Semester start January 2021

We are looking forward to welcoming both our new and old students to USN in January. However, due to the current situation with covid-19, we ask you to kindly stay updated on the information given on this site. Especially if you are travelling to Norway from abroad. 

For international incoming students:

• Travel: When making your travel arrangements, in regards to the ongoing pandemic and an unpredictable situation, USN recommends that students find flexible and refundable options if available. 
• Insurance: USN highly recommends that students consider additional insurance coverage that can specifically cover any consequences of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Please stay updated at all times on the current rules and restrictions in Norway, especially for incoming travel.

• Here you can find updated information from The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH)
• You can find updated informaton on covid-19 in Norway, it's current regulations, information on qurantine hotels etc on The Norwegian Government's wepages
• Do you have any specific questions about Covid-19 and arrival to Norway? Please check out the government's Q&A

Important information on arrival (updated 28.01.21) 

Entry restrictions for students coming to Norway January 29th (will be reviewed within 14 days):
For the time being, students will no longer be able to enter to Norway.

To students who enter Norway earlier than January 29th, the following applies:

Covid-19 test before arrival: Those that are allowed to enter the country have to present a negative Covid-19 test, no older than 24 hours. You also have to register online 72 hours before departure. 
The government has set certain requirements for the negative Covid-19 test, please make sure that you have read and understood these requirments. 

Mandatory testing after arrival: As of the 2nd of January 2021, the government has imposed mandatory testing or Covid-19 for all travellers to Norway uppon arrival at border controls/airports. Therefore, travellers must enter Norway through border stations with testing facilities or through border stations with police control. Make sure to check that the border control you plan to arrive at is open. NOTE: This does not impact the rule of a negative test upon arrival, and you still have to present a negative test.

Quarantine hotels:

• A 10 days quaratine in the hotel is mandatory and required by the national authorities. All foreign citizens without a permanent address/Norwegian social security number in Norway are required to stay in a designated quarantine hotel. There might be exceptions for students who have already had covid-19 and can document this
• International degree and exchange students will, at the border crossing, be taken care of by the border crossing police and taken to a designated quarantine hotel. 
• Quarantine hotels cannot be booked in advance, and nobody can predict in which hotel exactly they will be placed before arrival in Norway
• The designated quarantine hotel is Scandic Park Hotel in Sandefjord. You may contact the hotel direclty before departure for Norway at parksandefjord@scandichotels.com and ask to secure a quarantine space upon arrival. You should have recived an email with more information about this. 
• The hotels will invoice USN for the costs associated with the quarantine – NOK 500 per day / student (5000 NOK in total). The hotels will have the lists with the names of our international students, to check. Note: You will recieve an email with a confirmation letter. You must show the enclosed letter together with your admission letter and a valid ID at check-in at the quarantine hotel.
•  Any additional costs (minibar, movie rentals etc) must be covered by the student him/herself.
• Please note that USN only covers quarantine hotel costs for students, not family members and/or spouses.
• USN only covers the quarantine hotel costs for students once. 

Getting from the quarantine hotel to your campus/apartment is the students’ own responsibility. Please note that the SSN will not accept any release of keys unless you can present documentation that shows the minimum stay of length of 10 days in quarantine before moving in to your apartment. Please stay in touch with SSN directly regarding housing arrangements.

For the few students not staying in SSN housing, there may be a possibility to have your accommodation approved for quarantine use. In this case, USN does not offer any compensation for the quarantine period and the student must gain approval directly from the authorities. For more information check the governments' webpages.

Police registration: 

There are group appointments being arranged at each campus. The rule that you have to register within 7 days does not apply due to quarantine restrictions as you cannot go to the police while in quarantine. Police registration will take place as soon as possible for each campus. If you arrive later than the date your campus coordinator has provided for you, or you have not finished quarantine within this time - you might have to find an available appointment yourself. 

*Information will be given later. Please have patience and it is no need to contact USN about appointments as we have direct contact with the police. If you have any spesific questions, please contact your own campus coordinator: 

Semester start: 

The official semester dates for Spring semester 2021 are:
January 7th – June 18th, 2021

• Most study programmes aim to have students physically on campus from Monday, January 18th *This means you have to plan your 10 days quarantine prior to this, so this will be completed at least by this date.

* Note: Some of the programmes taught in English might have a later start-up date in the Spring semester. Contact the program administration for information specific to your study programme.

All our studies for exchange and degree students are currently planning to run as normal, however USN is monitoring the situation and this might be subject to change.
We will provide more detailed information about arrival throughout December 2021. Students will also be notified directly about significant changes.

More information from USN: 

• General information about spring mobility 2021
• Information on Covid-19 guidelines at USN
• News about covid-19 for degree-seeking students