Meldekortet sendes etter dagpengesøknaden.

Because meldekortet is the definite singular form of et meldekort.

• et meldekort = a reporting card / a form
• meldekortet = the reporting card / the form

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like the in English.

Since meldekort is a neuter noun, the definite singular ending is -et.

For the same reason: Norwegian usually puts definiteness on the noun itself.

• en dagpengesøknad = an unemployment benefit application
• dagpengesøknaden = the unemployment benefit application

Here, søknad is a common gender noun, so the definite singular ending is -en.

So both nouns in the sentence are definite:

• meldekortet = the reporting card
• dagpengesøknaden = the unemployment benefit application

Sendes is the s-passive form of sende.

• sender = sends / is sending in the active voice
• sendes = is sent / gets sent in the passive voice

So:

• NAV sender meldekortet = NAV sends the reporting card
• Meldekortet sendes ... = The reporting card is sent ...

This passive form is very common in Norwegian, especially in formal or administrative language.

Very often, yes. Both can express a passive meaning.

• Meldekortet sendes etter dagpengesøknaden.
• Meldekortet blir sendt etter dagpengesøknaden.

Both can mean roughly The reporting card is sent after the unemployment benefit application.

That said:

• s-passive (sendes) is often more formal, neutral, or typical of written instructions and official language.
• blir + past participle (blir sendt) can sometimes sound a bit more dynamic or conversational.

In this sentence, sendes sounds very natural for bureaucratic or official Norwegian.

It is a compound noun:

• dagpenger = unemployment benefits
• søknad = application
• dagpengesøknad = application for unemployment benefits
• dagpengesøknaden = the application for unemployment benefits

Norwegian uses compound nouns much more than English does. Where English often uses a phrase like application for unemployment benefits, Norwegian often packs the idea into one word.

Both are possible in Norwegian.

• dagpengesøknaden = a compact compound noun
• søknaden om dagpenger = the application about/for unemployment benefits

The compound form is very typical and often preferred in official language because it is concise.

So these are close in meaning:

• Meldekortet sendes etter dagpengesøknaden.
• Meldekortet sendes etter søknaden om dagpenger.

The first version is simply more compact.

Here etter means after.

It tells us the sequence of events:

• first: dagpengesøknaden
• then: meldekortet sendes

So etter dagpengesøknaden means after the unemployment benefit application.

Depending on context, English might naturally expand this to something like:

• after the unemployment benefit application has been submitted
• after the application for unemployment benefits

But the core meaning of etter is just after.

Yes, etter can come first, but then the word order changes because Norwegian follows the V2 rule in main clauses.

The original sentence:

• Meldekortet sendes etter dagpengesøknaden.

A version with the time phrase first:

• Etter dagpengesøknaden sendes meldekortet.

Notice that the verb sendes still stays in the second position.

So both are possible, but the original starts with the topic meldekortet, which is very natural if that is what the sentence is mainly about.

Because the sentence uses the passive voice, which lets Norwegian focus on what happens rather than who does it.

Compare:

• NAV sender meldekortet etter dagpengesøknaden.
  = NAV sends the reporting card after the application.

• Meldekortet sendes etter dagpengesøknaden.
  = The reporting card is sent after the application.

The passive is useful when:

• the doer is obvious
• the doer is unimportant
• the style is formal or administrative

That is exactly the kind of style this sentence has.

It is a normal word in Norwegian administrative and welfare contexts, but it may not be familiar to beginners because there is no perfect one-word everyday equivalent in English.

A meldekort is typically a form or reporting card you submit regularly to report your situation, for example in connection with benefits.

So even if the exact English translation varies by context, the grammar of the word is straightforward:

• et meldekort
• meldekortet

Yes, it sounds fairly formal and administrative.

Reasons:

• it uses the s-passive: sendes
• it uses a long compound noun: dagpengesøknaden
• it is concise and information-focused

This is exactly the style you often see in official messages, websites, and instructions in Norwegian.

A more conversational sentence might be rephrased, but this version is very natural in official writing.