Parental responsibility for children born abroad

Parental responsibility is the duty and right parents have to make decisions in the child’s personal matters. The one or those who have parental responsibility are also the child’s guardians.

If you have parental responsibility, you can do the following until the child turns 18:

Parental responsibility is only registered for children living in Norway. When you move to Norway from abroad, the parental responsibility is registered as follows:

  • If you're married and both of you move with the child to Norway, you're registered with joint parental responsibility.
  • If you're not married to each other, the parental responsibility is registered as “unknown”.
  • If the mother or father moves alone to Norway with the child, the parental responsibility is registered as “unknown” unless you bring evidence of parental responsibility. If the parents are married to each other, and if they were married when the child was born, they can be registered with joint parental responsibility when the other parent also moves to Norway.

It’s a good idea to change the parental responsibility to avoid registration as “unknown”.

Changing parental responsibility

You can change parental responsibility by submitting one of the following:

Send it to:

Skatteetaten
Postboks 9200 Grønland
0134 Oslo
Norway