Do I need to apply for a visa if I am applying for a residence/work permit in Norway?
You cannot be granted a visa to Norway or a Schengen country if you are going to settle in Norway. Some applicants may, however, be granted an entry visa (D visa) before their residence permit application has been processed. This applies if you are planning to stay in Norway on a permanent basis and you meet the requirements to be granted a residence permit. For more information, click here.
How do I apply if I am getting married in Norway?
If you are going to get married and stay in Norway, you can apply for a so-called fiancé permit, which is residence permit that is valid for up to six months to enter into marriage. You must apply for this type of residence permit at a Norwegian foreign service mission in your home country or in the country in which you have held a valid residence permit for the past six months. The Embassy will then send your application to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) in Norway for futher consideration. For case handling times in UDI, click here.
If you wish to visit your boyfriend/girlfriend in Norway, and do not intend to stay in Norway for more than 90 days, you can apply for a Schengen visa.
What do I need to be granted a Schengen visa?
You need a valid passport to be able to enter Norway. The passport must be valid for at least 90 days after the period for which the visa is granted.
You must have enough money to finance the journey and your stay in Norway. If you lack funds, you may be rejected at the border even if you have been issued a visa. In certain cases, a financial guarantee stating that the person you are going to visit will cover subsistence and the return journey is sufficient. The guarantee form must be completed by the person you are going to visit (the sponsor) and stamped by the Police in Norway. The guarantee form must be submitted together with your visa application.
A travel medical insurance is compulsory for visits to Norway and other Schengen states. Please note that only certain insurance companies in Thailand are accepted. For a list of the insurance companies that have been approved by the Schengen Member States in Thailand, click here.
The insurance must cover at least 30 000 Euro or 1500 000 Baht and include cost for medical treatment, hospitalization and repatriation due to injury or medical reasons. The insurance must be valid in all Schengen states and cover the total length of the visit. Please note that you have to bring your travel medical insurance with you when travelling due to inspections of relevant documents at the border control when entering the Schengen area.
Furthermore, you must have legal right of return to your home country or another country in which you hold a residence permit.
A number of documents are required in order to process a visa application. For relevant checklists, please click here. Which checklist should be used depends on the purpose of the trip.
Is it difficult to obtain a Schengen visa?
The majority of Schengen visa applications are granted by the Embassy. However, several different factors are considered when processing a Schengen visa application. Your application may be rejected if you do not meet the general Schengen visa requirements, or because it is found that an application should not be granted following discretionary assessments. For more information about how an application for a Schengen-visa is assessed, please click here.
We are a family who are travelling to Norway together. Do we have to submit one application per person?
Yes. Each applicant must register an application on the Application Portal and submit a complete set of documents according to the relevant checklists. For more information on how to register an application online, please click here.
What happens if my visa application is rejected and I have already bought a plane ticket?
To avoid unnecessary expenses we strongly advise applicants not to purchase their plane tickets to Norway before they have been granted a Schengen visa. It is sufficient to submit a travel booking with the application. Most travel agencies in Thailand can issue a travel booking without having to pay for the actual ticket. If you book a ticket online before you have been granted a Schengen visa, please check the airline's cancellation policy before buying a ticket.
If I plan to visit several Schengen countries during my trip, where should I submit my application?
If you plan to visit several Schengen states in the course of one trip, you must submit your application to the embassy or consulate of the country where you will be spending the most time.
If you will be visiting several Schengen states for equal periods of time, you must submit your visa application to the first country that you will be visiting.
Do I have to travel to the country for which I am applying for a visa?
No. You can enter any of the Schengen countries when you have been granted a visa, but if you are planning to visit a country other than Norway for most of the period, you must apply for a visa at this country’s embassy.
Will I need more than one visa to visit several countries in the Schengen area?
No. The visa you are granted from Norway is valid in the whole Schengen area.
Can I be granted a visa for more than three months if I visit several countries?
No. You can be granted a visa for 90 days or less. You must leave the Schengen area before your visa expires. If you do not leave the country when the visa expires, it may have consequences for your opportunity to enter the country in the future.
Can I appeal if my application is rejected?
