If you are new to Norway as a refugee, asylum seeker or family-reunited person, you have the right to a free health check and free vaccinations. The municipality where you live offers a health examination, a tuberculosis test and update of vaccines you are missing. This is about your health, not your residence.
Who gets a free health check as a newcomer?
All newly arrived asylum seekers, refugees and family-reunited persons are offered a free health check. The offer applies regardless of which country you come from, and it costs nothing. The goal is to assess your health and provide you with vaccines and treatment you need.
The healthcare system in Norway is built around the municipality where you live. You can read more in our overview of the healthcare system in Norway. The health check itself is part of your reception in the country, not part of the asylum process in Norway. What you tell healthcare personnel is used to help you – not to assess your application. Everyone working in healthcare has a duty of confidentiality.
What happens the first days in Norway?
The first days are about the most urgent matters. If you need immediate help, you get an early conversation with a nurse or doctor as soon as possible after arrival. If you live in a reception center, you are often offered vaccination against measles and covid-19 already in the first days.
The most important requirement early on is the tuberculosis test. It should happen quickly, and we explain the deadlines further down. The large health examination comes later, usually after about three months.
Health examination after three months
The Norwegian Directorate of Health recommends that the municipality offer you a full health examination around three months after you arrived in Norway (current recommendation as of July 2026). The examination is voluntary and free. A doctor, nurse or health nurse conducts it, and you have the right to a free interpreter.
The health examination may include:
- screening for tuberculosis and other infectious diseases,
- offer of testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis,
- offer of vaccines you are missing from before,
- conversation about mental health and difficult experiences,
- review of regular medications and chronic diseases,
- information about sexual health and prevention.
If you need more follow-up, healthcare staff will refer you to a general practitioner or hospital. You decide yourself what you want to answer and which tests you want to take – except for the tuberculosis test, which is legally required.
Tuberculosis test is mandatory – and free
Tuberculosis testing (TB) is the only health check that is legally required for newcomers. According to the tuberculosis regulations § 3-1 (current as of July 2026), all asylum seekers and refugees are required to undergo testing. The same applies to other immigrants from countries with a lot of tuberculosis who will be in Norway for more than three months.
The deadline is short. Asylum seekers and refugees must be examined within 14 days of entry. Other immigrants should get checked as soon as possible, preferably within four weeks. If you are over 10 years old, you usually get an X-ray of your lungs. Younger children are assessed differently. The examination and any treatment is completely free, as well as travel to it.
Be assured: a positive TB test does not stop your stay. Tuberculosis is a disease that can be treated, and treatment is free for everyone. Taking the test protects both you and your family.
Free vaccinations: both children and adults
You can get free vaccinations in Norway even if you are missing doses from your home country. This is called catch-up vaccination, and there is a separate offer for both children and adults.
Children and young people under 20 years have the right to all vaccines in the childhood vaccination program for free, regardless of how many doses they are missing. This includes MMR vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella, as well as polio, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.
Adults are often forgotten, but you can also get free vaccinations. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), the state institute for public health, sends the vaccines free to the municipality. This is the offer:
| Group | What you get free | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Children and young people 0–20 years | All vaccines in the childhood vaccination program | Health station / school health service |
| Adult refugees, asylum seekers and family-reunited persons | MMR + combined vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio | Municipality / general practitioner |
| All adults without protection | Offer of MMR and polio vaccine, latest one year after arrival | Municipality |
All vaccines are voluntary – you decide yourself whether you want to take them. If you are unsure which vaccines you have received before, healthcare staff can help you figure out what you are missing.
General practitioner and emergency help – a right for everyone
Everyone living in a municipality has the right to a general practitioner, the regular doctor you go to first. You can be on a general practitioner's list even if you have only received a D-number and are still waiting for a personal ID number. Settled refugees and family-reunited persons have the same rights to healthcare as the rest of the population. Read more about how to find and change your general practitioner in Norway.
Acute and necessary healthcare is a right for everyone in Norway, regardless of residence status. Children under 16 pay nothing at a doctor, psychologist, physiotherapist or hospital. Interpreters in healthcare are also free, except at the dentist. You should not refrain from asking for help because you are afraid of the cost.
Where do you go to use the offer?
Contact the refugee health service or health station in your municipality to book a health check and vaccinations. If you live in a reception center, the health service at the center will help you further. You can also bring it up with your general practitioner once you have one.
A good start is to have your papers in order the first few weeks. SamfunnPrep has a separate checklist for your first week in Norway that helps you with population registration, D-number and healthcare services. Contact early – then you get quick access to the help you are entitled to.
Health and rights are also a topic on the citizenship knowledge exam. On SamfunnPrep you can practice for free on such questions and learn how Norwegian society works.
