Reporting of salary and other remunerations

Information concerning payments to persons who are resident abroad must be reported in the following cases:

• Payment of salary and other remuneration for work performed on board ships registered in the Norwegian Ship Register (NOR). No information is required concerning salary payments made to persons resident outside the Nordic region who are a citizen of a country outside the EEA when they are employed by a foreign employer which carries on commercial activity on board (not ordinary seafarers).
• Payments of salary or other remuneration for work performed on board foreign-registered ships. The conditions for this are that the ship must be bareboat-chartered by a Norwegian company and that the salary recipient must be resident in another Nordic country.
• Payments of salary and other remuneration for work performed on board ships registered in the Norwegian International Ship Register (NIS) when the recipient is:
  - a Norwegian citizen,
  - resident in another Nordic country, or
  - a citizen of an EEA State.

 Payments to persons who are resident outside the Nordic countries must not be reported in the following cases:

• NIS-registered ships operating outside the Norwegian shelf. No information about salary payments is required when the recipient is a citizen from a country outside the EEA.
• Foreign-registered ships operating outside the Norwegian shelf:
• No information about salary payments is required when a foreign shipping company charters the ship.
• No information is required if a Norwegian shipping company charters the ship on terms other than bareboat.
• Salary payments to persons who are resident outside the Nordic countries who are employed in the hotel and restaurant sector onboard tourist ships registered in the Norwegian International Ship Register (NIS).

Employer’s national insurance contributions

Employers must generally pay employer's national insurance contributions (at the highest rate) on salary and other remuneration paid to seafarers employed on board Norwegian ships.

Employees must pay a monthly contribution for seafarers who are partially covered by the National Insurance scheme under the National Insurance Act. The contribution is calculated per employee on board for each month or part thereof.

Exemption from employer’s national insurance contributions:

No employer's national insurance contributions must be paid on remuneration for work on the Norwegian continental shelf or in Norwegian territorial waters when the work is performed by a foreign employee who is not a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. The obligation to pay contributions applies if the foreign employee is a member of the National Insurance Scheme in Norway.

National insurance contributions

Seafarers who are not resident in Norway but who are employed on board a Norwegian ship (NOR and NIS) are required to become a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme when they are:

• a Norwegian citizen,
• resident in the Nordic region,
• a citizen of an EEA State or Switzerland, or
• working on board a ship in limited service (domestic shipping in Norway).

Employees who are employed in the hotel and restaurant industry on board a cruise ship registered in the Norwegian International Ship Register (NIS) are exempt from the obligation to pay national insurance contributions.

Special rules concerning exemptions also follow from Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71, the EEA's social security regulation.

Seafarers on board vessels used for the exploration and extraction of petroleum deposits or other natural deposits on the Norwegian continental shelf are covered by the Norwegian National Insurance scheme regardless of their nationality.

Seafarers that are required to be members of the Norwegian National Insurance scheme must pay the full membership fee to the Norwegian National Insurance scheme. For seafarers who are resident abroad and who are exempt from the obligation to pay tax to Norway, the rate for national insurance contributions is set by the Norwegian Tax Administration.

Foreign seafarers other than those referred to above who are employed on board a ship registered in the NOR which is employed in international shipping are partly covered by the Norwegian National Insurance scheme with entitlement to benefits in the event of occupational injury or death. This doesn't apply to persons who are employed by a foreign employer who carries on commercial activity on board.

The following foreign seafarers are completely exempt from National Insurance cover:

• Citizens of countries outside the EEA who work on board ships registered in the NIS.

Employers are obliged to take out their own occupational injury insurance for seafarer employees on board Norwegian ships (NOR and NIS) who are exempt from cover under the National Insurance Act.

Exemptions from membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme

In some cases, seafarers who are citizens of an EEA country can apply for an exemption from the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.

The exchange of national insurance information occurs digitally between national insurance authorities. To apply for an exemption from the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, contact the national insurance authority in the employee’s home country and ask that form A1 be sent electronically to NAV Medlemskap og avgift (in Norwegian)

Contact NAV