A person will usually be either self-employed or employed by a firm/company.
A self-employed person is deemed to be foreign if he/she is resident in another country than Norway.
A firm/company is deemed to be foreign if it is not resident in Norway.
The fact that an independent business person or a company is registered in the Norwegian Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities (one of the national computerised registers
in the Brønnøysund Register Centre), is not decisive for whether the firm/company is deemed to be a Norwegian or foreign employer. In fact, everybody who is engaged in business in Norway or on the Norwegian continental shelf is required to register with the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities.
What an employer is registered as, on the other hand, may give some indication as to whether it should be deemed to be a Norwegian or foreign employer. For example, if an employer is registered as a Norwegian branch of a foreign firm/company (Norwegian-registered foreign enterprise, a so-called NUF) it will normally be deemed to be foreign. Some employers (firms/companies) registered as Norwegian-registered foreign enterprises are deemed to be resident in Norway. This is typically so if the owner of the enterprise is Norwegian and the company/firm is in actual fact managed from Norway.