Portuguese law and Norwegian law: what changes for a Norwegian who moves here

Where the two systems meet

Norway is not in the European Union but it is in the European Economic Area, and for most of what a Norwegian does in Portugal that is the fact that matters: free movement, coordinated social security, an EEA driving licence, and a tax treaty that has been in force since 2012. Both countries are civil-law systems with codified rules, professional judges and no jury in civil cases; Portugal’s private law is written in a Civil Code of 1966, Norway’s in a series of statutes — the Marriage Act, the Inheritance Act, the Companies Act — that the pages below compare one by one.

• EEA citizen: no visa, a registration certificate at the town hall after three months, up to five years
• Apostille for public documents both ways — Norway has been in the Hague Convention since 1983, Portugal since 1969
• Treaty of 2011: pensions taxed where you live, dividends 5 % or 15 %, interest and royalties 10 %
• Dual nationality accepted by both countries — Norway since 2020, Portugal without condition; naturalisation after ten years for a Norwegian

Living here: status and papers

A Norwegian enters Portugal on a passport or identity card and may stay three months without formality. Beyond that, the right of residence under Lei n.º 37/2006 is formalised by a registration certificate (certificado de registo) issued by the municipality of residence, valid up to five years, on a declaration that you work, study or have means and health cover; after five years a permanent residence certificate follows from AIMA. Before the certificate, get the tax number (NIF) — needed for a lease, a bank account, a car — then the social security number and the health-service number; the legal services hub explains each.

Norwegian public documents — birth and marriage certificates, police certificates, powers of attorney — are accepted in Portugal with an apostille, which the county governors (statsforvalteren) or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issue in Norway; Portuguese documents going to Norway are apostilled by the Procuradoria-Geral da República for 10,20 €. Documents in Norwegian need a translation certified in Portugal by a lawyer, notary or solicitador.

Courts and disputes

Norway’s ordinary courts are the district courts (tingrettene), the courts of appeal (lagmannsrettene) and the Supreme Court, with the conciliation boards (forliksrådene) as a first stop that can give judgment on money claims under NOK 200 000. Portugal has 23 district courts (tribunais de comarca), five courts of appeal (Relação) and the Supreme Court of Justice, plus julgados de paz — small-claims courts for disputes up to 15 000 €. Appeal thresholds, legal aid on both sides and what a Norwegian can expect from a Portuguese lawsuit are on the courts page.

Family and inheritance

Portugal marries you by default under community of acquisitions (what you earn and buy during the marriage is shared; what you owned before is yours) and lets you divorce by mutual consent at the civil registry without a court. Norway’s felleseie splits the couple’s total net wealth equally at divorce, with each spouse keeping what they brought in or inherited. On death, Portugal reserves two thirds of the estate for spouse and children; Norway reserves two thirds for children, capped at 15 G per child, and a minimum of 4 G for the spouse. Norway abolished inheritance tax in 2014; Portugal charges 10 % stamp duty outside the spouse–children–parents line. The family law page goes through it, including the choice of Norwegian law under the EU Succession Regulation.

Business

A Norwegian aksjeselskap needs NOK 30 000 of share capital and NOK 6 825 of registration fees; a Portuguese sociedade por quotas can be formed with 1 € per partner in one session at Empresa na Hora for 360 €. Corporate tax is 22 % in Norway and 19 % in Portugal in 2026 (15 % on the first 50 000 € for SMEs). The business law page compares forms, registration, accounting duties and the treaty’s permanent-establishment rules.

Tax and social security

The convention of 10 March 2011, in force since 15 June 2012, gives pensions to the residence state (art. 18), caps dividends at 5 % for companies holding 10 % (15 % otherwise), interest and royalties at 10 %, and lets Skatteetaten exempt private pensions on a Portuguese residence certificate while keeping 15 % on the basic state pension and public-service pensions. Norwegian tax on wealth (1 % above NOK 1,9 million) has no Portuguese counterpart; Portugal’s 28 % on capital income has a lower Norwegian rival at 22 % but a higher one on dividends at 37,84 %. All of it, with 2026 figures, is on the Portugal vs Norway tax pages.

Social security follows Regulation 883/2004, which Norway applies as an EEA state: you are insured in one country at a time — where you work — with postings up to 24 months under an A1 certificate, pension periods in both countries added together, and health cover for pensioners in Portugal at Norway’s expense through the S1 form (art. 24 of the regulation).

Driving and cars

A Norwegian licence is an EEA licence: valid in Portugal until its expiry date, provided you register your residence with the IMT within 60 days of settling (free); exchange for a Portuguese licence is optional, costs 30 € (10 % less online) and needs a medical certificate uploaded by your doctor.

Nationality

Norway allowed dual citizenship from 2020, when the Nationality Act’s requirement to give up other citizenships was repealed; Portugal has never required renunciation. A Norwegian who naturalises Portuguese — after ten years of legal residence under the 2026 Nationality Act, since the seven-year track is reserved for EU and Portuguese-speaking citizens and Norway is EEA, not EU — keeps the Norwegian passport — and a Norwegian-born child of a resident parent may acquire Portuguese nationality at birth under the conditions on the citizenship page.

Steps

Questions from Norwegian clients