Yes. You have the right to appeal a decision made by the Embassy within three weeks upon receiving the decision. The appeal should be an original document written and signed by you or your power of attorney and delivered to the Embassy or the Norway Visa Application Centre directly. Any supporting documents may be submitted along with the appeal. If the applicant changes the dates of travel it is advised to submit a new flight booking and travel insurance along with the appeal. It is not necessary to submit all the documents that were delivered with the original application.
The case handling time for an appeal is the same as a normal application and there is no fee. If the Embassy does not finds sufficients grounds to reverse its decision the appeal will be forwarded to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration in Norway for a final decision.
Can I still go to Norway if I do not have sufficient funds to pay for my trip?
In order to be granted a visa, you must as a general rule have sufficient funds to cover travel costs for your stay in Norway. The daily rate is set to NOK 500 (approx. 2.500 THB) for each day of your stay in Norway. The amount is slightly less if you going to stay with family or friends.
If the you do not have sufficient funds, the funds for the travel costs for your stay may be guaranteed by a sponsor living in Norway. A sponsor in Norway who is to stand as financial guarantor for a visa applicant must fill out a ‘Guarantee Form for Visits’. By completing and signing this guarantee declaration, the sponsor guarantees to be financially responsible for expenses incurred in connection with your stay in Norway. The sponsor also guarantees any expenses incurred by the state if you fail to return to your home country before the expiry of the visa, and so have to be deported at the expense of the state. Such a guarantee declaration is in itself not sufficient for a visa to be granted, but is intended to help those who do not have sufficient funds of their own to cover their travel costs and stay during the period of the visa.
The guarantee declaration must be stamped by the Police in Norway. The Police must be shown the necessary documentation that the sponsor has sufficient means to provide for the applicant during the period in question. The reference person must send the stamped guarantee declaration to the applicant, so that it can be included with the visa application. The reference person must not send the guarantee declaration directly to the Embassy.
Do I have to have a minimum amount deposited in my bank account in order to be granted a Schengen visa?
No. However, in order to be granted a visa, you must, as a general rule, have sufficient funds to cover travel costs for your stay in Norway. If the you do not have sufficient funds, the funds for the travel costs for your stay may be guaranteed by a sponsor living in Norway.
Should I apply for a visa with Single or Multiple entries?
A visa is generally granted for a single entry. If you plan to travel outside the Schengen area and return within the period covered by the visa, you must tick the ‘two or multiple entries’ box when applying for a visa. You must also explain why you require multiple entries, and also document that you plan to travel outside the Schengen area during you trip by submitting a travel booking.
If you have special needs, you can be issued a visa that is valid for multiple entries during a period for up to three years. Such visas are only available for certain categories of applicants, e.g. business persons, truck drivers, seafarers, family members of persons with a valid residence permit in Norway, family members of Norwegian citizens living abroad etc.
If you need an extra entry after you have arrived in Norway, you must apply for this through the Police in Norway, in the same way as for an application for a visa extension. You must document your need for an extra entry, e.g. for a business meeting or to visit family outside the Schengen area.
If I have a Thai diplomatic or official passport do I need to apply for a Schengen visa to travel to Norway?
No, if you are going to Norway on official business you do not need a Schengen visa to travel to Norway.
How much does is cost to apply for a Schengen visa?
An updated list of fees can be found here.
My spouse lives in Norway. Should I apply for a resident permit or a 7-day entry visa to go to Norway?
As a general rule a residence and work permit must be granted before the applicant can enter Norway. This means that applications must be submitted from the applicant’s home country, or country where the applicant has had a valid residence permit the last six months. The applicant must wait in his/her home country until a decision has been made by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration in Norway.
A 7-day entry visa can only be granted in certain exceptional cases. It is a condition that there is no doubt whatsoever about whether the conditions for family immigration are met. The Embassy is obliged to reject applications for an entry visa if the conditions are not met, or if the Embassy in doubt about whether all the conditions are met. If you are in doubt whether you meet all the requirements in UDI's Circular 2013-001, you should consider applying for a residence permit in family reunification.
It is possible to submit an application for a 7-day entry visa for spouse and a residence permit in family reunification at the same time?
Yes. A 7-day entry visa application may be submitted if you intend to apply for a residence permit after entry into Norway, at the same time as an application for a residence permit, or after an application for a residence permit has already been submitted at the Embassy.
