Nina's Blog - Saturday 27th July 2024

@turbineman40 The explicit justification is that they don't want the social security and health systems paying for treatment for conditions contracted overseas when you aren't paying taxes to Norway. The general rule in most countries is that you pay tax to the country that you spend the most time in. So if you are out of the country for more than six months a year you can apply to stop paying taxes at home and start paying them in the other jurisdiction. I have no idea how this works for people who simply move all the time.

Without the rule many retired Norwegian citizens and residents would live overseas where it is cheap and their pensions go further and just go home for medical treatment and that would be a substantial drain on the economy. Some people do actually do retire abroad but many of them have to forgo membership of the Norwegian social security system and rely on the local health services wherever they live.

The actual rule is that you can't spend more than six months a year in consecutive years outside the country without losing the right to non-emergency medical treatment

@ninalanyon That makes sense to me

@nacnud Which parts did you visit?

@nacnud Nice place. There's a lot more to see though. Not that I have actually seen most of it :-)

If you get a chance to take a trip to Oslo make sure you visit Frogner Park. It's full of Vigeland's sculptures; one of the wonders of the world in my opinion.

@ArishMell There is another condition that has to be taken into account. Easter is the most important holiday in Norway. Huge numbers of people go on holiday in the mountains to ski in Easter week. The weather in the mountains is much colder and snowier than in the lower lying coastal districts where most of us live so it's important to ensure that everyone who might drive there has the proper tyres even if it might already be reasonable to use summer tyres at home.

After the high traffic holiday period people are left to make up their own minds. Some mountain passes are not clear of snow until much later; Friisvegen for instance typically opens just after the solstice, 23rd June. The Roads Authority (Vegvesen) maintains a web page showing the status of such roads.

See:
- https://www.vegvesen.no/trafikk/fjelloverganger?lat=65&lng=15&zoom=3&layer=fer,tra,ctv,tfl
- https://vegtur.cc/sider/nar-apner-vinterstengte-fjelloverganger