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Label Element Value
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Document Type dei_DocumentType 485BPOS
Document Period End Date dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate Dec. 31, 2012
Registrant Name dei_EntityRegistrantName Northern Lights Variable Trust
Central Index Key dei_EntityCentralIndexKey 0001352621
Amendment Flag dei_AmendmentFlag false
Trading Symbol dei_TradingSymbol nlvt
Document Creation Date dei_DocumentCreationDate Apr. 24, 2013
Document Effective Date dei_DocumentEffectiveDate Apr. 24, 2013
Prospectus Date rr_ProspectusDate Apr. 24, 2013
Even Keel Premium Income Fund
  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading

EVEN KEEL PREMIUM INCOME FUND
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment Objective:
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Even Keel Premium Income Fund (the “Portfolio”) seeks to provide income while preserving capital.
Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio:
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the annual operating expenses that you may indirectly pay if you invest in the Portfolio through your retirement plan or if you allocate your insurance contract premiums or payments to the Portfolio. 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.
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

Portfolio Turnover:
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio’s performance.
Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates

Estimated for the current fiscal year.
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, Based on Estimates [Text] rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesBasedOnEstimates

Estimated for the current fiscal year.
Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies. The operating expenses in this fee table will not correlate to the expense ratio in the Portfolio’s financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Portfolio, not the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies.
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 Portfolio 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 Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. 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 Portfolio’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 Portfolio may purchase or sell (i) equity securities of domestic large capitalization companies, (ii) call options on equity securities of domestic large capitalization companies, (iii) call options on the S&P 500 Index, (iv) futures contracts on the S&P 500 Index, (v) exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that track the S & P 500, (vi) call options on S&P 500 ETFs, (vii) S&P 500 buy/write ETFs (S&P 500 ETFs that use a covered call strategy), and (viii) futures contracts on U.S. Treasuries. The Portfolio will short sell these securities and also hold cash positions. The Portfolio defines a large capitalization company as one whose market capitalization falls within the range of the S&P 500 Index, which as of December 31, 2012 was between $1.6 billion and $500.6 billion. The market capitalization of companies in the index changes with market conditions and the composition of the index.

 

The adviser utilizes a covered call (or buy / write) strategy as part of the investment strategy of the Portfolio. This strategy is used in an effort to generate income for the portfolio by collecting premiums from the sale of call options. The adviser attempts to match call options that have been sold with holdings in the securities or indices on which the options are based. In addition, the adviser uses a proprietary risk management strategy, the Milliman Managed Risk Strategy ™, in an effort to manage risk within the Portfolio. By combining the covered call strategy with the Milliman Managed Risk Strategy, the adviser attempts to generate consistent income for the Portfolio and to reduce market risk.
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading

Principal Investment Risks:
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

Remember that in addition to possibly not achieving your investment goals, you could lose money by investing in the Portfolio. The Portfolio is not intended to be a complete investment program. The principal risks of investing in the Portfolio are:

 

• Credit Risk: Issuers might not make payments on debt securities, resulting in losses. Credit quality of securities may be lowered if an issuer’s financial condition changes, also resulting in losses.

 

• Derivatives Risk. Even a small investment in derivatives (which include options, futures and other transactions) may give rise to leverage risk (which can increase volatility and magnify the Portfolio’s potential for loss), and can have a significant impact on the Portfolio’s performance. Derivatives are also subject to credit risk (the counterparty may default) and liquidity risk (the Portfolio may not be able to sell the security or otherwise exit the contract in a timely manner).

 

• ETF Risk: The cost of investing in the Portfolio will be higher than the cost of investing directly in ETFs and may be higher than other mutual funds that invest directly in stocks and bonds. Each ETF is subject to specific risks, depending on the nature of the fund.

 

• Futures Risk: Futures contract short positions may not provide an effective hedge because changes in futures contract prices may not track those of the ETFs they are intended to hedge. Futures create leverage, which can magnify the Portfolio’s potential for gain or loss and, therefore, amplify the effects of market volatility on the Portfolio’s share price.

 

• Limited History of Operations. The Portfolio is a new mutual fund and has a limited history of operations for investors to evaluate.

 

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

 

• Market Risk: Overall securities market risks may affect the value of securities held by the Portfolio. Factors such as foreign and domestic economic growth and market conditions, interest rate levels, and political events may adversely affect the securities and futures markets.

 

• Option Risk: The Portfolio may lose the entire put or call option premium paid if the reference asset or index does not decrease below or rise above the respective strike price before expiration. Options may not be an effective hedge because they may have imperfect correlation to the value of the Portfolio’s assets.

• Short Position Risk: The Portfolio will incur a loss as a result of a short position if the price of the short position instrument increases in value between the date of the short position sale and the date on which an offsetting position is purchased. Short positions may be considered speculative transactions and involve special risks, including greater reliance on the ability to accurately anticipate the future value of a security or instrument. The Portfolio’s losses are potentially large in a short position transaction.

 

• Turnover Risk. A higher portfolio turnover may result in higher transactional and brokerage costs.
Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney

Remember that in addition to possibly not achieving your investment goals, you could lose money by investing in the Portfolio.

Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading

Performance:
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

Because the Portfolio has less than a full calendar year of investment operations, no performance information is presented for the Portfolio at this time. In the future, Portfolio performance information will be presented in this section of the Prospectus. Also, shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholders semi-annually. Updated performance information will be available at no cost by calling 1-855-645-5462.
Performance One Year or Less [Text] rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Because the Portfolio has less than a full calendar year of investment operations, no performance information is presented for the Portfolio at this time.
Performance Availability Phone [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone 1-855-645-5462
Even Keel Premium Income Fund | Class 1 Shares
  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Management Fees (as a percentage of Assets) rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.60%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.25%
Other Expenses (as a percentage of Assets): rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.10% [1]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.75% [1],[2]
Expenses (as a percentage of Assets) rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.70% [1]
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 173
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 536
Even Keel Premium Income Fund | Class 2 Shares
  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Management Fees (as a percentage of Assets) rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.60%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other Expenses (as a percentage of Assets): rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.10% [1]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.75% [1],[2]
Expenses (as a percentage of Assets) rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.45% [1]
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 148
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 459
[1] Estimated for the current fiscal year.
[2] Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies. The operating expenses in this fee table will not correlate to the expense ratio in the Portfolios financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Portfolio, not the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies.