How to apply?
Applications for a residence permits must as a general rule be submitted in person at the Norwegian foreign service station where you are a citizen. If you reside in another country other than where you are a citizen, you must in general have had a work or residence permit in this country for the past six months before you submit the application.
All applications for residence and work permits in Norway will be forwarded by the Embassy to the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) in Norway for consideration.
Applications for work permits may now be registered online on the Application Portal. Simply fill out the application category 'Work' or 'Seasonal worker' (if you want to apply for a seasonal work permit), pay the fee with a credit/debit card, and book an appointment for when you would like to submit your passport and supporting documents at the Norwegian Visa Application Centre.The application is formally registered as received on the date you submit your passport with relevant supporting documentation. The Embassy will then send your application to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) in Norway. You may nominate a person in Norway to register an application on your behalf. However, you are responsible for the application and have to hand in the supporting documentation yourself.
For more information about how to register your application online, please click here.
Once the case has been sent to UDI in Norway, the Embassy has no further bearing on the case. The processing time depends on the work load at UDI at any time, but you can find an average expected processing time for the various types of permits on UDI’s Web site: Please click here.
Seasonal worker
Seasonal work is work that can only be carried out during limited parts of the year due to climate variations, fluctuations in the availability of raw materials or other circumstances. Forestry, agriculture, the fish processing industry, plant nurseries and the restaurant and tourism industries are typical seasonal industries. Odd jobs such as carpentry, painting and other maintenance and restoration work are not considered seasonal work.
If you are to replace an employee in connection with holidays, this must be clearly stated in your application. There is no requirement as to when during the year holidays can be taken.
You can be granted a residence permit for seasonal work for up to six months. The six months can be divided between several permits for one and the same or several different employers. If you want to change employers after your permit has been granted, you have to apply again.
If you intend to apply for a residence permit as a seasonal worker, please use the following checklist: ENGLISH version
For more information about permits to work as a seasonal worker, please click here.
Skilled worker
The term skilled workers covers the following categories:
Specialist training corresponding to upper secondary education level. You must have completed vocational training for a specific occupation. The education must as a minimum correspond to upper secondary education level, i.e. at least three years. If your were educated abroad, you must have achieved the same level of expertise as you would have achieved had you been educated in Norway. Examples include vocational education for joiners, plumbers or auxiliary nurses.
Craft certificate. A craft certificate taken abroad must have resulted in the same level of expertise as a Norwegian craft certificate.
University college or university education. The requirement is a completed degree or study programme. Examples include nurses, engineers, Bachelor or Master’s degrees.
Special qualifications. You must have gained expertise through professional experience of a certain duration, alternatively in combination with other training (courses and similar). If there is a formal education in the field achieved through of such education. Please note that, in principle, a skilled worker permit is only granted on the basis of special qualifications in exceptional circumstances and that thorough documentation is required.
If you are an athlete and are to participate in top-level sports, or are to be trainer for top-level sports, there must be a statement from the national federation subject to the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF), for example Football Association of Norway (NFF).
Your expertise must be deemed to be relevant to the position. This means that the position you have been offered must be of a nature that requires a qualified skilled worker. You must also possess the expertise in question.
Approval/authorisation requirement for regulated professions
If you are to work in a profession subject to qualification requirements (a regulated profession), you must have been approved or authorised by the relevant specialist authority for your profession. Health personnel, for example, must enclose an authorisation or licence from the Norwegian Registration Authority for Health Personnel (SAFH).
The following requirements apply to the employment relationship:
- You must have received a concrete offer of employment from an employer in Norway. The employment offer must state the position you will fill, your hourly wage and the number of working hours per week. The duration of the offer of employment must also be specified.
- As a rule, you must have received an offer of full-time employment for one employer.
- The pay and working conditions must not be poorer than those stipulated in the current collective agreement or pay scale for the industry. If no such collective agreement or pay scale exists, the pay and working conditions must not be poorer than is normal for the occupation and place concerned.
- If the position requires an academic education and is not covered by a collective agreement or pay scale, you must be paid in accordance with the collective agreement for Norwegian state employees, unless it is documented that other conditions are normal for the occupation and place concerned. This means that if you have completed higher academic education, for example hold a Master’s degree, your pay must be at least salary grade 47 in the pay scale for Norwegian state employees, currently NOK 396.900 per year. For lower-level academic education, for example a Bachelor’s degree, salary grade 42 in the pay scale for Norwegian state employees, currently NOK 368.000 per year, is the minimum pay.
- In exceptional cases you can be granted a residence permit even though the employment offered is not continuous.
If you intend to apply for a residence permit as a skilled worker, please use the following checklist: ENGLISH version
For more information about permits to work as a skilled worker, please click here.
Au pair
The purpose of the au pair scheme is cultural exchange. As au pairs, young people can improve their language skills and knowledge of Norway and Norwegian society by living with a Norwegian family. In return, the au pair performs services such as light housework and child care for the host family.
You can be granted a residence permit as an au pair for a maximum period of two years. If the offer of employment is for less than two years, you can only be granted a residence permit for the period covered by the employment offer.
If you intend to apply for a residence permit as an au pair, please use the following checklist: ENGLISH version
For more information about au pair permits, please click here.
