Moving countries is a time-consuming process – but if you’re British and living in Norway you might think that moving back to the UK would be simpler? Well, there won’t be a language barrier and as a UK citizen you won’t need any immigration paperwork (although if you’re bringing a Norwegian partner with then that gets complicated) – but you will still face administrative hurdles around pensions, healthcare, driving and taxes. 

Some of these issues existed before Brexit, while others are as a direct result of the UK leaving the EU. Here are the most common questions from Brits thinking of moving back to the UK.

READ ALSO: Do Brits need to carry a residence permit at the UK border after Brexit?

Do I still qualify for NHS treatment?

You are entitled to NHS treatment if you are ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK – there is no minimum time limit so as soon as you are back in the UK on a permanent basis, you can use the NHS. You will need to register for a GP in your local area in order to access non-emergency treatment, and to get an NHS number if you do not already have one.

You may need to provide proof of a UK address in order to use NHS services – although in reality UK citizens are rarely asked for this apart from when registering with a GP. 

If you go back to Norway for a visit, remember that you are now a tourist and will need a GHIC card to get European healthcare, while travel insurance is also advised in case of accident or illness while visiting an EEA/EU country. 

Can I drive on my Norwegian licence?

If you have been living in Norway for more than three months you may have changed your UK licence for a Norwegian one.

READ ALSO: How to exchange your licence for a Norwegian one

Can I bring my Norwegian partner with me?

If you’re returning alone you won’t need to do any kind of immigration paperwork, your UK passport is enough. However if you are bringing with you a partner who is not a UK citizen, it becomes complicated.

After the end of the Brexit transition process there was an ‘amnesty’ period in which Brits with partners from EEA/ EU countries could move back to the UK under the old immigration rules. This is now ended and EU/EEA partners face the same immigration process as all other foreign spouses.

Essentially either your partner will need to have already secured a relatively high-paying job in the UK, or you will need to prove that you have a large amount of money to support them. They will need to go through the process of getting a UK visa (which is expensive – between £1,000 and £1,500 just for the visa fee) and there is no guarantee that their application will be successful simply because they are married/in a civil partnership with a Brit. They will also need to take an English-language exam. 

Find full details here. 

What about my pension contributions from Norway? 

If you have been working in Norway, you will probably have been contributing to the Norwegian pension system. Norway has social security agreements with the EEA states and several other countries. These agreements make it easier for you to take your retirement pension to another country. 

In addition, Norway has a social security agreement with the UK. 

When it comes to a pension from the UK, it depends on how long you worked there – the basic rule is that you need 10 years of National Insurance contributions in order to get a state pension.

However the UK government states that periods of work done in the EU or EEA ‘may’ count towards your qualifying period. Even if they do, however, they don’t count towards the total pension amount – so for example if you worked for 7 years in the UK and the remaining 35 years of your career in the EU/EEA, you can qualify for a UK state pension, but it will only be based on the 7 years of work in the UK (in other words, the payment per month will be tiny).

Further details on UK pension entitlement here.  

Do I need to hand back my residency card before I leave Norway? 

Your Norwegian residency permit will lapse automatically once you have lived outside the country for more than six months — even if you are still listed at a Norwegian address on the national population register. If you have permanent residency, it will take longer for your residency to lapse. 

If you do end up keeping residency cards – don’t use them on trips back to the EU/EEA. Tempting as it might be to avoid border queues, you will create a confusing official record if you are claiming to be resident of two countries at once.

If you have taken Norwegian citizenship, that is a different matter and of course you are entitled to keep and use your Norwegian passport when visiting the EEA/EU.

READ ALL What do dual-nationals need to know about post-Brexit border controls

Do I still have to pay Norwegian taxes? 

It’s highly likely that you were paying taxes in the country you lived in. Generally, tax declarations concern the previous year, so you will have to do at least one tax declaration and payment after moving back to the UK.

In Norway, you usually need to finalise your tax return by May, but the tax year follows the calendar. So if for example you move back to the UK in October 2023, you will have to complete a tax return by May 2024, covering your 10 months of residency in Norway in 2023.

When you left the UK, you will likely have informed HMRC that you were leaving the country, so you will now have to tell them that you’re back. Whether you have to fill out a UK self-assessment form depends on whether you are a salaried employee or self-employed/retired. 

Can I keep my Norwegian bank account? Do I need a new UK account? 

You can generally keep your Norwegian bank account, but the exact policy will be down to your bank.

It’s possible that your UK bank may have closed your account while you were living outside the UK, in which case you will need to open a new one.

A practical option while you are moving and still have interests in both countries is to open an internet bank account with a company like Wise or Revolut – these offer accounts in both pounds and euros and give you a European IBAN and a UK Sort code, so you can use it in both countries.

Will my Norwegian qualifications be recognised?

If you were studying or gaining professional qualifications while living in Norway, don’t assume that these will be recognised in the UK. Brexit ended the mutual recognition of qualifications – check with the professional or academic body that issued them whether these are recognised in the UK, you may need to acquire a certificate of recognition.

It’s a good idea to check this point before you start job-hunting in the UK. 

Be prepared for hassles

The advantage of moving back to the UK is that you’re not starting from scratch and at least you know how things like council tax, electricity billing and healthcare work.

However, don’t assume that it will all be plain sailing – if you don’t have a recent UK address, you might be an anomaly in many companies’ systems and you’re likely to be forced to have several long and annoying conversations with call centres while you explain that while you are a UK citizen, you have not recently been living in the UK.

There are likely to be other niggles too – many UK car insurance companies won’t recognise a no-claims bonus built up abroad, so you’ll be back to paying full premiums on your car insurance, while banks might request extra money laundering checks due to your foreign associations.

A lot of people in the UK also seem to be confused about the difference between citizenship and residency, so be prepared to have the following conversation a lot: “I’ve recently been living in Norway. No, I’m not Norwegian, I’m British, I was just living in Norway. Yes, I am a UK citizen.”