# Can I just move to Svalbard?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-just-move-to-svalbard/776495>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 7, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-just-move-to-svalbard/776495 "2017-01-07T00:23:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-just-move-to-svalbard/776495/21 "2017-01-12T14:20:02Z")

</div>

Being a visa-free zone is not synonymous with saying “anyone can reside here.” UK nationals don’t need a visa to enter the US (and vice versa), but that doesn’t mean they automatically have the right to _live_ there.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hooleehootoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eada6e/32.png) [@Hooleehootoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hooleehootoo)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-just-move-to-svalbard/776495/22 "2017-01-12T18:22:34Z")

</div>

> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> Being a visa-free zone is not synonymous with saying “anyone can reside here.” UK nationals don’t need a visa to enter the US (and vice versa), but that doesn’t mean they automatically have the right to _live_ there.

Pasting from the Wiki article. Bolding mine.

> [@](#):
>
> Non-discrimination: All citizens and all companies of every nation under the treaty are allowed to become **residents** and to have access to Svalbard including the right to fish, hunt or undertake any kind of maritime, industrial, mining or trade activity. The residents of Svalbard must follow Norwegian law though Norwegian authority cannot discriminate against or favor any residents of any given nationality.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-just-move-to-svalbard/776495/23 "2017-01-14T04:48:30Z")

</div>

I was there for a 6-day dogsledding trip in 2015. The flight up from Oslo had a distinct party atmosphere, with a lot of middle aged Norwegians getting their drink on. The hotel we stayed at also had a lot of hard-partying fiftiesh women carrying many bottles of wine from room to room. I was told it’s the Las Vegas of Norway, with much cheaper booze, much less sales tax, etc., all in an effort to keep lots of Norwegians going up there to maintain an active presence for geopolitical reasons. There were a surprising number of Thais there.

The dogsledding was great; 24 hours of daylight, blue skies, temps in the 20s F. No polar bears seen, but we had several shotguns and flare guns, and you had to take a shotgun if you left camp to pee. We also had about thirty dogs, which were staked out each night to form a perimeter, with the humans in the center of the ring. No polar bear sightings, but plenty of seals and pygmy reindeer. I got to see Sveagruva and taste the saltwater ice in the Van Mijen fjord, as well as a quick stop to see the outside of the Seed Vault. Brought some coal home with me.

Yeah, I’d go back there in a heartbeat.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-just-move-to-svalbard/776495.md?page=1)