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Label Element Value
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Document Type dei_DocumentType 485BPOS
Document Period End Date dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate Apr. 23, 2012
Registrant Name dei_EntityRegistrantName Northern Lights Variable Trust
Central Index Key dei_EntityCentralIndexKey 0001352621
Amendment Flag dei_AmendmentFlag false
Document Creation Date dei_DocumentCreationDate Apr. 23, 2012
Document Effective Date dei_DocumentEffectiveDate Apr. 23, 2012
Prospectus Date rr_ProspectusDate Apr. 23, 2012
Power Income VIT Fund
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading RISK/RETURN
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading Investment Objectives:
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

 The Fund’s primary investment objective is total return from income and capital appreciation
Objective, Secondary [Text Block] rr_ObjectiveSecondaryTextBlock

with capital preservation as a secondary objective.

Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading Fees and Expenses of the Fund:
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the annual operating expenses that you may indirectly pay if you invest in the Fund through your retirement plan or if you allocate your insurance contract premiums or payments to the Fund. However, each insurance contract and separate account involves fees and expenses that are not described in this Prospectus. If the fees and expenses of your insurance contract or separate account were included in this table, your overall expenses would be higher. You should review the insurance contract prospectus for a complete description of fees and expenses. In the table below, Acquired Fund F ees and Expenses are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies.

Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading Fund Turnover:
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

 The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its Fund). These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. A higher Fund turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs.

Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates Estimated for the Fund's current fiscal year.
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, Based on Estimates [Text] rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesBasedOnEstimates Estimated for the Fund's current fiscal year.
Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees The operating expenses in this fee table will not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund's financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Fund.
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading Example:
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

 This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. You would pay the same expenses if you did not redeem your shares. However, each insurance contract and separate account involves fees and expenses that are not included in the Example. If these fees and expenses were included in the Example, your overall expenses would be higher. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based upon these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading Principal Investment Strategies:
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

 The Fund’s investment adviser seeks to achieve the Fund’s primary investment objective by investing primarily in a diversified Fund of income-producing high-yield fixed income securities commonly known as “junk” bonds and U.S. Treasury securities. The Fund defines junk bonds as those rated lower than Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) or lower than BBB- by Standard and Poor’s Rating Group (“S&P”), or, if unrated, determined by the adviser to be of similar credit quality. The adviser does not select individual bonds or other fixed income securities but instead, invests the Fund’s assets in open end investment companies (“mutual funds”) and exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) that each invest primarily in junk bonds or U.S. Treasury securities.


The adviser seeks to achieve the Fund’s secondary investment objective by hedging the Fund’s investment portfolio when it believes security prices will decline. The adviser will hedge by (i) increasing allocations to cash equivalents or U.S. Treasury securities (ii) purchasing inverse mutual funds or inverse ETFs. The adviser may invest in inverse funds linked to the S&P 500 Index when it believes this strategy will provide an effective hedge for junk bond holdings and may invest in inverse funds linked to U.S. Treasury securities when it believes this strategy will provide an effective hedge for interest rate risk. Inverse funds typically lose value as the index or security tracked by the fund increases in value; a result that is the opposite from traditional funds. The Fund limits inverse investments, in total, to 50% of Fund assets.


The adviser selects mutual funds and ETFs without restriction as to minimum issuer credit quality, sector, country of origin, or security maturity with respect to the fixed income securities held by these funds. The Fund may invest in mutual funds and ETFs that employ derivatives, such as swap contracts, to obtain exposure to junk or U.S. Treasury bond returns. The Fund does not invest in derivatives directly and will limit investment in mutual funds and ETFs that invest primarily in derivatives to 50% of Fund assets.


The adviser buys traditional securities (mutual funds and ETFs) when it believes prices are stable or improving and sells them when it believes prices will fall. The adviser buys and sells inverse securities for hedging purposes. The adviser may engage in frequent buying and selling of securities to achieve the Fund’s investment objectives.

Strategy Portfolio Concentration [Text] rr_StrategyPortfolioConcentration The Fund's investment adviser seeks to achieve the Fund's primary investment objective by investing primarily in a diversified Fund of income-producing high-yield fixed income securities commonly known as "junk" bonds and U.S. Treasury securities.
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading Principal Investment Risks:
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. The Fund is not intended to be a complete investment program. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance. 


The following risks apply to the Fund through its investments in ETFs and mutual funds.


  • Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are subject to credit risk and liquidity risk. Additionally, even a small investment in derivatives (which include options, futures, swap contracts and other transactions) may give rise to leverage risk, and can have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

  • Fixed Income Risk.  When the Fund invests in fixed income securities, the value of the Fund will fluctuate with changes in interest rates. Defaults by fixed income issuers in which the Fund invests will also harm performance.

  • Hedging Risk.  Inverse mutual funds and inverse ETFs may not effectively hedge the Fund’s junk bond holdings or interest rate risk.

  • Junk Bond Risk. Lower-quality bonds, known as “high yield” or “junk” bonds, present greater risk than bonds of higher quality, including an increased risk of default. An economic downturn or period of rising interest rates could adversely affect the market for these bonds and reduce the Fund’s ability to sell its bonds. The lack of a liquid market for these bonds could decrease the Fund’s share price.

  • Limited History of Operations. The Fund is a new mutual fund and has a limited history of operation. In addition, the adviser has limited experience managing a mutual fund.

  • Management Risk.  The adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential appreciation of particular security in which the Fund invests may prove to be incorrect and may not produce the desired results.

  • Mutual Fund and ETF Risk.  Mutual funds and ETFs are subject to investment advisory and other expenses, which will be indirectly paid by the Fund. As a result, your cost of investing in the Fund will be higher than the cost of investing directly in other mutual funds and ETFs and may be higher than other mutual funds that invest directly in fixed income securities. Inverse mutual funds tend to limit the Fund’s participation in overall market-wide gains. Each ETF and mutual fund is subject to specific risks, depending on the nature of the fund.

  • Turnover Risk.  A higher Fund turnover will result in higher transactional and brokerage costs.

Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading Performance:
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

Because the Fund has less than a full calendar year of investment operations, no performance information is presented for the Fund at this time. However, prior performance of the adviser’s similarly managed separate accounts is presented below. In the future, Fund performance information will be presented in this section of the Prospectus. Updated performance information will be available at no cost by visiting www.powerincomefund.com or by calling 1-877-7-PWRINC (1-877-779-7462).

Performance One Year or Less [Text] rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess Because the Fund has less than a full calendar year of investment operations, no performance information is presented for the Fund at this time.
Performance Availability Phone [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone 1-877-779-7462
Performance Availability Website Address [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress www.powerincomefund.com
Power Income VIT Fund | Power Income VIT Fund Class 1 Shares
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.00%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.33% [1]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.53% [1],[2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.86%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 189
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 585
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 189
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 585
Power Income VIT Fund | Power Income VIT Fund Class 2 Shares
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.00%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.50%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.33% [1]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.53% [1],[2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 2.36%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 239
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 736
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 239
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 736
[1] Estimated for the Fund's current fiscal year.
[2] The operating expenses in this fee table will not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund's financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Fund.