Effective Dates: 12/08/1994 - Present Previous | Next

TN 2 (12-94)

GN 01711.125 Eligibility for Norwegian Benefits Under the Agreement

A. Policy - General

The agreement provides that Norway will count a worker's U.S. coverage, where necessary, when determining eligibility for Norwegian benefits under both the basic pension program and the supplementary pension program.

1. Basic pension

If a person has resided in Norway for at least 1 year but not long enough to meet the applicable coverage requirement for a basic pension, the person's U.S. and Norwegian coverage can be combined to meet the requirement. Thus, U.S. QC's can be used to meet the 3-year minimum coverage requirement for a basic old-age pension, or to meet the recent-coverage requirements that apply to the basic disability and survivors pension.

2. Supplementary pension

If a person has at least 1 year of coverage under Norway's supplementary pension system, but not enough to meet the 3-year minimum requirement for a pension, the person's U.S. QC's can be added to his/her supplementary system coverage credits to meet the requirement. In addition, U.S. QC's can be used to meet the recent-coverage requirement for the surviving spouse's pension.

B. Policy - Crediting U.S. Coverage

Norway will generally credit 1 year of Norwegian coverage for each 4 quarters of U.S. coverage. When making the conversion, the Norwegian agency divides the worker's total QC's by 4 with the result representing the number of years of coverage to be credited for eligibility purposes under both the basic and supplementary programs. However, Norway will not credit any U.S. QC's in a calendar year which is already credited as a year of coverage under the Norwegian system.

C. References

  • •

    Norwegian benefit eligibility requirements, GN 01711.020

  • •

    Application for benefits under the Norwegian agreement, GN 01711.215

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0201711125
GN 01711.125 - Eligibility for Norwegian Benefits Under the Agreement - 12/08/1994
Batch run: 03/12/2014
Rev:12/08/1994