It is a condition that the person in question has a residence permit in Norway." ...


but what if you don't have a residence permit?


At the moment, you may not "need" a residence permit (EU - EAA citizens etc.) and are merely required to "register" ... if you apply for a residence permit because you are having national insurance contributions deducted from your earnings and don't have a residence permit .... you are paying into a scheme of which you cannot be a member. If you are merely "registered", are you classed as having a residence permit? Superficially, not being required to have a residence permit may seem a "bonus" and attractive ... you can just turn up in Norway, register and get a job cleaning dishes in a hotel ... but what happens if you ever need anything in return for you national insurance contributions?


After 23 years of paying tax in Norway, after my wages and tax deductions were stolen by a Norwegian firm (Elite Music, Sarpsborg) selling me to clients, I found myself broke, with my son living with me (his Norwegian Mum was particularly depressed) and with no work because the Norwegian companies I'd worked for had also lost most of their next year's budget because  of Elite Music. I got Social Security payments for about 6 weeks because my Norwegian son needed to be warm and fed. That's all I've had in 23 years of paying taxes here.


This is how Norway does it ... one department (Skatteetaten) takes the money from you or your employer takes taxes from your wages. If they don't pass it on to Skatteetaten, will they be prosecuted? Ask Skatteetaten ... don't take my word for it .... ask them who they have prosecuted for not passing on to Skatteetaten tax they have deducted .. ... go on ...


http://www.skatteetaten.no/no/Hvem-er-du/Presse/


So, that's it ... special rules for non-Norwegians .... they're everywhere ... I can only assume if you think coming to work in Norway is a good idea you really haven't done your homework.


Why do you want to come to Norway? It's beautiful? You can come for a holiday .... you like the people (they ARE nice people) ... you can come for a holiday ...... like many other places, they can be friendly to foreigners but it's a delicate country and society in many ways and just one or two foreigners moving into a small community makes a difference and, of course, you're presuming the local government know how to administer foreigners trying to settle in Norway .... you might be the first they've seen ... they'll be more used to foreigners in the cities in Norway but can you afford to live there?

No comments:

Post a Comment