Senior Adviser
New at UiA
Official registration on arrival
For comprehensive information on official registration, please consult the Euraxess web portal for incoming researchers.
Among the first things you should do when you come to Norway is to register for a Norwegian ID-number, tax deduction card, and residence permit. These are needed in order to process salary payments, open a bank account, register a telephone subscription, and for other services.
Residence permit
Register with the police
If you have submitted your application for a residence/work permit at a Norwegian Embassy/General Consulate, you will have to register in person at the local police or at the Service Centre for Foreign Workers within seven working days of arriving in Norway. This is also the case for other family members.
You should register with the police as soon as possible after arrival. Please note that it is not possible just to ‘drop-in’. You must book the residence permit appointment in advance (i.e. before you arrive in Norway).
If the scheduled appointment is too late, you should call the local police and enquire as to whether an earlier appointment may be possible.
Opening hours and contact information for the police:
Kristiansand police
How to get from Grimstad to Arendal police station?
The bus ride takes app. 1 hours and you have to make one bus change.
Bus no. 100 from UiA to Arendal followed by bus no. 113 from Arendal to the police station.
Please check AKT.no for bus no. 100 from UiA Grimstad (Grimstad) to Politistasjonen (Arendal).
In Arendal, you have to change to bus no. 113. This is a loop-line and will stop at the police station (NO: Politistasjonen).
The bus driver will help you to find the correct bus.
Registering for tax deduction card and ID number
You must go in person to the tax office (Tax Norway South, in Norwegian: Skatt Sør) to get an ID number and a tax deduction card. Note that this also applies to citizens of other Nordic countries.
Visitors’ address Kristiansand: Kjøita 42
Visitors’ address Grimstad: Jon Lilletuns vei 1
Remember to bring your passport, residence permit, housing contract, and the offer of employment and contract from the university. New employees with spouses must be able to state the day of their wedding. In the case of families, all members of the family must go together to apply for ID numbers and tax deduction cards.
How to get your first salary
In order to be properly listed as UIA staff, you will need an ID number, a tax deduction card, and a Norwegian bank account. For international staff from outside the Nordic countries, getting all of this in order may take a few weeks.
If this is the case, you may receive your first payment as a ‘money order’, which you can redeem at the post office in Kristiansand and in the ‘post office in shop’ inside the Extra shop at Oddensenteret in Grimstad. Since the tax deduction card indicating your tax level will not yet be in place, this salary with have an automatic 50% tax deduction. The extra tax paid will be paid out to your bank account next year.
Opening a bank account in a Norwegian bank
UiA will transfer your salary only to Norwegian bank account. In some banks opening an account may take a while for forreigners, sometimes weeks. Sparebank1 SRbank promises to open an account a few days after registration. Please register at SRbank's website.
Kristiansand: Sparebank-SRbank
Address: Skippergata 59, Kristiansand
Grimstad: Sparebank-SRbank
Address: Storgata 33, Grimstad
Currency exchange to Norwegian NOK
We advise everybody against bringing foreign currency to Norway - or at least not large sums. In Norway, most people use their bank card when paying for food and other services. Rent and other regular fees are paid digitally by logging in to your bank. Furthermore, the transaction fee when exchanging currency is high.
If possible, please bring an international bank or credit card so you can pay using this during the first stage of your stay in Norway.
When exchanging currency: Remember to bring your passport and address in Norway. Be aware that exchange may be carried out at regular post offices, but not at ‘post office in shops’, which means that the postal services are integrated into regular grocery shops.
There is a post office in the centre of Kristiansand (Gyldenløves gate 2, open until 5 pm).
Unfortunately, there are no possibilities for currency exchange in Grimstad. Arendal Post Office is the nearest alternative.
Getting a Norwegian mobile phone number
Go to Sandens shopping mall in Kristiansand or Power Grimstad (address Odden 2). Remember to bring your passport and address in Norway.
Language courses
The University offers a course in Norwegian language to international employees at both campuses and facilitates attendance at a similar course at Kongsgård Skolesenter in Kristiansand. Please note that the campus courses are comprised of daytime classes, 2 hours once per week, and especially tailored towards university employees, while the classes at Kongsgård Skolesenter are for all kinds of immigrants and take place in the evening.
You must register for the course with PULS, the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Contact: Ann Kristin Skjølingstad (email: ann.k.skjolingstad@uia.no)
Tuition is free for all courses, but participants must buy the required books. However, it is possible to apply to your Faculty or unit for a refund of such expenses.
Other courses
The University of Agder offers courses regarding work culture in Norway:
Contact
