Person Numbers

When we bought a condo in Norway for my husband’s elderly aunt in 1999, we were required to sign up with the “people register” office, in order to complete the transaction.  It’s impossible to do any legal business in Norway without a “person number.”  They are Norway’s version of our social security number, and obviously used for tax purposes, but they also have a twist.  The number can change, as the status of the person changes. 

The very first thing anyone must do when planning to live, go to school, or conduct any business in Norway, is to get that number, as it’s required in order to get a cell phone, internet service, a bank account, a car, or even a library card, a bus pass or a post office box.  

Norway has embraced the technological age so that everything is on-line and connected with some master computer somewhere in the land.  It’s a good system in one way because illegal immigrants can’t do a whole lot in Norway because they don’t have a number, but it’s a bad system if you don’t want the government to know every little detail about your life.  We have nothing to hide, so it doesn’t bother us, but there’s not much a person does in Norway that goes unnoticed by the government.  America calls this “spying,” but since Norway does it so openly, it’s just a part of their socialist life and they accept it – like it or not.

The first six digits of the “person number” starts with the birthdate, and then five unique numbers follow.  If a person is a foreigner, then they substitute the very first number in the series with the number six, so everyone they do business with will know their status.  Temporary residents, college students, refugees and asylum seekers have yet a different beginning number so they are also quickly identified.  The person number can be a bit discriminatory because of this coding system, however.

Our first set of numbers clearly identified us as foreigners, but years later when we applied and received permission to go live in Norway, our numbers changed to reflect our status as that of permanent residents.  Prior to that change, we were unable to get cell phone service or car insurance because we were foreigners.  The numbers also tie us together as a family somehow.  It’s big brother all the way.

Illegals in Norway obviously don’t have person numbers or they wouldn’t need to sit on the sidewalks and beg.  If they had a number, the socialist government would give them all they needed to survive, as homelessness is illegal in Norway.  

The fastest way to get a “person number” is to get a job.  The slowest way is to ask for one.  It took 18 months of waiting, once we’d applied for permission to live there, before we got approved.  While the Norwegian government may be a bit on the intrusive side of things, they certainly aren’t quick about it.